The Role and Place of the Inquirer in the General Social Prevention of Criminal Offenses

The article defines the role and place of the inquirer in the general social prevention of criminal offenses. It has been proven that the general social directions of preventing criminal offenses by the inquirer consist in the implementation by the official of the inquiry unit of the activity defined at the regulatory and legal level, which, with the use of procedural and non-procedural measures of influence, is aimed at increasing the level of effectiveness of the implementation of criminological security measures by identifying, neutralizing, blocking, eliminating causes and conditions of illegal activity, carrying out an educational influence on the offender with the further creation of prerequisites for the implementation of special criminological and individual preventive measures. The system-forming features that make up the content of this concept include the following: 1) it is the activity of inquirers, which is defined at the regulatory and legal level; 2) this activity is aimed at neutralizing, blocking, eliminating, etc. determinants that contribute to the commission of criminal offenses; 3) general social prevention of criminal offenses carried out by inquiry bodies, aimed, among other things, at increasing the level of effectiveness of state social policy implementation. Within the framework of general social directions of prevention, with the aim of consolidating the preventive function in the criminal process, part 1 of Art. 91 of the Criminal and Procedural Code of Ukraine should be supplemented with the following clause: «8) reasons and conditions that contributed to the commission of criminal offenses», as well as new articles: Art. 92-1 «Circumstances to be established when proving the causes of a criminal offense», Art. 92-2 «Submission of the inquirer, investigator, prosecutor in criminal proceedings». Key words: inquiry, inquirer, criminal offense, criminological security, determinants (causes and conditions), prevention, general social level.