Procedural action in criminal proceedings

Procedural action - this is the name of the whole complex of measures permitted for production in the framework of criminal and civil law. The limits of the legality of these actions lie within the framework of the Civil or Criminal Code of a country. All activities 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, the procedural action can be called the actions envisaged by the law and the activities carried out in its framework, which are carried out by the citizens authorized to do this in the conduct of proceedings in a criminal case or materials.

The whole variety of procedural actions fits into certain principles, which serve as a guide in the administration of justice. Compliance with these guidelines ensures a thorough and thorough examination of cases in the judicial proceedings. All variety of basic procedural principles can be reduced to the following theses:

• Equality of all citizens before the law;
• Procedural equality of participants in the judicial procedure;
• A combination of collegial and one-person trial;
• Impartiality and independence of judges;
• Publicity and openness of the trial.

Preparatory Proceedings

Different categories of civil cases have their own specifics, which can be determined by the specifics of the case, difficulties in gathering evidence and others. The procedural action in the civil process is regulated by Article 142 of the CCP, it contains a list of all possible measures that can be taken in the preparation of the case. Persons authorized to act procedurally need not perform all the actions provided for in this article. Everything depends on the individual nuances of each case. For the judge, the procedural action is as follows:

• Resolution of the issue of joining the case of co-defendants, co-authors and other interested persons;
• Granting permission to apply for a court decision to an arbitration court with the right to explain the consequences of such an action;
• The right to call witnesses to all participants in the process;
• A procedural action consisting of conducting studies and necessary forensic examinations ;
• Dispatch of letters of committal ;
• Other actions.

Basic norms of 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 intended to apply to the court. The actions of the prosecution in this case are aimed at gathering evidence to support the plaintiff's claim. At the request of the parties, the judge shall demand material or written evidence from organizations or individuals. This rule is one of the principles of adversarial law, which in our time only begins to be realized in domestic legal proceedings. The judicial procedure in the case of civil suits is as follows:

• Demanding various proofs from the owner for the purpose of their forwarding to the court;
• Collection of evidence by court order;
• Providing evidence obtained through expert examination - 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 to the defendant a copy of the plaintiff's application and the documents attached to it, and notifies the place and time of the hearing of the case in this case. This provision allows the respondent to gather information explaining his position. Thus, one of the principles of procedural action is observed - the equality of the parties to the process, as is customary in modern jurisprudence.

criminal process

In the criminal process, each procedural action is reduced to a detailed, deep proving of certain facts selected for future consideration in court. The main method of conducting criminal proceedings is the analysis of collected evidence and facts. Procedural actions are used to gather evidence. This CCP refers to as investigative procedures necessary for the selection, evaluation and verification of evidence in the preliminary investigation.

The variety of investigative actions can be characterized as envisaged by the criminal procedural law and applied for the purpose of collecting and verifying evidence, an exercise that includes a set of cognitive, search and credentials that correspond to the traces of the crime. Also, the above activities should be adapted to the effective detection, perception and consolidation of necessary evidentiary information.

Basis of investigative actions

Any procedural action in a criminal proceeding is based on cognitive and certifying aspects. This is what distinguishes it from other procedural actions conducted by the investigator in the course of the case. All his actions and decisions are subordinated to certain procedural forms, which means that they are lawful, since they are directly based on criminal procedural laws.

For the investigator, the procedural action is a thorough and thorough investigation of the criminal case. In this sense, all the actions of the said authorized person can be called investigative. But the law still distinguishes between procedural and investigative action. The difference is that the investigative actions are aimed at collecting, evaluating and using the found evidence, but the procedural ones cover the whole procedure - from collecting evidence to analyzing material evidence in the courtroom.

What are investigative measures

The CCP investigates the procedural action as a basic procedure for criminal activity, which is subject to proper regulation by legislative norms. If the investigative measures are carried out with violations, the material evidence obtained in this way will not be accepted by the court. For any investigative actions, there are legitimate requirements provided for by the criminal procedure rules and applied to the procedure of each of their stages. The regulation of the investigative actions, their compliance with the legislative framework is determined by the following general conditions:

• Each investigative action must be carried out according to the decision of the body of inquiry and only after the official initiation of the criminal case.
• Investigative actions are taken if there are good reasons. For example, the investigation received information about the facts that determine the need to collect and verify the evidence base, so these facts are verified during investigative measures.
• The procedure and method for the commission of an investigative action and its procedural execution must be carried out in accordance with the law in force.
• The full responsibility for conducting the investigation lies with the official person who is authorized to investigate this criminal case.

Evidence base

The issuance of a resolution on the production of a case must be supported by evidence. The decision to conduct a certain investigative action is taken by the investigator or other person who has been authorized (sanctioned) by the prosecutor. Investigative actions can be conducted by order of the head of the investigation department or at the request of interested persons, for example, the accused, his counsel or the victim. The investigator decides on an individual basis whether it is worth taking a decision on the conduct of investigative actions or commencing a particular procedural action. If the application was rejected, this decision must be motivated by the investigator.

When considering minor administrative offenses, the law gives the right to conduct "other procedural actions". This COAP regulates quite clearly, but does not indicate what is meant by these activities. In general, they should be reduced to the definition of the evidence base of the committed offense, after consideration of which the case is either transferred to court, or closed.

System of investigative proceedings

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 entirely investigative. So, lawyers can not come to the opinion of whether the investigative actions are the following:

• Seizure of property;
• Exhumation of corpses;
• Reconstruction of the crime;
• Medical examination of the victim.

The difficulty lies in the fact that in carrying out these actions, the investigator respects the procedural norm of their production, but does not receive evidentiary information. For example, the fact of extracting a corpse from the place of its last rest, for example, proves nothing.

On the other hand, many procedural actions provided by law are quite suitable for obtaining evidence and can become part of the overall system of investigative actions. It:

• Detention of a suspect;
• Obtaining samples for a comparative laboratory study;
• Checking the available samples on site.

It follows that when a suspect is detained in the manner of art. 122 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, if this measure is in direct connection with the detected signs of a crime, the grounds, time and place of detention acquire evidentiary value.

Procedural terms

Any procedural action, for the fulfillment of which the deadline has been established, must be completed after the time allotted for the collection of the evidence base has expired. The terms of the procedural actions can be established by law, and can be appointed by the court. The procedural period is determined by the date, the indication of the perfect event or the period of time allotted for these actions.

The end of the procedural period depends on the order of calculation of the time allotted to the process. For example, if the procedural effect is stretched for several years, its end is the full date (date, month) of the last year of the entire period. If the period is calculated in calendar months, its end will coincide with the last month of the term.

The procedural action, the boundary period of which is established by procedural terms, can 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, these actions are not overdue, and the deadline for the completion of procedural procedures is not missed. But if the procedural action is to be carried out in a court or other public place, the terms of its termination depend on the final minute of the working time of this institution.

The right to conduct procedural measures is annulled after the expiration of the time established by law or appointed by the court. If judgments or documents submitted after the expiration of the procedural action are brought to court, they are not considered. The exception is the documents submitted after the application for an extension of the procedural terms, which was approved by the court.

Extension of term

If the proceedings on the case were suspended, the time for consideration of the case is also suspended. If it is renewed, the procedural time frame continues, and the deadline is postponed to a later date.

If the person responsible for the procedural action misses the deadline for valid reasons, the court may establish another date for the completion of the proceedings. An application for extension shall be submitted to the court in which the action was to be considered. All interested persons must be notified in advance of a possible extension of the procedural action. If they do not appear at court, this will not cause a failure to consider the case for procedural adjournment.

Simultaneously with the granting of an application for the extension of the period for procedural action, a petition may be submitted for challenging the extension or a complaint about deliberately delaying the investigation.