Violation of the rules of subject matter jurisdiction in criminal proceedings

It is indicated that the problem of determining and changing the jurisdiction of a specific body of pre-trial investigation has always been relevant among Ukrainian procedural scientists and practical workers. In recent years, this topic has become extremely important, because the number of bodies authorized to conduct pre-trial investigations has increased in Ukraine. The author analyses the approaches of various procedural scholars to the definition of the category of «subject matter jurisdiction». The author notes that jurisdiction makes it possible to distribute criminal proceedings both between separate pre-trial investigation bodies and between separate units within one pre-trial investigation body. The jurisdiction of criminal proceedings is only one of the elements of competence which determines the subject matter of jurisdiction of a particular pre-trial investigation body. The relevance of the study of the investigative jurisdiction of criminal proceedings is due to the fact that in the science of criminal procedure there are numerous differences in approaches to understanding the essence of this legal category in general and ways to solve certain problems of delimitation of the competence of pre-trial investigation bodies in particular. The problems existing in law enforcement practice in determining the jurisdiction of criminal proceedings can hardly be explained solely by subjective factors, namely, by the misapplication of criminal procedure legislation by individual officials. The author focuses on the rulings of the Criminal Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court, which set out clear criteria for recognising a pre-trial investigation as effective. In addition, the author summarises the approaches proposed by scholars to the application of the provisions of the criminal procedure law regulating the institute of jurisdiction over criminal proceedings. The author examines the main components of the legal institute of criminal proceedings’ jurisdiction, their features and properties. It is also necessary to introduce restrictions on challenging the jurisdiction of criminal proceedings by participants to criminal proceedings, since this contradicts the general principles of criminal proceedings.