Procedural documents: concept, types, forms

Procedural documents: concept

In criminal proceedings, procedural papers are usually understood as information carriers that are directly related to a specific procedural matter. They contain inquiries, investigations, and a list of other authorized persons. It is important to know that the presence of implemented criminal procedural documents in any case affects the quality characteristics of the investigative measures that were carried out. At the preliminary stage of the inquiry, specific actions and their results and results are recorded. It is worth mentioning that the main purpose of official confirmation of the stages of the criminal process is the legal aspect of the participants in the proceedings. The preparation of documentary evidence is carried out strictly in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It has a major impact on admissibility. Compliance with the rules for recording factual data in writing established in procedural documents will not only preserve, but also provide grounds for verification, evaluation and further study of the presented evidence.

Thus, procedural papers should be understood as acts of a procedural nature in which actions and further decisions of officials or bodies involved in criminal proceedings are recorded. It must be borne in mind that the semantic nature and correct execution of criminal procedural papers have a significant impact on the perception of the legal rights, interests and freedoms of a person from a legal point of view. Moreover, every action carried out in accordance with the criminal investigation must be recorded in writing.

Features of documentation in civil cases

The main task of civil judicial proceedings is to ensure the protection of the rights and freedoms, interests of civilians, organizations and other participants in legal relations. According to Article 2 of Part 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, every citizen has the right to appeal to a court in the event that his rights and freedoms are violated. The form of application to protect one’s interests in court is a statement of claim. The preparation of this document is strictly regulated at the legislative level. If necessary, samples of procedural documents can be found in the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.

Among the requirements for drawing up a statement of claim are the following:

Fixing the name of the judicial institution where the document is submitted.
Indication of the personal data of the defendant (full name, residential address).
Description of the subject of the violation or the presence of a threat of violation of rights, as well as the presentation of demands.
Disclosure of circumstances that are evidence of the specified facts of violation.
Availability of evaluative characteristics, if necessary (collected, disputed amount of money).
Indication of the list of attachments to the application.

This act cannot be drawn up in free form, so the help of specialists is often required.

Classification of documents by stages of criminal proceedings

Next, it is advisable to consider the types of procedural documents that exist today. It is worth noting that the classification is quite broad, so we will study each of its components separately. In accordance with the stages of the criminal process, it is customary to distinguish the following types of procedural papers:

Procedural documents that are typical for pre-trial proceedings. Among them are a resolution regarding the initiation of criminal proceedings; a resolution relating to the prosecution of a person as an accused; indictments; indictments and so on.
Papers that accompany the judicial stages. These are procedural documents such as a jury verdict, sentence or cassation ruling. In addition, this category should include documentation that may relate to both pre-trial and judicial stages. For example, a resolution issued due to the termination of a case; various types of agendas; decisions to refuse or satisfy requests, and so on.

Main types of procedural acts

When conducting preliminary work on criminal cases, a large number of various types of documentation are compiled, which can be either mandatory or optional. Mandatory acts are drawn up for any criminal trial by the investigative committee. They include decisions on certain issues arising during the investigation, indicating evidence and conclusions. The main procedural documents of the investigator include protocols, resolutions, and indictments.

Auxiliary or optional documents are those of a non-binding nature, which are drawn up depending on the specific criminal proceedings. This type of act is represented by notices, subscriptions, instructions, objections, subpoenas, etc.

Classification by content

What procedural documents, depending on their content, are known today? It is important to note the following types of papers:

Documents that consolidate decisions made by competent persons in criminal proceedings. Typically these are solutions.
Documents that record processes and the corresponding results of procedural activities. These include messages, minutes, notices and explanations.
Other criminal procedural documents. For example, subscriptions, agendas, receipts or requests.

It should be added that the first group includes procedural papers, which in a general sense are usually called decisions. The fact is that the term of procedural decision is not disclosed in criminal procedural legislation. Nevertheless, a significant part of its regulations contains those provisions that are directly related to the adoption of procedural decisions by the inquirer, investigator, inquiry bodies, judge (or court), and prosecutor.

A decision in criminal proceedings can be defined as a legal act, simplified into a procedural form established by current legislation. In this legal act, the bodies of inquiry, the prosecutor, the investigator, the judge give full answers, within the limits of their competence, to questions of a legal nature that arise in the case, and express an authoritative will regarding actions that arise from certain obligations and regulations of the law, aimed primarily at solving problems of criminal proceedings.

Features of the resolutions

Resolutions are documents that act as a form of state expression of will directed at a specific person, based on facts confirmed in court. The resolution must consist of several parts: introductory, descriptive and motivating, operative.

The first part of the document must indicate its name, date and place of execution. This also includes a listing of authorized government officials and officials and recording the name of the subject of consideration.

The descriptive and motivational component includes a presentation of specific circumstances and facts that have an evidentiary basis. An analytical layout for the established circumstances is provided, the arguments are substantiated, the legal qualification of legal relations is determined, and references to the legislative norms governing them are recorded.

The operative part contains the wording of the approved decision, an explanation of the timing and procedure for entry into force and possible appeal. Samples of procedural documents for filing an appeal at the request of citizens are provided by authorized persons. The final part of the resolution is certified by signature(s) and seal.

Signs of procedural decisions

As it turned out, judicial procedural documents are divided into three categories according to their content. It is advisable to consider the first group of papers, or decisions. Today, the following features are identified that are inherent in absolutely all decisions of a procedural nature:

Issued exclusively by public authorities or officials who are involved in criminal proceedings. In this case, the limits of competence must be observed.
Such procedural documents of the court, such as decisions, fully express the authority of state bodies. They serve as a form of exercise of relevant powers. That is why decisions generate, change or, if necessary, terminate relations of a criminal procedural nature.
Answer legal questions.
This type of administrative procedural documents is issued in the manner established by the current law. In addition, decisions are expressed in the form determined by law.

Requirements for the preparation of court documents

Judicial procedural documents are materials emanating from the court. These include: decisions, rulings, court orders, protocols, acts drawn up in order and executive format.

The structure of court procedural documents consists of four subsections:

Introductory. It records the name, address of the judicial organization, the time period for making the decision, the composition of participants or legally interested persons, and the subject of the case is approved.
Descriptive. Contains indications of the conditions and circumstances of the situation, includes demands and objections of subjects of legal relations and other interested parties, including facts justifying these protests.
Motivational. Reflects the factual and legislative justification of a court decision on a procedural act. This part may be mandatory, or may be included at the initiative of the court.
Resolute. Involves recording the final decisions of judicial debates, final conclusions that resolve the essence of the case.

Judicial decisions are made immediately upon completion of the proceedings. The operative section of the decision is read out in the same court where the results of the case were summed up. The delivered and heard part of the decision must be certified by the signatures of all judges and attached to the case.

The following requirements are imposed on the court decision:

legality;
validity;
justice.

The execution of a reasoned court decision should not exceed five days from the completion of the proceedings in the case.

Types of solutions

Next, it is important to consider the classification of such procedural documents of production as decisions. In the theory of criminal procedural law, it is customary to distinguish the following types of decisions:

Resolution. A ruling should be understood as any decision (with the exception of a sentence) made by a single judge. In addition, this is a decision that was made by the judicial presidium in the process of reviewing a court decision that has already entered into force in accordance with the law. A resolution is a decision of the prosecutor, investigator, management of the investigative structure, or investigator, which was made during the preliminary investigation of the case. It is important to note that the exceptions in this case are indictments and conclusions.
Definition. The definition should be considered any decision (exception - sentence) made by the judicial authorities of the first instance in the process of criminal proceedings collectively. In addition, we are talking about a decision made by higher judicial authorities (with the exception of a supervisory or appellate court) in the process of reviewing a particular court decision.
Judicial opinion. This is a conclusion regarding the presence or absence of characteristics of a crime in the actions of a person in relation to whom a special procedure is used in the relevant case.
Closing indictment. We are talking about a decision made by the investigator. That is, this is a procedural document of the investigator. In this decision, it is relevant to sum up the results of the preliminary investigation.
Indictment. This is a decision made by the investigator. It is here that the accusation and the corresponding results of the inquiry are formed, the conduct of which is relevant in an abbreviated form.
Indictment. We are talking about a procedural document drawn up based on the decision made by the investigator. It states the charges and the results of the investigation.
Sentence. This is a decision about the guilt or innocence of the defendant, as well as about his punishment or release from punishment. It is important to add that a sentence can be passed in accordance with paragraph 28 of Article 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation only by the judicial authorities of appellate or first instance.
Verdict. This is a civil procedural document about the innocence or guilt of the defendant. It is necessary to add that under paragraph 5 of Article 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the decision is made by a panel of jurors.

Criminal procedural documents. Their types and meaning

Under procedural documents

You can understand the documents that formalize the actions and decisions of bodies and officials carrying out criminal proceedings.

The importance of procedural documents is manifested in the fact that they influence the movement of the criminal process and organize it. Consolidation in them of the actions and decisions of the preliminary investigation bodies and the court is intended to ensure the protection and implementation of the rights and legitimate interests of the participants in the process. The importance of procedural documents in the process of generating evidence is great, since as a result of correct recording, evidence is recognized as admissible. Compliance with the procedural form of securing evidence guarantees its safety and provides the opportunity for its subsequent verification, evaluation and use for making procedural decisions in a criminal case.

For the first time in the history of domestic criminal procedural legislation, the Code of Criminal Procedure contained annexes that established the form of criminal procedural documents. Federal Law No. 92-FZ dated 04.07.2003 “On Amendments and Additions to the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation” of the Criminal Procedure Code was supplemented with part six “Forms of procedural documents”, forms of procedural documents as appendices to the Code lost their force (they became appendices to Articles 476 and 477 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). However, Federal Law No. 87-FZ of June 5, 2007 excluded forms of procedural documents from the Code of Criminal Procedure. The abolition of mandatory forms of procedural acts of criminal proceedings has led to a decrease in the quality of these documents.

The content and form of procedural documents should discipline participants in criminal proceedings, focusing on strict compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, laws, rights and freedoms of man and citizen.

Contents of procedural documents

are divided into two groups: documents recording the progress and results of procedural actions, and documents recording procedural decisions.

The documents of the first group include protocols of investigative and some procedural actions (for example, a protocol of seizure, a protocol of checking testimony on the spot, a protocol of accepting an oral statement about a crime), protocols of court hearings.

The second group includes decisions, determinations, indictment, indictment, indictment, jury verdict, court sentence, prosecutor's presentation, etc.

A decree
is
a decision, other than a sentence, made by a judge alone; a decision made by the presidium of the court when reviewing the relevant court decision; decisions of the prosecutor, investigator, head of the investigative body, investigator, made during the preliminary investigation, with the exception of the indictment, indictment or indictment; It is also an act of prosecutorial supervision that eliminates violations of the law committed by the preliminary investigation and inquiry bodies.

Most resolutions become valid after signing, and some require agreement with the prosecutor, the head of the investigative body, approval by the head of the inquiry body, and court permission.

The investigator formalizes the decision to send a criminal case to the prosecutor for subsequent transfer to the court with an indictment, and the interrogating officer - with an indictment or, in the case of conducting an inquiry in an abbreviated form - with an indictment.

There are three stages of trial

types of procedural documents: verdict, resolution, determination.
A verdict is
a decision on the guilt or innocence of the defendant and the imposition of punishment on him or on his release from punishment, made by a court of first instance or appellate instance.
Resolution -
any decision, with the exception of a sentence, made by a single judge, as well as a decision of the presidium of the court when reviewing a court decision.
Determination -
any decision made collectively by the courts of the first, appellate and cassation instances, with the exception of the verdict and cassation ruling.

The Code of Criminal Procedure establishes the division of court decisions into final and intermediate. At the same time, under the final court decision

means a sentence, another court decision made during a trial, by which a criminal case is resolved on its merits;
under interim -
all rulings and decisions of the court, with the exception of the final court decision.

Procedural documents of the bodies carrying out criminal proceedings are of decisive importance in criminal proceedings. They are required to comply with a detailed procedure for production and recording. Such requirements include: legality, validity, motivation, certainty, culture of production and execution of actions and decisions, logic and literacy of presentation.

One of the requirements of the procedural form is the rule that all procedural actions and decisions made should be recorded in writing in certain procedural Documents.

The law establishes a form for these documents that makes it possible to fully reflect in them the progress and results of investigative and judicial actions, the decision made, and subsequently use the data obtained during the Investigation, consideration, resolution of a criminal case and verification of the legality and validity of the actions taken

and decisions made. “Without procedural documents provided for by law, there is no criminal process, there is no case, and therefore there is no essence of it.”*

____________________

* Borodin S.V.

Entry Art. to the collection: Procedural acts of preliminary investigation M, 1972. P. 5.

One group of procedural documents consists of protocols of investigative and judicial actions, which certify the fact of production, content and results of investigative and judicial actions (inspection protocol, interrogation protocol, court hearing protocol - Articles 141, 261 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

The other group consists of decisions. These are law enforcement acts containing answers to legal questions arising during the proceedings, and authoritative instructions on legal actions.

Decisions can be expressed in the form of a resolution, determination, verdict, sentence. They differ in the bodies, persons receiving them, in the range of issues, in the procedural order of their adoption and in the form of presentation (clauses 10, 11, 12 of Article 34 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

Indicating that a sentence, resolution, determination are a decision, the legislator in Art. 34 of the Code of Criminal Procedure only in relation to the verdict explains that: “The verdict is a decision made by the court at a hearing on the issue of the guilt or innocence of the defendant and the application or non-application of punishment to him.” Regarding other decisions in Art. 34 of the Code of Criminal Procedure states at what stage they are adopted and by whom they can be made. The factual circumstances that must be established in order to make the appropriate decision, and the legal consequences that arise from the established circumstances, are indicated in the rules of law devoted to specific decisions (for example, Art. 143-144 Code of Criminal Procedure).

The verdict is the decision of the jury on the questions posed to it about the proof of the factual circumstances of the case and the guilt of the defendant. These answers are included in the sentence passed by the judge as its integral part (Articles 454, 462 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

Procedural decisions as acts of application of criminal procedural law and criminal law are characterized by a number of features: decisions are made only by authorized government bodies, officials, jurors and people's assessors within the limits of their competence; express an authoritative command, confirm, change or terminate criminal procedural relations, confirm the presence or establish the absence of material legal relations; are adopted in accordance with the established procedure and are expressed in the form specified by law.

A decision in criminal proceedings is a legal document in the established form, in which the body of inquiry, investigator, prosecutor, judge or court, within the limits of their competence, in the manner prescribed by law, draw a conclusion about established factual circumstances and, based on these circumstances and the law, provide answers to legal questions and express an authoritative expression of will on actions arising from established circumstances and requirements of the law. Failure to comply with the requirements established by law for the form of acts entails their recognition as invalid and their cancellation (for example, paragraph 7 of Article 345 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). The law specifies requirements for the content and form of documents that make it possible to judge whether the rules of the procedural form of production of a particular action have been followed, whether a specific issue or the entire matter has been resolved correctly, whether the decision corresponds to the circumstances of the case (factual basis) and legal norms (legal basis).

A decision is legal when it is made in strict compliance with the norms of procedural law and in accordance with the norms of substantive law (criminal law, civil law when resolving a civil claim, etc.).

A decision is justified when it reflects facts relevant to the case, supported by verified evidence that meets the requirements of the law on relevance and admissibility, and also when the legal conclusions and instructions contained in the decision follow from the established facts. The rationale for the decision is expressed in its motivation. Legality and validity are interdependent properties of a decision. The fairness of a decision means its assessment from both the legal and moral sides. Thus, recognition of the fairness of the verdict means recognition that the case was examined by an objective and impartial court, that the rights of the accused were ensured, a lawful and reasonable decision was made on the guilt (innocence) of the Accused, and a fair punishment was imposed on the guilty party.

In this sense, the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen speaks of the right to a fair trial.

Criminal procedural decisions are expressed in a document that has a certain form, which includes introductory, descriptive (descriptive-motivational) and operative parts (for example, requirements for the presentation of a sentence - Articles 313-315 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

The form of the decision as a document is inextricably linked with the legal and moral requirements that the content of the decision must meet. The decision document must reflect the factual and legal grounds and reasons for the decision.

Comments

It is worth noting that the most common procedural papers are documents of the second group. They record the process and results of procedural activities. We are talking about protocols. So, protocols of judicial and investigative actions are procedural papers in which certification of the fact of production, content and corresponding results of judicial and investigative actions is relevant. Thus, it is customary to distinguish between the interrogation protocol, the crime scene analysis protocol, the court hearing protocol, and so on.

Drawing up procedural documents

Quite strict requirements are imposed on the formation of protocols and other procedural papers. They are regulated by articles 166 and 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. The protocol includes an introductory, descriptive, and operative (in other words, final) part. So, any sample procedural document must have an introductory component, which must contain the place and date of the proceedings, as well as a list of persons who take part or are present during the proceedings. In addition, references to articles of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation that correspond to the topic must be indicated.

The descriptive part contains a consistently characterized process of action, as well as circumstances identified during the execution of the action and the most important for the case. The final component of the protocol is information about the start and end times of the procedural action, as well as the conditions under which it was carried out. We are talking, for example, about examining the scene of an incident or lighting. The final part also contains statements from those who took part or were present during the execution of a particular action. It is important here to mention the annexes to the protocol, including diagrams, plans, filming, photographs, phonograms of the interrogation, prints of traces and casts, as well as documents and objects that were seized during the procedural action. In this case, these objects must be certified by the signature of the investigator, secured by means of a seal and attached to the investigation protocol. In addition to the protocol, the papers that record procedural decisions are the submissions of the prosecutor, investigator or inquiry officer, as well as objections, instructions, and so on.

Concept, characteristics and functions

The term “procedural documents” is quite capacious and meaningful in meaning. Let's consider several different formulations of this concept:

1. Procedural documents are acts of implementation of legal norms that ensure compliance with legal behavior on the part of subjects of civil legal interaction.

As an act of execution of legal norms, a procedural document has a number of distinctive features:

is a form of expression of any action or decision on the part of government bodies or authorized officials;
carries within itself a state will that requires strict observance and execution;
assumes a special form regulated by law;
implies the personalized nature of regulation of civil legal relations.

2. Procedural documents are outgoing materials provided by participants in legal relations (state bodies, officials, legal entities, individuals) in the process of legal proceedings.

Procedural documents, being an integral part of any legal relationship, perform a number of important functions:

Informative - consists of the content of the necessary information about persons, things, events, acts that have legal significance.
Identifying – presupposes the presence of certain attributes, details that justify the legal force of the act, as well as defining the information contained therein.
Law enforcement – organizes the execution of documented legal norms within the framework of a specific civil legal case.
Security and protective – consists of ensuring the safety of important information, implementing protective measures to maintain its reliability and safety.
Operational – involves the possibility of using and transmitting information by subjects of legal relations.

3. Procedural documents are special forms of recording the actions and decisions of subjects of legal relations, allowing to track the proceedings of court cases.

Classification of documents by legal nature

In order to more deeply understand the topic of types of procedural papers, it is advisable to study their classification according to their legal nature. Today they highlight:

Documents of informational and identification nature.
Documents of an authoritative and administrative nature.

The first group of papers are legal acts of the application of their rights by officials and the performance of corresponding duties. Such documents, as a rule, state facts, describe the processes and results of certain actions of a procedural nature. This should include messages (for example, that a suspect has been detained), protocols and notifications (for example, regarding the conduct of a personal search).

Documentation of the authoritative-administrative type consolidates decisions that reflect the presence of those circumstances that are significant from a legal point of view and contain authoritative instructions. These decisions serve as acts of using legal norms (for example, definitions, decrees, sentences, indictments and acts).

Specifics of drawing up protocols

Any design of procedural documents consists of two important characteristics: information content and regulated design. The constituent elements are largely determined by the type of document. According to the regulated component, most procedural acts are divided into two conditional categories: protocol and resolution.

Protocols, which involve recording the various stages of a particular case, cover the presentation of information about the actions performed by the subjects, on the basis of which interim decisions are made. The content of any protocol must include the following information elements and details:

Date, place of implementation of the procedural act.
Time frames (start, end) of legal actions.
The name of the authorized body or government official called upon to ensure the enforcement of law in a certain area of public relations.
List of participants in the legal process, indication of the main persons, their principals, witnesses, various specialists, etc.
Information on explaining to all participants in procedural actions their rights and obligations.
Information on the use of special means in preparing a specific procedural protocol.
Contents of the act.
The result obtained during the implementation of certain procedural actions.
Written consent of the parties in the form of a signature.
Comments and an appendix to the protocol are provided.

Requirements for procedural documentation

It is important to note that all procedural papers must meet specific requirements. Requirements must be understood as the rules and conditions for drawing up documents, developed by practice or based on the current law. All procedural documentation must meet the general requirements set forth by the decisions of the judge, investigator, prosecutor, and interrogator. They are legal, reasonable and motivated. In addition, the documents must meet the requirements of investigative reports in accordance with Article 166 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.

There are also special requirements. They are contained in the text of the law, which relates to a specific procedural paper. In the scientific literature, the issue of requirements for criminal procedural documentation has been sufficiently developed. Often, general requirements include validity, legality, motivation, culture of production and consolidation of actions and decisions, as well as literacy and logic of presentation. Let's take a closer look at these criteria:

The legality of criminal procedural paper is compliance with the standards of substantive (usually criminal) and criminal procedural law. A procedural act will be legal if a number of conditions are met: the action being implemented or the decision being made is provided for by criminal procedural legislation; the procedure for carrying out this or that action is fully observed; the standards of substantive (usually criminal) law are used competently; the action and the corresponding decision, which is formalized in procedural paper, corresponds to moral standards.
The validity of the criminal procedural paper is the correspondence of the statements and conclusions contained in the act with the circumstances established in accordance with the criminal case in fact.
Motivation, which assumes that the sentence must be motivated in one way or another.