Procedural action - this is the name of a whole range of measures that are allowed for production under criminal and civil law. The boundaries of the legality of these actions lie within the framework of the Civil or Criminal Code of a country. All measures leading to the preparation of a case for judicial review may fall under the definition of “procedural action”.
Definition and principles
According to the most common definition, a procedural action can be called the measures provided for by the Law and the measures taken within its framework that are performed by authorized citizens when conducting proceedings in a criminal case or materials.
All the variety of procedural actions fits into certain principles, which serve as a kind of guidance in the administration of justice. Compliance with these guidelines guarantees a voluminous and thorough review of cases in court proceedings. The whole variety of basic procedural principles can be reduced to the following points:
- equality of all citizens before the law;
- procedural equality of participants in a judicial procedure;
- a combination of collegiate and sole consideration of the case;
- impartiality and independence of judges;
- publicity and openness of the trial.
Preparatory Procedures
Different categories of civil cases have their own specifics, which can be determined by the features of the case, difficulties in collecting evidence and so on. The procedural action in the civil process is regulated by Article 142 of the Code of Civil Procedure, it contains a list of all possible measures that can be taken in the preparation of the case.
Persons authorized to act procedurally do not have to perform all the actions provided for in this article. It all depends on the individual nuances of each case. For a judge, a procedural action is the following:
- resolving the issue of the entry into the case of co-defendants, co-practitioners and other interested parties;
- granting permission to appeal to a court of arbitration with the right to explain the consequences of such an action;
- granting the right to call witnesses to all participants in the process;
- procedural action consisting of conducting research and necessary forensic examinations ;
- submission of court orders;
- other actions.
Basic Civil Law
In the norms of modern civil law it is impossible to identify the entire list of procedural acts necessary for the consideration of civil cases. For example, the procedural action in the civil process of the plaintiff determines his active position, which is aimed at protecting material or legally protected interests, for which it is supposed to appeal to the court. The actions of the prosecution in this case are aimed at collecting evidence of the plaintiff's statement.
At the request of the parties, the judge requests material or written evidence from organizations or individuals. This norm is one of the
principles of competition law, which in our time is only beginning to be implemented in domestic proceedings. Judicial procedural action in the case of civil claims is as follows:
- requesting various evidence from the owner for the purpose of sending them to the court;
- collection of evidence by court order ;
- provision of evidence obtained by conducting examinations - judicial or independent;
- obtaining the necessary evidence by inspection.
In accordance with the second part of Article 142 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the judge sends or gives the defendant a copy of the plaintiff's application and the documents attached to it, and also notifies the place and time of the court hearing in this case. This provision allows the defendant to collect information explaining his position. Thus, one of the principles of procedural action is observed - the equality of parties to the process, as is customary in modern jurisprudence.
criminal process
In the criminal process, each procedural action is reduced to a detailed, in-depth proof of certain facts selected for future consideration in court. The main method of conducting criminal proceedings is the analysis of the collected evidence and facts. And to collect evidence base, procedural actions are applied. This Criminal Procedure Code designates as investigative procedures necessary for the selection, assessment and verification of evidence at the preliminary investigation.
The variety of investigative actions can be characterized as provided by the criminal procedure law and used to collect and verify evidence, an event that includes a set of cognitive, search and certification methods that correspond to the characteristics of the traces of the crime. Also, the above activities should be adapted to the effective detection, perception and consolidation of the necessary evidence.
The basis of investigative actions
Any procedural action in criminal proceedings is based on cognitive and certifying aspects. This is what distinguishes it from other procedural actions that the investigator conducts in the course of the proceedings. All his actions and decisions are subject to certain procedural forms, which means that they are legitimate, since they are directly based on criminal procedure laws.
For an investigator, a procedural action is a comprehensive and thorough investigation of a criminal case. In this sense, all actions of the specified authorized person can be called investigative. But the law nevertheless distinguishes between procedural action and investigative. The difference is that the investigative actions are aimed at collecting, evaluating and using the evidence found, but the procedural ones cover the entire procedure - from collecting evidence to analyzing the material evidence in the courtroom.
What are investigative measures?
The investigative procedural action of the CPC is considered as the basic procedure for criminal activity, which is subject to proper regulation by legislative norms. If investigative measures are carried out with violations, then material evidence obtained in this way will not be accepted by the court. For any investigative actions, there are legal requirements stipulated by the criminal procedure standards and presented to the procedure of each stage. The regularity of investigative actions, their compliance with the legislative framework is determined by the following general conditions:
- Each investigative action should be carried out by order of the body of inquiry and only after the official initiation of a criminal case.
- Investigative actions are carried out if there are good reasons. For example, the investigation obtained information about the facts that determine the need to collect and verify the evidence base, so these facts are checked during investigative measures.
- The procedure and method for the commission of a particular investigative action and its procedural execution must be carried out in accordance with applicable law.
- The full responsibility for conducting the investigation rests with the official who is authorized to investigate this criminal case.
Evidence base
The issuance of a decision on the proceedings of a particular case must be supported by evidence. The decision to carry out a specific investigative action is taken by the investigator or another person who has received the permission (sanction) of the prosecutor. Investigative actions may be carried out by order of the head of the investigation department or at the request of interested persons, for example, the accused, his defense counsel or the victim. The investigator decides on an individual basis whether it is worth making a decision on the performance of investigative actions or whether to start a particular procedural action. If the application was rejected, this decision should be motivated by the investigator.
When considering minor administrative offenses, the law provides the right to conduct “other procedural actions”. This Code of Administrative Offenses regulates quite clearly, but does not indicate what is meant by these measures. In general, they should be reduced to determining the evidence base of the offense, after which the case is either referred to the court or closed.
System of investigative procedural actions
In modern legal literature there is no single view on the system of investigative actions, since it is impossible to determine those procedural actions that are not completely investigative. So, lawyers cannot come to the conclusion whether the following are investigative actions:
- seizure of property;
- exhumation of corpses;
- crime reconstruction;
- medical examination of the victim.
The difficulty lies in the fact that when carrying out these actions, the investigator complies with the procedural norm of their production, but does not receive evidence. For example, the fact of extracting a corpse from its last resting place, for example, proves nothing.
On the other hand, many procedural actions provided for by law are quite suitable for obtaining evidence and can become part of the general system of investigative actions. It:
- detention of a suspect;
- obtaining samples for comparative laboratory research;
- checking available samples on site.
It follows from this that when detaining a suspect in accordance with Art. 122 of the CPC, if the event is in direct connection with the detected signs of a crime, the grounds, time and place of detention acquire evidentiary value.
Procedural deadlines
Any procedural action for which a deadline is set must be completed after the time allotted for the collection of evidence. Dates of procedural actions may be established by law, or may be appointed by the court. The procedural period is determined by the date, an indication of a perfect event or the period of time allotted for these actions.
The end of the procedural period depends on the procedure for calculating the time period allotted to the process. For example, if a procedural action is extended for several years, its end is the full date (day, month) of the last year of the entire period. If the term is calculated in calendar months, its end will coincide with the last month of the term.
A procedural action, the boundary period of which is established by the procedural terms, may be completed one day before its end. For example, if complaints, petitions or money were made within 24 hours of the last day of the term, then these actions are not expired, and the deadline for completing the procedural procedures has not been missed. But if the procedural action must be performed in a court or other public place, the timing of its completion depends on the final minute of working time of this institution.
The right to conduct procedural measures is canceled upon the expiration of the time established by law or appointed by the court. If the court brings decisions or documents submitted after the expiration of the procedural period, then they are not considered. The exception is the documents submitted after a request for an extension of the procedural deadlines, which was approved by the court.
Extension of term
If the proceedings on the case were suspended, the time limits for the consideration of the case shall be suspended along with this. If it resumes, then the course of the procedural terms continues, and the deadline is postponed to a later date.
If the person responsible for the procedural action has missed the deadline for valid reasons, the court may set a different end date for the procedural actions. An application for extension shall be submitted to the court in which this action was to be considered. All interested parties must be notified in advance of a possible extension of the procedural action. If they do not appear for trial, this will not cause a failure to consider the case of procedural deferral.
Simultaneously with the submission of a request for an extension of the deadlines for a procedural action, a petition may be filed to challenge the extension or a complaint about the intentional delay of the investigation.