Author

Mazunin Ya.M., Mazunin P.Ya.

Title of article

Covert activities of the investigator: it’s time to recognize the reality

Section

Criminal рrocedural review

Issue, year

1 (31) 2015

Abstract

The problem of procedural interpreting the crime detection activities’ results is denoted. The crucial similarity and insignificant differences between wiretapping and talks monitoring and recording, interview and interrogation, studying the objects and documents and forensic examination, collecting and obtaining samples for comparative analysis are noted. The authors support the idea of granting the right to conduct both overt and covert investigative (detective) actions to the investigator and refute the view that the current Russian pre-trial proceeding is the investigator’s overt activities and crime detection bodies’ covert activities. It’s emphasized that procedural fixing of covert ways of collecting evidence by investigator is the solution to the problem of using the results of crime detection activities in proving. The reliability of information obtained as the result of such activities will have priority over its admissibility, and evidence content over its form. The tactics of conducting crime detection actions should remain a theory (not the subject of legal regulation). As an example, the provisions of Ukraine Criminal Procedure Code are considered. They provide the investigator’s right to conduct overt and covert investigative (detective) actions, and the right of operational units to conduct such actions by written request of investigator or prosecutor (it helped to get rid of the institute of bringing a criminal case). The legislative provisions guaranteeing the protection of investigation information from disclosure are discussed. It’s noted that investigators insufficiently use the right to secrecy of investigation, provided by existing legislation and allowing to conduct most of proceedings in covert way.

Keywords

preliminary investigation, investigator, covert activities, legal proceedings, crime detection actions.

References

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