Problems of legality of investigative actions aimed at finding evidence

Abstract

The purpose of the article is a comprehensive study of the problems of establishing the guilt of a person in the offense committed by means of pre-trial investigation by investigators, prosecutors and other persons authorized to do so, as well as establishing the lawfulness of such procedural actions. According to the purpose, it is substantiated that the investigative review is a visual inspection by the authorized persons of the object with the purpose of revealing the traces of the crime, the objects related to its commission, as well as the information about the fact and mechanism of its commission reflected in the features of this object and other circumstances relevant to the proceedings. It is established that the factual basis for the review is primarily data that indicate the possibility of detecting on the body of the person traces of the offense or special signs. Its special procedural basis is the motivated decision of the prosecutor. Procedural actions such as corpse exhumation, investigative experiment and forensic examination have been considered and analyzed. In the process of researching the topic, the authors conclude that in Ukraine the legality and objectivity of investigative actions needs to be more clearly enshrined in law. In particular, the authors propose an additional list of objects of the investigative review and the definition of the investigative examination, the separation of the actual grounds for conducting the examination, the approval of the provisions on the mandatory participation of those understood during the exhumation of the corpse as the investigator, the definition and actual reasons for conducting the investigative experiment as an action, the purpose of which is the experimental verification or refinement of factual data obtained in the course of the investigation, as well as the determination and factual basis of the conduct and appointment of forensic expertise.