Time limits in criminal proceedings
Definition 1
Deadlines in criminal proceedings are those established by the Code of Criminal Procedure. We have already completed our thesis
Criminal procedural acts, in more detail, the periods during which procedural actions are performed, or the periods during which one should refrain from carrying out these actions.
Procedural deadlines ensure the implementation of the objectives of the criminal process and the fairness of its implementation. Every citizen and person is guaranteed the right to trial within a reasonable time.
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Compliance with the procedural deadline, its restoration or extension directly depends on whose activities it regulates. The office work period intended for government bodies conducting a criminal case may include the period of technical transfer of documents. In cases established by law, this period may be extended (period of detention, inquiry, preliminary investigation, detention). In the actual procedural period intended for the parties, the time of technical transfer of documents is not taken into account. If before the expiration of the deadline, a petition, complaint or other document is submitted to an authorized official or to the post office, then the deadline is not missed. Actually, the procedural deadline must be restored by the official conducting the proceedings if it was missed for a good reason.
The execution of a decision appealed as a result of missing a deadline may be suspended at the request of interested parties until the issue of restoring the missed deadline is resolved.
Finished works on a similar topic
Course work The concept and types of procedural deadlines in criminal proceedings 440 ₽ Abstract The concept and types of procedural deadlines in criminal proceedings 280 ₽ Examination The concept and types of procedural deadlines in criminal proceedings 250 ₽
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Compliance with procedural deadlines in criminal proceedings plays an important social and legal role. Strict and strict adherence to the terms of the preliminary investigation and trial has significant educational and preventive potential, as it acts as an additional guarantee for the timely implementation of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of the participants in criminal proceedings.
Calculation of deadlines for checking a crime report and the procedure for their extension
The basic rules for calculating and extending procedural deadlines in criminal proceedings are enshrined in Art. Art. 128, 129 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. The overall production time should be reasonable. The limits of the extension of time, the reasonableness of the period of production is an element of a fair trial.
According to Part 1 of Art. 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the inquiry officer, the body of inquiry, the investigator, the head of the investigative body are obliged to accept, verify a message about any committed or impending crime and, within the competence established by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, make a decision on it within no later than 3 days from the date of receipt of the specified message. Thus, the period for checking a report of a crime in a criminal trial is the time established by law for performing procedural actions and making procedural decisions provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, in order to check the received report for the presence or absence of sufficient data indicating signs of a crime.
According to Part 1 of Art. 128 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the periods provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation are calculated in hours, days, months.
According to Part 2 of Art. 128 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the period calculated in days expires at 24 hours of the last day, i.e. at midnight (24 hours 00 minutes) of the last day.
When calculating the period in days, the part of the day that follows the legal fact entailing the passage of the period is taken into account. So, for example, if a report of a crime was received and registered in the Book of Accounting of Statements and Reports of Crimes, Administrative Offences, and Incidents (hereinafter referred to as KUSP) on March 22 at 11:15 a.m., then the deadline for consideration of such a report will be 24:00. minutes on March 24, that is, midnight from March 24 to 25.
If a report of a crime was transferred, taking into account territoriality, to another body with jurisdiction, then the verification period is calculated not from the date of receipt of the first report of the specified crime, but again - from the day it was received under jurisdiction.
If, for objective reasons, an internal affairs officer who has received an application (report) about a crime is unable to provide the duty station with information on the substance of the accepted application and message, the corresponding message or the original statement is transferred to the duty station upon the employee’s arrival at the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Russia. In this case, the period should be calculated not from the moment of registration of the crime report, but from the moment the law enforcement officer first received the crime report.
According to Part 2 of Art. 128 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, if the day on which the deadline for considering a report of a crime falls is a non-working day, then the end of the period, i.e. The last day of the term is considered to be the first working day following the non-working day. In accordance with Art. 112 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, non-working days in the Russian Federation are holidays (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 January, February 23, March 8, May 1 and 9, June 12; November 4), and the general on a day off, according to Art. 111 is Sunday. For the purpose of rational use of non-working holidays, weekends may be transferred to other days by federal law or a regulatory legal act of the Government of the Russian Federation, which is subject to official publication. So, for example, if the deadline for consideration of a crime report falls on December 11, December 12 is a holiday, therefore, in the three-day period for checking a crime report, one day - December 12 - may not be included (Article 128 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation).
In accordance with Part 2 of Art. 129 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the period can be extended only in cases and in the manner established by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.
According to Part 3 of Art. 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the head of the investigative body, the head of the inquiry body has the right, at the motivated request of the investigator, interrogating officer, to extend the three-day period for considering a report of a crime to 10 days. When making a decision to extend the period of a preliminary inspection, the head of the investigative body, the head of the inquiry body must carefully analyze the arguments of the investigator, the inquiry officer, the inquiry body about the impossibility of making a decision in a shorter period of time. Often, an increase in inspection time is associated with the need to receive answers to requests, obtain explanations from people who have important information due to their absence from their place of residence (illness, long business trip, etc.), completion of the study of a specialist or expert, completion of the audit ( the timing of which is not determined by law), etc. In this case, the 3 days used are included in the extended period.
The maximum period for carrying out verification actions upon reporting a crime is 30 days (Part 3 of Article 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). An extension of the period from 10 to 30 days can currently take place both if it is necessary to carry out documentary checks and audits, and if it is necessary to conduct forensic examinations, examine documents, objects, corpses, as well as conduct operational search activities. In this case, the used 10 days are included in the extended period, which expires at 24 hours of the last day. An extension of up to 30 days is made at the written request of the investigator by the head of the investigative body or at the request of the investigator by the prosecutor with a mandatory indication of the specific factual circumstances that served as the basis for such an extension. It is no coincidence that the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation demands that the period for verifying a crime report be extended to 30 days at the request of the investigator only if there are grounds provided for in Part 3 of Art. 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, with the obligatory clarification of specific, factual circumstances that served as the basis for extending the inspection period (clause 1.7 of Order No. 277 of September 5, 2011 “On the organization of prosecutorial supervision over the implementation of laws when receiving, registering and resolving reports of crimes in the authorities inquiry and preliminary investigation").
For example, receiving explanations from persons who are not witnesses to the crime (
Further extension of the time limit for verifying a crime report is not permitted.
The illegal and unjustified extension of the period for verifying a crime report, together with obvious red tape, impedes access to justice. Therefore, the applicant has the right to appeal to the court in accordance with Art. 125 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.
An example of satisfying a complaint in accordance with Art. 125 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation:
-Resolution of the Zaoksky District Court of the Tula Region dated April 13, 2021 in case No. 3/10-21/2016 (the decision of the senior investigator to initiate a petition to extend the period for checking a crime report to 30 days was recognized as illegal and unfounded).
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Types of procedural deadlines in the UP
Types of procedural deadlines in the CP are divided depending on the following grounds:
- by purpose, direction of influence on the organization of the CP, protection of the rights and interests of the parties: clerical deadlines (ensure the organization of the internal structure of the activities of investigative bodies, officials in criminal proceedings) and the actual procedural deadlines (ensure the rights and interests of the parties);
- depending on the subject that sets the period: established by criminal procedural legislation, determined by the decision of relevant officials and government bodies;
- according to the method of determination, deadlines are distinguished, which can be set by indicating: a specific expected event, a period of time, a specific calendar date;
- by the method of measuring the time interval: calculated in hours, days, months;
- depending on the addressee: addressed to officials or state bodies of criminal proceedings; addressed to other participants in the criminal process; addressed to persons who do not directly participate in the criminal process.
Procedural deadlines related to the activities of officials and government bodies must ensure the economical and rapid implementation of criminal proceedings, the protection of the rights and interests of all participants in the criminal process. These deadlines include: the deadlines for the preliminary investigation, filing charges, scheduling a trial, and completing and serving the minutes of the court hearing. Violation of the listed decision-making deadlines does not lead to negative criminal procedural consequences.
Deadlines focused on the activities of other participants in the process should prevent unjustified conscious “delaying” of the criminal process and should ensure the rights and interests of citizens taking part in the criminal case. These are the deadlines: filing various complaints and presentations, filing requests (petitions), providing additional materials to the court hearing, filing a civil claim, etc. The deadlines related to persons who do not participate in the process must ensure the elimination of the circumstances leading to the commission of a crime.
Some legal sources distinguish between time periods and time periods. Terms-periods are determined by a specific time period (period or duration). For example, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure (Articles 46, 91), it is necessary to interrogate a suspect no later than 24 hours from the moment of arrest. Timing moments are associated mainly with the onset of a criminal procedural event. For example, in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure (Article 173), the interrogation of the accused must take place immediately after the presentation of charges. The time of arraignment determines the moment of interrogation of the detainee.
Basic procedural deadlines at various stages of pre-trial proceedings
Each stage of criminal proceedings is characterized by its own set of procedural actions. In turn, each of these actions is limited to clear time intervals.
Despite the fact that the pre-trial stage begins from the moment a criminal case is initiated, procedural deadlines begin to apply much earlier. Thus, on the decision to initiate a case or to refuse to initiate it, the legislator in Art. 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation gives the investigator or inquiry officer 3 days, which are calculated from the date of receipt of the message about the crime (statement, report, etc.).
This period can be extended to 10, and in exceptional cases (for example, if it is necessary to conduct an audit, study documents or corpses) and up to 30 days.
Preliminary investigation
After the initiation of a case, the terms of the preliminary investigation depend on its form: the preliminary investigation is carried out within 2 months, the inquiry - 30 days. This “injustice” is primarily due to the complexity of criminal cases, for which a preliminary investigation is mandatory.
The investigation period may also be extended if necessary. But if the period of preliminary investigation can, in fact, last as long as desired (subject to compliance with the extension procedure established by Article 162 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation), then there is a deadline for the inquiry. It is 12 months, and then only if it is necessary to wait for the execution of a request for international legal assistance. In other cases, the maximum duration of the inquiry is 6 months.
The end of the investigation period, regardless of the form, is the day the criminal case is sent to the prosecutor with an indictment (act, resolution) or the day it is terminated.
Prosecutor's decision
The prosecutor who received the case with an indictment has exactly 10 days to make one of the 3 decisions provided for in Art. 221 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. Thus, based on the results of studying the materials, the prosecutor can:
- approve the indictment and send the case to court;
- return the case for additional investigation, drawing up a new indictment, reclassification of the actions of the accused or changing the scope of the charge;
- forward the case to a higher prosecutor (provided that it is within the jurisdiction of a higher court).
Taking into account the volume and complexity of the criminal case, the period for studying it can be extended to 30 days. This decision is made by the superior prosecutor.
The given time limits are valid for cases completed as a preliminary investigation. In cases where we are talking about inquiry, by virtue of Art. 226 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the prosecutor has only 2 days to make a decision without the right to extension.
