Art. 150 of the Code of Criminal Procedure with the latest amendments and comments

In Art. 150 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides detailed information on the types of preliminary investigation, as well as an exhaustive list of criminal cases for which it is carried out in one form or another. The content of the norm varies regularly, sometimes several times a year. What is the essence of this article, what is a preliminary investigation, what kind of form it may take, and what its goals are - read more about this in the article.

Preliminary investigation: concept

Most of the criminal cases the court can not consider immediately, for this they should be properly prepared. If preliminary work in the civil process is of a rather simple nature and is conducted not only by the court, but also by the parties, then a number of factors impede the criminal course of events. Establishing actual guilt often complicates the non-obvious character of many crimes, various kinds of opposition from the guilty and accused persons, etc. That is why the accuser can not formulate his demands at once in the final form. Immediately it is necessary to find out the traces of the crime and consolidate them, establish the suspect and find him, collect and then check the evidence, arguments, determine the subject of the dispute (criminal law) and in the end ensure the presence of the accused at the trial. As a rule, all this requires quite a lot of time and effort. In other words, a preliminary investigation is required, which has two forms defined in art. 150 CCP. It is carried out by special state bodies endowed with special powers and resources. In the Russian criminal trial, a preliminary investigation is the leading form of pre-trial preparation of the case. Only in criminal cases relating to a private prosecution, not a public one, instead of it preparation for the trial is carried out by the victim with the help of a justice of the peace.

Objectives of the preliminary investigation

Before proceeding to consideration of the forms of preliminary investigation indicated in art. 150 CCP, we should dwell on the goals and tasks that it poses for itself. What is their difference? Goals are, in fact, the expected result, which, perhaps, will not be achieved in a particular case, and tasks are the responsibility of all participants in the relevant process. For various reasons, the case may remain uncovered, the offender not caught, evidence not collected, and so on.

So, before the process of preliminary investigation on any case, the following goals are:

• solve the crime;
• To expose the guilty person or to rehabilitate the innocent person;
• Ensuring the personal presence in the court of the accused;
• Formation of evidence base in the amount sufficient to conduct proceedings in court;
• Ensuring that the court can make a decision on compensation for harm caused by crime, damage.

Tasks of preliminary investigation

To achieve the above goals, the following tasks are set before the bodies that implement the preliminary investigation (Article 150 of the Code of Criminal Procedure):

• Search, collection and investigation of evidence;
• Ensuring the guaranteed right of defense available to the suspect and accused;
• If necessary, the implementation of coercive measures (procedural);
• Termination or transfer of the case to court, or termination of criminal prosecution.

On the forms of preliminary investigation

Any procedural form, being a set of bases, procedures, conditions and guarantees, has a feature - the ability to differentiate. In other words, it can be divided into different components according to the nature of criminal cases. Differentiation can go in two ways: towards simplification or complication. Preliminary investigation is also a separate stage, and it has its own procedural form. As can be seen from art. 150 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation (with the last changes it is necessary to get acquainted in the original source), it can differentiate towards simplification - this inquiry or complications is a consequence. Let us dwell on each form in more detail.

Preliminary investigation

Under the preliminary investigation we understand the most complete, all-encompassing form by which a preliminary investigation can be conducted. It provides, to the maximum extent, a guarantee of establishing the true circumstances of the crime, as well as realizing the rights of the participants in the process. It is also the main one. Preliminary investigation is conducted in all criminal cases, exceptions are only those that are directly specified in Part 3 of Art. 150 CCP, as well as those that were initiated in the order of private prosecution.

The investigators of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (SC of Russia - the structure was formed on the basis of the same-name body at the Prosecutor's Office in 2011), the internal affairs bodies, and the FSB are authorized to conduct it.

Characteristics of the inquiry

The inquiry is a simplified form of investigation (preliminary). It can be carried out by the investigator or investigator in the category of criminal cases where the conduct of the investigation is not necessary. For a simplified form of investigation (inquiry), the basis and conditions are the small danger of a criminal act. As a rule, it takes place for crimes of medium and small severity, an exhaustive list of which is presented in art. 150 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. With the latest changes, the second condition that was previously present in the norm, on which the case could be transferred to the inquiry, was ruled out. This was the small complexity of the investigation, which depended on the availability of evidence. In this regard, the inquiry was conducted mainly on the so-called "disclosed" criminal cases, which were brought against a specific person.

One of the important conditions for a successful investigation is the correct choice of its form. In this case, the production of an inquiry in lieu of the preliminary investigation laid on all grounds should be regarded as a significant violation of the CPC norms, which contains direct instructions on this matter.

Art. 150 CCP RF: the content

This provision in part one indicates that a preliminary investigation can be conducted in the form of an investigation or inquiry. The latter in particular can be carried out in abbreviated form or in the general order.

The range of criminal cases for which a preliminary investigation is to be conducted is defined in the second part of the rule. It does not contain specific articles of the Special Part of the Criminal Code, but it says that this form of investigation is applied in all cases, except for those that are regulated by part three.

Turning to paragraph 1 of part 3 of Art. 150 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, we see that it contains a direct indication of the law on the criminal charges of public accusations. The list is quite voluminous and includes in particular: abandonment in danger, illegal deprivation of liberty (simple composition), negligent storage of weapons (gunshot), cruelty to animals, vandalism, etc.

In addition, according to the second paragraph of part three of the considered norm, an inquiry is possible and for other (not specified in part 1) cases of medium and small gravity, if there are written instructions of the prosecutor. With his own permission, in accordance with Part 4 of this article, all criminal cases listed in paragraph 1 can be transferred for conducting a preliminary investigation.

About changes

Changes in Art. 150 CCP RF occur quite often. If you look at the statistics, you can see that the text of the rule changes almost every year. For example, in 2011 the changes were carried out three times, in 2012 - 5, in 2015 - 6, in 2016 - 6. As the criminal law norms are updated, the comments to them also change.

In the previous year, the amendments dealt with part two of the article. The list of criminal cases on which an inquiry is to be conducted has been repeatedly supplemented with new norms. The amendment of the Criminal Code, as a rule, entails the introduction of innovations in the Criminal Procedure Code. When dealing with legislation, it is important to keep track of all the innovations that are being prepared.