Problematic issues of regulatory approach of appealing actions or inaction of the prosecution in pre-trial criminal proceedings

The article examines the shortcomings of the legal regulation of appealing against actions or omissions of the prosecution in pre-trial criminal proceedings. It is stated that the content of the Criminal Procedure Law does not contain a list of procedural actions which are subject to appeal, thus narrowing the possibilities of protecting the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of participants to criminal proceedings. It is emphasized that the existence of judicial control only over the adoption of a procedural decision to conduct investigative (search) and other procedural actions is insufficient, since, given the observance of fundamental human rights and freedoms, a preliminary procedural decision may be lawful and justified. The author argues that in order to prevent the risks of violation of human rights, freedoms and legitimate interests when the prosecution conducts procedural actions involving the use of coercion, the criminal procedure legislation should provide for the grounds, conditions and circle of persons for appealing against procedural actions of the prosecution in pre-trial criminal proceedings. It is found that the problematic issue of implementing the mechanism for appealing against the inaction of an investigator or a prosecutor is the presence in the criminal procedure law of an indication of a clearly defined time limit for the relevant procedural action. It is noted that the statutory provisions on a number of procedural actions do not contain any indication of clear deadlines for their implementation, which prevents the prosecution from fulfilling its obligations, in particular, in terms of identifying circumstances which exonerate the suspect, mitigate his/her guilt, etc. The author suggests that, in order to eliminate these problems, the requirement for a specific procedural time limit for appealing against the prosecution’s inaction should be removed. Instead, it is necessary to enshrine a provision according to which it will be allowed to appeal against any inaction of the prosecution that violates the rights, freedoms or legitimate interests of participants in criminal proceedings and other interested parties.