Citizens of our country are biased towards representatives of law enforcement agencies and are trying in every possible way to avoid any contact with the police, even if there is a real threat to personal security. Nevertheless, at any moment a situation may arise when you cannot do without contacting the police, so it is important to know what to do in accordance with the law, how to draw up a criminal complaint, protect your interests and rights.
General rules
The Criminal Code provides for a number of situations where the police will respond to a signal only after receiving a statement, for example, when it comes to rape or fraud. Every citizen has the right to notify the police of an already committed crime or of its preparation.
It is best to report that a crime has occurred immediately by contacting 102. In this case, there is a better chance of finding a criminal. If the witness of the offense is at the scene, then you do not need to leave it before the arrival of the police.
If the offense is long-standing, then citizens will have to contact the police department with a statement about the initiation of a criminal case. The application may be submitted orally or in writing, by mail or by fax.
More often than not, citizens still turn in person. It is advisable to submit an application to the territorial office, which serves the area where the crime was committed. However, this is not the duty of a citizen, but only a right, so you can contact any police department.
How is the appeal accepted
If a citizen has come to the police, and wants to file an oral statement, then a representative of law enforcement agencies must take him under the protocol. That is, fix it on paper.
If a written application is filed to institute criminal proceedings (a sample is given below), then it can be drawn up at home or directly at the police station.
After its submission, the document must be registered in a special journal, and a notification coupon is issued to the applicant. If objective reasons do not allow the issuance of a ticket, the police officer is obliged to announce the registration number of the application. This number allows the applicant to trace the actions of the police, whether a criminal case has been opened, what decisions have been made on it and so on.
Grounds
The reason for initiating a criminal case may be confession. Or the case that the prosecutor was involved in, revealing violations that allowed him to initiate criminal proceedings. The basis for initiating a criminal case is also a written or oral appeal of a citizen of the country to the police. Moreover, it is completely unimportant in relation to whom the crime is absolutely, in relation to the applicant or another person. Such an appeal should contain information about an already committed offense or an impending crime. Moreover, each citizen of the country must remember that he is obliged to report a crime, but this must be done deliberately so that the police do not have the right to accuse the applicant of false denunciation.
Application Requirements
There are no clear requirements for police reports. Therefore, they are compiled in free form. But still you have to follow certain rules:
- the application for initiating a criminal case (the sample is given below) must contain information that the applicant is notified that if he deliberately makes a false denunciation, he faces criminal liability;
- full details of the applicant must be clearly stated, including passport details, date of birth and place of residence (registration);
- at the end of the document is signed and the date of compilation.
It is recommended to write a statement in a demanding form, but respectfully. The text should not contain obscene expressions and angry utterances. The circumstances in which the offense occurred do not need to be described in great detail, only facts and no fantasies.
Document structure
The application for initiating a criminal case (a sample can be taken from the police) is compiled according to the following structure:
- to the right, details of the police station where the document is submitted are registered at the top;
- the details of the applicant are indicated below;
- in the middle of the sheet the name of the document is indicated;
- after the name the essence of the statement is signed, that is, under what circumstances the applicant witnessed the offense or what actions the offender suffered;
- the requirement to institute criminal proceedings;
- applicant's signature, decoding F. I. O. and date.
Without fail, at the beginning of the application, after the title of the document, a separate paragraph should include information that the applicant is familiar with article 306 of the Criminal Code and is aware of the consequences of false accusations. This information can be written at the end of the document.
You should always remember that for a false accusation there are 3 degrees of responsibility. If we are talking about a charge for a moderate crime, the applicant can be fined up to 120 thousand rubles or imprisoned for up to 2 years. In the case of a charge of a serious or especially serious crime, then a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles or imprisonment of up to 3 years is threatened. If the applicant not only falsely accused the person, but also artificially created evidence, the first one can be sentenced to 6 years in prison or sentenced to forced labor for up to 5 years.
Sample of a criminal complaint:
To the chief ... police unit ...
(from) Name, details of the identity document, place of residence
Statement
I ask you to prosecute ... Name, surname. or an unidentified person ... .. which .... outlines the essence of the incident.
Regarding liability, a deliberately false denunciation under article 306 of the Criminal Code has been warned.
Applications ... if available ...
Signature Date
Time interval
Any applicant is interested in the question of how long to initiate criminal proceedings on the application. After submitting the appeal, a check is carried out for 3 days. This period is counted from the moment the application is registered with the police. In extreme cases, when the circumstances of the incident require additional and deeper consideration, the period may be extended to 10 days.
After this period, a decision is made. Depending on the results of the verification, the following decisions may be made:
- to institute criminal proceedings;
- about refusal;
- on transferring the case materials to another body for consideration, for example, to the Investigative Committee.
The preliminary investigation should be completed within 2 months and submitted to court. In extreme cases, with the approval of the senior management, the investigation can be extended for up to 3 months.
Classification
According to the requirements of article 20 of the Criminal Code, depending on the gravity and nature of the offense, prosecution under the law can be carried out in the following order:
- Private Offenses related to the infliction of light bodily harm fall into this category of cases. All crimes provided for by part 1 of article 115, part 1 of article 1116 and part 1 of article 128. The peculiarity of this category is that they can initiate proceedings only at the request of the victim. You can terminate such a case through reconciliation of the parties, but until the court goes to the deliberation room before the sentencing.
- Private public prosecution. Cases brought under Art. 131 (part 1.), 132 (part 1), part one of Article 146 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation and several others. Such cases can only be instituted at the request of the victim, but the termination of the case for reconciliation of the parties is not provided (exception - Article 25 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
- Public prosecution or all other types of offenses.
If a public or private-public accusation is made on behalf of the state, the prosecutor, the inquirer or the investigator acts as the prosecutor.