The powers of the head of the investigative body are enshrined in the criminal procedural law in article 39. This norm contains an exhaustive list of the rights of an official with respect to his subordinate entities and obligations in relation to higher persons.
The essence of the concept of leader
The concept and functions of the head of the investigative body are enshrined not only in 39, but also in article 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. According to this norm, the head is the official who heads the relevant unit of the investigation. Also to the steering group is the deputy leader.
This concept previously included almost all the organizational, administrative and procedural powers of the head of the investigative body, but the head did not have the corresponding legal status.
In connection with the development of legislation at present, the investigating director is one of the key participants in the criminal trial, having a wide range of powers and great responsibility.
The powers of the head of the investigative body in the criminal process have undergone changes in connection with the reform of law enforcement agencies and the separation of the Investigative Committee into a separate body not directly reporting to the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation.
Among legal scholars, there are many options for determining the concept of the head of the investigation, in addition to the main one specified in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Some jurists define a leader as a person holding a position that allows you to control the legality of decisions made by a subordinate investigator, as well as verify the correctness of the procedural procedure of a criminal investigation with all the ensuing rights and obligations.
Other jurists believe that the head of the investigating authority is a person with a wide range of powers in organizing and managing investigative activities of a subordinate body.
The most complete opinion, according to most jurists, is contained in the corresponding code and does not need to be supplemented.
The concept of procedural provisions
The starting point for determining the concept and authority of the head of the investigative body is his procedural position. In this regard, it is necessary to determine the essence of this concept.
The provision of the procedural type is similar to the concept of status, therefore, this concept includes the totality of the person’s rights and obligations in relation to other entities.
The functions of a person having the procedural position of the head of investigation are enshrined in the legal norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure and determine not only the rights and obligations, but also the place of the head in the criminal process.
The procedural position of the head includes the legal personality of the official who monitors the work of investigators under his jurisdiction, and the legal personality of the investigating authority as a whole.
The following categories of persons have the procedural position of the head of investigation:
- Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation;
- Head of the Main Department of the Investigative Committee in the Russian Federation;
- Head of the investigative body of the investigation committee for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
- the head of the investigative body in other territorial units;
- deputy heads of relevant bodies;
- heads of investigative bodies in executive federal authorities (in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the Federal Security Service, in the Federal Drug Control Service, etc.);
- other investigative leaders vested with the powers of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia.
Categories of separation of powers of the head
All powers of the investigator can be divided into types in the following categories:
- For the purposes pursued by the implementation of a specific authority.
- By the legal nature and means of control over the preliminary stage of the investigation.
- To exercise control over the procedural work of subordinates.
- By obligation of authority.
Each of these categories reflects the motive and the final predicted result of the implementation of each of the powers specified in Article 39 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Separation of leadership by purpose
According to the goals set by the investigative leader, all his powers and the powers of the deputy head of the investigative body include two types of duties and rights in the implementation of pre-trial investigation:
- duties and rights that are a means of identifying potential or committed omissions, errors or violations of the law on the part of investigators who investigate specific criminal cases;
- duties and rights that are a means of correcting and eliminating omissions, errors or violations established by the head of the investigator by the investigator during the preliminary investigation.
Each of these types of duties not only identifies and eliminates violations on the part of subordinates, but also contributes as a result of a complete, comprehensive and objective production of the preliminary stage of the investigation.
Legal separation of powers
This group of powers is closely related to the means of controlling the preliminary investigation. In this regard, there are several types of aggregate duties and rights of the head of the investigation:
- Powers that provide a real opportunity to identify procedural shortcomings in the ongoing preliminary investigation.
- Powers to eliminate these shortcomings.
- Powers related to the type of requirements.
- Powers revealed during the study of other norms of the legislation of the criminal procedure sphere.
Some jurists add two more to these types:
- Responsibilities and rights to ensure procedural control over the work of the investigation apparatus.
- Duties and rights conducive to the implementation of criminal prosecution of offenders.
Separation of supervisory authority over the work of investigators
The procedural powers of the head of the investigative body in the field of control over subordinates are as follows:
- distribution of crime cases between investigators subordinate to the head or groups of investigators;
- correction of shortcomings and errors that were made by investigators at the preliminary stage of the investigation;
- satisfaction of petitions of subordinates to the head of staff (appeal of prosecutorial decisions regarding the case under investigation, change in the number of prosecution items, etc.);
- handling complaints in accordance with the rules established in article 124 of the Code of Criminal Procedure ;
- control over the activities of the procedural nature of the lower authorities of the investigation, including the cancellation of unreasonable or illegal decisions.
The indicated types of procedural powers of the head of the investigative body make it possible to fully monitor the work of investigators and timely eliminate deficiencies identified during the course of supervision.
Separation of governing powers by binding
The concept of the powers of the head of the investigative body depending on the duties and rights of the heads of the investigation allows us to distinguish two types: general and special.
The general powers are all that are expressly specified in Article 39 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which relate to the control activities of the head and are of the nature of procedural actions. In addition, this group includes the subordinate organizational powers of the head of the investigative body (accountability and accountability to senior management, organization of work in accordance with the instructions of the supervisor, etc.).
Like the leader in relation to his subordinates, the higher authority is also entitled to cancel the manager’s decisions that are not in accordance with the law.
Special duties and rights are the powers exercised during the conduct of a preliminary investigation directly by the head of the investigating authority. This group includes independent actions of an official. This may include the authority to initiate a criminal offense, accepting the case for proceedings and other powers exercised by the head of the investigating authority as an investigator or leading person in the investigation group.
Other classification of powers of the head of the investigative body under the CPC
As a participant in the process of criminal pre-trial and trial, the head of the investigation performs various types of powers, divided into the following groups:
- control over criminal investigations by investigators;
- managing the activities of subordinates to the head of the person and giving various instructions and instructions to employees;
- procedural and organizational management of the activities of the investigation unit, including the distribution of criminal cases received among specific investigators;
- personal conduct of events within the framework of the preliminary stage of the investigation.
Each of the powers enshrined in the Code in one way or another refers to one of the groups.
General management authority
The powers of the head of the investigative body include the following duties and rights:
- The right to entrust the production of the preliminary stage of the investigation to a specific investigator or investigation team, including the right to withdraw a case from the production of one employee with transfer to another investigator for necessary investigative actions. When transferring a case, the manager must indicate in writing the objective grounds for transferring the case. In addition, this includes the power to create a group of investigators or change its composition, as well as taking the case into its own criminal proceedings.
- Analysis and research of audit materials according to reports of citizens about crimes, research of documents on investigated criminal cases, cancellation of illegal or unfounded decisions of investigators.
- The cancellation of illegal or unreasonable decisions of the heads, investigators or interrogators of other bodies of the preliminary investigation in cases that are in the work of the investigating authority subordinate to this head. On the basis of this right, the powers of the head of the investigative body include permission to study materials and documents issued by other investigators other than the body, if these documents are part of the case considered by subordinates of this head.
- Providing the case investigator with instructions regarding the direction of the investigation; the production of individual actions of the investigative type; involvement of the suspect as an accused; election of a preventive measure against the suspect or accused; qualifications of the crime committed and the scope of the charge; personal review of reports of planned, committed or committed crimes; participation of the head in the verification of reports of crimes.
- Organizational functions of the head of the investigative body, including giving consent to the request of the investigator to establish, extend, cancel or change the suspect or the accused, the preventive measure, conduct other procedural actions and so on. Consent in this case is drawn up in writing, and the document authorized by the manager is sent to the court to make a decision. If a petition (petition) of this type was received from a subordinate investigator, the authority of the head of the investigating authority includes the right to interrogate a suspect or accused without re-registering the case in his own proceedings. The power to interrogate a person in respect of whom a preventive measure is chosen before transferring the case file to the court is the head's right (not an obligation).
- Giving permission to challenge, which was declared by the suspect or the accused (as well as other participants in the proceedings), in relation to the leading investigator, as well as giving permission to self-reject the criminal case officer.
- Removal of the investigator from further investigative or procedural actions in the framework of a criminal investigation if this person has committed violations of the requirements of the criminal procedure law.
- The cancellation of unlawful or unreasonable decisions of subordinate heads of investigating authorities in the manner prescribed by the Code of Criminal Procedure.
- Extension of the preliminary stage of the investigation at the request of the investigator conducting the case.
- Approval of decisions of investigators to terminate criminal proceedings and to support the defendant from the public defender.
- Giving written consent to the investigator who conducted the preliminary investigation in relation to the criminal case, to appeal within 72 hours after the decision of the prosecutor. The powers of the head of the investigating authority also include the right to independently submit objections to prosecutorial decisions. Return of the criminal case to the lead investigator for additional procedural or investigative measures. The return of materials is accompanied by written instructions regarding the actions to be taken.
The powers of the head of the investigative body as an investigator conducting the case may include other duties and rights specified in other articles of the code, including administrative ones.
Administrative powers of the investigator
Like any senior official, the head of the investigating authority is an administrative person (manager). In this regard, in addition to the control and procedural powers, the head has a number of administrative powers.
The problems of exercising the powers of the head of the investigative body and their control in the sphere of management consist in the need, on the one hand, to correct the committed staff members of the oversights, and, on the other hand, to impose penalties for misconduct.
Administrative powers include the following:
- introducing submissions to the higher management regarding the promotion or attraction of subordinate employees to disciplinary forms of responsibility, as well as the submission of investigators to confer ranks of special types or promotion and so on;
- listening to reports and reports of investigators regarding interaction with employees of other bodies and services on issues of disclosure and investigation of crimes; fulfillment of goals set by the head and implementation of plans; introduction of new technologies, forensic methods and tools; issues of increasing the level of professionalism and skill;
- coordination of the work of investigation units with the prosecutor's office and its bodies, with other state bodies or institutions regarding the investigation of criminal cases;
- conducting a systematic analysis of the operational situation, the quality and condition of the work to investigate and solve crimes, the results of the work of the investigation units and each of the investigators separately; development and implementation of measures to improve the work of the preliminary stage of the investigation, as well as making proposals for consideration by a higher official;
- consideration of prosecutor's submissions, complaints, rulings of private courts on the actions of investigators or violations of the law in the criminal procedure, as well as taking appropriate measures to eliminate the violations;
- control over the prevention of the involvement of the investigator in the performance of duties that are not related to the investigation of criminal cases;
- preventing interference in the work and carrying out procedural measures of persons not authorized by law to do so;
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The powers of the investigating director include a large number of subgroups of duties and rights, which together allow a high-quality investigation of criminal cases and control over them.