DEMANDING AND RECEIPT OF THINGS AND DOCUMENTS IN THE SYSTEM OF PROCEDURAL ACTIONS

Abstract

According to Article 93 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, one of the ways to collect evidence by the parties to criminal proceedings is to demand and receive from public authorities, local governments, enterprises, institutions and organizations, officials and individuals things, documents, information, expert opinions, audit opinions and inspection reports. However, in practice, both the prosecution and the defense constantly have problems with the latter's exercise of their powers to demand information, documents and things (in accordance with Article 93 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine), which leads to repeated refusals to provide them. First of all, this is due to the fact that the current Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine does not provide methods and procedures that the prosecution and defense can use to exercise the above powers. In this regard, today there is an urgent need for clear, scientifically sound provisions for obtaining evidence in accordance with Article 93 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. The attribution of the demand for things and documents to the methods of gathering evidence took place against the background of the reform of the entire criminal process in Ukraine, in the process of which certain pre-existing institutions were excluded or significantly transformed. In addition, in connection with the extension of the adversarial principle, the right to gather evidence was given not only the prosecution but also the defense (Article 22 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine). An unconditional and correct way to solve the outlined problems is to make appropriate changes to the current national legislation in order to resolve disputed legal relations between the participants in criminal proceedings, as well as to introduce a simplified procedure for obtaining information (as opposed to temporary access to things). In particular, it is necessary to improve the wording of Article 93 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine, providing a clear procedure for appealing to the parties to criminal proceedings with written requests for information, documents and things, mandatory components of claims, their form, procedure and timing of compliance, as well as instructions on liability for non-compliance.