The improvement of the procedural order for checking the reasons and grounds for initiating a criminal case

Introduction: the range of tasks facing the stage of initiating a criminal case is quite diverse, which leads to different interpretations of their content by the scientists-processualists. The authors of the paper assess the problems of determining the reasons and grounds for initiating a criminal case. The problem considered by the authors of the manuscript is relevant because of their insufficiently clear legislative definition and their related ambiguous interpretation. The purpose of the study: to identify the problems that hinder the improvement of the procedural order for checking the reasons and grounds for initiating a criminal case. The research objectives: to analyze the points of view of the scientists-processualists about the expediency of eliminating the first stage of the criminal process; to offer some recommendations for transforming the stage of initiating a criminal case. Methods: the methodological framework for the study is represented by a system of methods of scientific cognition, which should include: general scientific, systemic, institutional, and comparative legal. Results: the paper provides an assessment of the position of some researchers specializing in criminal procedure law on the need to eliminate the stage of initiating a criminal case, which the authors of the paper do not share, citing the following arguments: the considered stage of the criminal process acts as a kind of filter that separates the law enforcement agencies from procedural activities for the analysis of information that does not hide the signs of a criminally punishable act; will cause an increase in the burden on investigators and interrogators; the burden on the federal budget will increase due to the procedural costs. Conclusions: considering the possibilityof improving the stage of initiating a criminal case, borrowing the experience of the representative countries of the Anglo-Saxon legal system, the authors of the paper conclude that as a result of this, the procedural status of some participants in the criminal process will change, which is alien to the Russian criminal procedure legislation: the replacement of the functions of the investigator by the prosecutor and the court; the exercise of the function of the body of inquiry by the investigator; the acquisition by the defender of the status of the subject of proof on a par with the investigator and the inquirer. It is noted that the attempt of the legislator to give evidentiary value to the information obtained during the pre-investigation check as an independent reason for initiating a criminal case was not successful.