Certain aspects of the violation of the right to defense at the stage of notification of suspicion

Abstract

The article focuses on the study of certain aspects of the violation of the right to defense at the stage of notification of suspicion. In the process of investigating the subject it is emphasized that the prosecution's unjustified delay in the notification of suspicion deprives a person of the right to protection against criminal prosecution. It was established that the decision to make a notification of suspicion should be made without delay in order to timely acquire the procedural status of a suspect and, accordingly, provide the suspect with the opportunity to defend himself against criminal prosecution. It was determined that the right to defense at a pre-trial investigation is violated not only as a result of untimely (late) notification of a person of suspicion, but also as a result of premature completion of a pre-trial investigation after notification of a person of suspicion. It is indicated that the quick completion of the pre-trial investigation (immediately after the notification of suspicion) deprives the person, against whom criminal prosecution was carried out, to fully exercise his right to protection against the already actually completed criminal prosecution within the framework of the pre-trial stage. Amendments to part 2 of article 283 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, namely to provide for a mandatory minimum period of 14 days from the moment of notification of suspicion to the day of closing of criminal proceedings; petitioning the court to release a person from criminal liability; appeal to the court with an indictment, a request for the application of coercive measures of a medical or educational nature. Making such changes to the criminal procedural law will allow: to fully guarantee the observance of the right to defense at the stage of pre-trial investigation to persons subject to criminal prosecution; it is more rational to plan the conduct of the pre-trial investigation by the investigator/prosecutor; make a more balanced decision about notifying a person of suspicion. It was concluded that the right to protection violated at the stage of the pre-trial investigation cannot be compensated during the court proceedings, which leads to the unfairness of the criminal proceedings as a whole and the need to acquit the person on all charges.