ПРОЦЕСУАЛЬНИЙ СТАТУС СЛІДЧОГО: ПРОБЛЕМНІ ПИТАННЯ

Abstract

The article examines the problematic issues of the procedural status of the investigator, the debatable question of the relationship between the terms «procedural status of the investigator» and «competency of the investigator». The purpose of the article is to study certain problematic issues of the investigator’s procedural status and make proposals for their solution. It is substantiated that the criminal procedural competence of the investigator is the legal envelope of his criminal procedural activity, which determines his criminal procedural status, which is defined by the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. Components of the investigator’s procedural status are the investigator’s functions, the investigator’s subject matter, and the investigator’s powers. The specified elements in their totality make up the content of the concept of «criminal procedural competence of the investigator». It is proven that the scope of criminal procedural competence means its substantive and quantitative content. The limits of the investigator’s competence only outline the circle of its elements, taken together or separately from each other. At the same time, each structural element of its competence has its limit. The investigator has no right to go beyond the procedural function of prosecution. The boundary of the investigator’s authority is the circle of his rights and duties, which the investigator is entitled to use to fulfill the tasks of his criminal procedural activity. The author gives arguments for introducing in all law enforcement agencies instead of the institute of investigators, the institute of detectives. The necessity in the current criminal procedural legislation and laws of Ukraine, which determine the competence of law enforcement agencies, to combine the functions of pre-trial investigation and operational-search activity into a single function of detective activity is substantiated, which will eliminate the problems of interaction between pre-trial investigation bodies and operational units and at the same time increase the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies in implementation of pretrial investigation of criminal offenses, strengthening of guarantees of the rights of all participants in criminal proceedings.