Special pre-trial investigation (in absentia): analysis of individual issues regarding the decision-making process

Thearticleisdevoted tothe study of certainissues of the essence of the special pre-trial investigation (in absentia) (SDR) as an extraordinary procedure of pre-trial investigation, which is carried out in relation to persons suspected of committing crimes defined in the Criminal Code and who are hiding from the investigative bodies and the court in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine , on the territory of a state recognized by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as an aggressor state, for the purpose of evading criminal responsibility and/or declared an international wanted person, in order to ensure the effective pre-trial investigation and the inevitability of punishment of such persons and the observance of their rights and legitimate interests. Special attention is paid to the issue of the procedure for making a decision on SDR and its implementation in the case when a person is suspected of committing several criminal offenses for which the law both provides and does not provide for the possibility of SDR. Based on the analysis of the circumstances of one real criminal proceeding, the author’s opinion is expressed regarding a number of theoretically and practically significant questions, the answers to which are important not only for this, but also for other similar proceedings. So, in particular, it is a well- founded position that the prosecutor, investigator, detective cannot arbitrarily extend the SDR regime in relation to criminal offenses suspected of having been committed after the decision of the investigating judge to grant permission for SDR and when this decision did not mention the commission of such offenses. The SDR regime can be extended to other «new crimes» in proceedings in which such a decision has already been made, in the order of a new appeal under the conditions specified in the law. An opinion was expressed regarding: the detective’s action algorithm in the event that, during the SDR, it is established that the suspect in this proceeding also committed other criminal offenses; the consequences of the detective’s actions regarding the decision to combine the materials of criminal proceedings and the extension of the SDR regime to «new» criminal offenses; the possibility of carrying out SDR of criminal misdemeanors.