The content of the stage of instituting criminal proceedings

Legal science has no definite answer whether our criminal procedure needs the stage of instituting criminal proceedings. In my opinion, we need such a stage in Russian criminal procedure because it fulfills its own task. The task is stipulated by the specificity of criminal procedure which is rich in coercions and every investigative action interferes with the personal life of citizens. However, it is necessary to make such interferences justified. Consequently, the check of their reasonableness should be stated before investigative actions are taken. The task of such a check can be accomplished at the stage of instituting criminal proceedings. When being defined as unreasonable, investigative actions are prohibited. Therefore, the stage of bringing a case before the court serves as a guarantee against unreasonable interference in the life of citizens. The task above can be accomplished by taking some non-procedural actions which are typical for the stage under analysis. But it is necessary to undertake investigative actions in complicated cases. However, it is inadmissible to define the range of investigative actions subjectively, in the interests of only one agency; it should be supported by the scientifically valid criteria which include the following provisions. It is impossible to establish the grounds for instituting a criminal case beyond the framework of a definite investigative action. The degree of privacy intrusion should not contradict the purpose of the stage of instituting criminal proceedings. It is possible to undertake an investigative action under simple conditions of the above stage (in the absence of subjects involved in other stages, shorter terms etc.). The investigative action should result in the quality of admissibility to be used as evidence in the future. The investigative action taken at the stage under consideration should enable us to guarantee the rights and freedoms of citizens. This is the whole range of the proposed criteria.

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