PROCEDURAL AND NON-PROCEDURAL DECISIONS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Abstract

The article is dedicated to clarifying the essence of procedural and non-procedural decisions in criminal justice and identifying the grounds for their differentiation. The law-enforcement nature of procedural decisions made by authorized entities is substantiated. A restrictive approach to interpreting the provisions of Part 1, Article 110 of the CPC of Ukraine is proposed, under which only law-enforcement authoritative decisions of the entities listed in this norm are deemed procedural. The position of domestic scholars is supported, arguing that other participants in criminal proceedings, including parties to proof (suspects, accused persons, defense attorneys, victims, etc.), are not law enforcers, and their decisions, accordingly, are not procedural within the meaning of Articles 94 and 110 of the CPC of Ukraine. The primary types of procedural decisions by the prosecution and the court are examined. The first category includes law-enforcement decisions made by investigators, inquiry officers, detectives, and prosecutors that directly impact procedural relations, establish (or modify) the rights and obligations of participants in judicial proceedings, regardless of the procedural form of such acts (e.g., decisions in the form of a ruling prescribed by law, as well as decisions to enter information into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations, conduct investigative (search) actions, issue notifications of suspicion, draft and deliver indictments, written instructions, etc.). Procedural decisions of the court include judgments, rulings, and orders prescribed by law, as well as other law-enforcement acts, including decisions to initiate specific judicial actions. Non-procedural decisions are recognized as those of the prosecution and the court that do not have a law-enforcement nature, meaning they do not establish rights and obligations of other participants in criminal proceedings based on state-authoritative powers and do not confer evidentiary value on certain information. This category also includes all decisions (volitional acts) made by other participants in criminal proceedings.