Review

The article raises issues relevant to law enforcement practice related to resolving problematic situations arising within the framework of criminal proceedings. In particular, recently the practice of bringing investigators to administrative liability under Article 185–8 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences for failure to comply with instructions and orders of the prosecutor-procedural manager has significantly increased.

The author turns to the genesis of the emergence of the above-mentioned issues and notes that the roots of its existence lie in the conceptual construction of the normative structure of procedural management by the prosecutor of pre-trial investigation, according to which the latter should be endowed with levers of influence over investigators. Having provided prosecutors with such a lever in the form of criminal liability, the legislator soon abolished it due to the critical attitude of law enforcement officers towards it and taking into account the obvious disproportionality of this means of disciplining the investigator. However, practice began to overcome the gap that had arisen by searching for a new means of influence on the investigator by the prosecutor and found it in the form of bringing investigators to administrative liability.

In the article, the author defends the position according to which such practice does not correspond to the essence of administrative justice, which establishes liability for offenses committed in the sphere of public administration. The relationships that arise between the investigator and the prosecutor arise and develop within the framework of criminal procedural legal relations, and not within the framework of public administration.

Based on the research conducted, the author concluded that it is necessary to resolve the situation in the application of the law and eliminate erroneous judicial practice, which will lead to the elimination of the legal gap, ensure a balance in the relationship between the prosecutor and the investigator, and also minimize potential conflicts between representatives of the prosecution.

Keywords: criminal proceedings; criminal procedural legal relations; procedural guidance of pre-trial investigation; prosecutor; investigator; detective; inquiry officer; criminal procedural legislation; prosecutor’s orders and instructions.