Ensuring that the prosecutor implements the principle of legality during the notification of suspicion

Abstract

The article establishes that in criminal proceedings granting a person the procedural status of a suspect in committing a criminal offense is an important decision that requires the validity of the suspicion and control over the legality of its adoption. The problematic issues of ensuring the implementation of the principle of legality by the prosecutor during the notification of suspicion have been studied. It has been established that the prosecutor’s provision of legality during the notification of suspicion consists in: strict observance of the procedure established by law; ensuring the legal subject conducting the criminal process and reporting the suspicion; in getting to know the rights of the participants in the proceedings and ensuring their realization of these rights; as well as compliance with legal requirements regarding procedural terms. It was established that criminal prosecution before the decision to notify a person of suspicion is a direct violation of the implementation of the principle of legality, since the person has not acquired the criminal procedural status of a participant, which he actually is at the time of the proceedings, not in form, but in essence, according to the criminal procedural law. It was noted that a person who has not acquired the legal status of a participant in criminal proceedings cannot exercise his «legal» rights, in particular the fundamental right to defense. Attention is drawn to the fact that a general violation of the principle of the legality of criminal proceedings, with the acquisition of relevant grounds and notification to the person of suspicion, the criminal process must comply with another procedure established by law, which is manifested in a clear outline of the legal position of the defense party in criminal proceedings, counting of established procedural terms, etc. It was concluded that the prosecutor, who is the procedural head in a specific criminal proceeding, can supervise the observance of laws during the notification of suspicion, in the form of: a preliminary prosecutor’s counter, by approving the notification of suspicion, revision of previous procedural decisions of the investigator, inquirer, checking at the same time, the validity of the notification of suspicion; personal making of legal decisions at the pre-trial investigation, in particular in the form of notification of suspicion personally by the prosecutor. It was proposed and argued that it would be appropriate to set the time limit for preparation for the defense after notification of suspicion at least 14 days before the completion of the pre-trial investigation in one of the forms provided for by the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.