Modern preliminary investigation as a form of pre-trial proceedings in a criminal case: its properties and distinctive features

The issues of procedural regulation of preliminary investigation in domestic criminal procedure are among the most discussed among legal scholars and practitioners. This is due to the rapid changes in social relations, which necessitate the optimization and enhancement of the effectiveness of preliminary investigation and inquiry bodies. The authors believe that to resolve a number of existing problems in law enforcement practice, certain steps are required to amend specific provisions contained in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, i.e., legislative initiative is needed, which cannot be effectively implemented without conducting a comparative legal analysis. The aim of this work is, based on general scientific, logical, comparative legal, and formal legal methods, as well as structural analysis of scientific research, to study and analyze the existing definitions of «preliminary investigation», «inquiry», and «forms of preliminary investigation» in criminal procedure science, and their legal regulation in the articles of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, with the goal of developing critical remarks regarding the contradictions present in the legislation. To achieve this goal, the following tasks have been defined: to analyze each of the forms of preliminary investigation; to identify the main similarities and differences between preliminary investigation and inquiry by designating comparison criteria, as well as to form personal opinions regarding the existence of «duality» in preliminary investigation within the Russian criminal process. Conclusion. Preliminary investigation and inquiry are endowed with both common features and significant differences, which are dictated by their functional purpose. Thus, inquiry represents a simplified and accelerated form of criminal case proceedings, which contributes to reducing the workload on investigative units. In turn, preliminary investigation is focused on investigating complex cases where more procedural resources are required for a complete and comprehensive study of all circumstances of the incident.