The pre-trial stage is the part of criminal proceedings between the opening of the case and the start of the court proceedings. During the pre-trial stage, the police, other criminal prosecuting body or the prosecutor lead your case.
Criminal prosecution
The criminal prosecution stage is the pre-trial stage of criminal proceedings when the prosecution body are trying to establish what happened in the case. It will be carried out by the police, the prosecutor or by another special body, like a specialized anti-corruption body, depending on various criteria, such as the type of offence, its severity or the status of the offender. The prosecutor is responsible for carrying out or leading the investigation and therefore all complaints about the actions of the members of the investigation team should be addressed to the prosecutor.
example If you think that the actions of a police officer in the framework of the criminal prosecution have violated your rights then you should submit a complaint to the prosecutor in charge of your case.
If you think that your rights have been violated by certain actions or decisions of the investigator leading your case, you should submit a complaint to the same prosecutor in charge of your case.
example If the investigator has refused to allow you to participate in some of the investigative actions without giving reasons for such a decision, you can submit a complaint to the prosecutor in charge of your case.
When the prosecutor considers, eventually at police proposal, that the accumulated evidence is conclusive and sufficient to prove that the offence was committed by a certain individual, the prosecutor will issue an ordinance on bringing of official criminal charges. At this stage, if additional gathered evidence or procedural activities lead to the same conclusion of an offence committed by a certain individual, the case is prepared for court and the prosecutor will issue the indictment. If you think that certain actions or decisions of the prosecutor are unlawful and violate your rights, you should submit a complaint to a higher-ranking public prosecutor. If you do not know who the higher-ranking prosecutor is, you may also lodge your written complaint with the same challenged prosecutor, which will forward your complaint to the higher-ranking responsible prosecutor.
example If the prosecutor has denied you access to the case file, you should submit a complaint to a higher-ranking prosecutor directly or by lodging the complaint to the same challenged prosecutor.
The higher-ranking prosecutor’s ordinance may be appealed to the investigative judge. Only certain decisions of an investigative judge issued in the framework of complaint procedures against prosecution bodies’ acts can be appealed. Namely, following investigative judge’s decisions on challenges against prosecutor’s ordinances are subject to appeal to the relevant Court of Appeal:
- on refusal to start the criminal investigation
- on surrender of suspicion or charges towards a specific person
- on closer of the criminal investigation
- on cessation of the criminal case
- on resumption of the criminal investigation
Procedures and time limits
All decisions that can be appealed, as a general matter of practice, contain information about the procedure and the time-limits for their appeal. Nevertheless, you should always see the exact provision of the law or consult your lawyer to countercheck the applicable time-limit.
important It is very important to observe the time limits allowed for these types of claims. According to the Criminal Procedure Code, the decisions of the prosecutor can be appealed to the higher-ranking prosecutor within 15 days of the date that you received the decision. If you want to complain about ordinance of the higher-ranking prosecutor or their lack of response, you should submit the complaint to the investigative judge within 10 days of the day you found out about that ordinance or should have received the response respectively. If the investigative judge’s decision on challenge against prosecutor’s ordinance is subject to appeal (see the list above), you must submit you application within 15 days from the delivery.
Reasonable length of criminal prosecution
If you consider that criminal prosecution risks exceeding reasonable time, you should write an application to the investigative judge requesting acceleration of the criminal prosecution.
As well, if you believe that criminal prosecution has been unreasonably long, you may also ask a civil court to state on violation of your right to a trial within a reasonable time and afford you a pecuniary compensation in accordance with the specific Law.
Complaints about the actions in breach of prosecutor’s professional ethics and discipline
If you want to complain about certain actions in breach of professional ethics and discipline (but not decisions) of a prosecutor, you should submit a complaint to the Superior Council of Prosecutors.
example If a prosecutor has used derogatory language against you during the proceedings, you should complain about that to the Superior Council of Prosecutors.