Optimization of the composition of participants in criminal pre-trial proceedings

Alongside establishing the procedure for criminal proceedings, a primary objective of criminal procedure legislation is to precisely define the legal status and procedural powers of participants in criminal procedure relations. This involves setting the boundaries of their rights and obligations. Accordingly, particular emphasis should be placed on delineating the subject matter of criminal proceedings by devising a plan to enhance their position, role, and procedural status. The aim of the study is to scrutinize legal issues concerning the exercise of procedural powers by various participants in criminal proceedings and to explore avenues for enhancing the composition of criminal pre-trial proceedings. The article delves into matters concerning the procedural role of the investigator and examines their interaction with the procedural leader and the prosecutor. Special attention is paid to the procedural status of the person in respect of whom a crime report is being checked, the problem of criminal prosecution when checking a crime report is revealed, the roles and functions of an educator and a psychologist are investigated. In addition, the author substantiates the idea of expanding the range of participants in the pre-trial stages. The methodological framework of this work encompasses principles from the general scientific method of cognition, including formal logic, generalization, analysis, and description. It also draws upon methodologies from the fields of general theory of law, criminal procedure, criminology, psychology, pedagogy, logic, and other related sciences. As a result, the following conclusions were drawn. When exploring the primary issues concerning the enhancement of participants' procedural status in pre-trial proceedings, the author proposes considering the following provisions: shifting departmental procedural oversight and prosecutorial supervision in favor of the latter and establishing a unified format for preliminary investigation; engaging the suspect at the initial stage of a criminal case; elucidating the purpose and function of involvement by educators and psychologists in the case; broadening the subject composition by granting individual participants procedural petitioner status.