MINSK, 11 February (BelTA) – The possibility of changing the procedure used to start criminal investigation should be discussed with heads of power-wielding agencies in May-June 2016. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the statement during the expanded participation session of the Investigation Committee on 11 February, BelTA has learned.
The head of state said: “Do we need it or not is the key question. Will the change be beneficial? If a radical change is needed, well, we will go for it. We just have to be sure that the change is necessary, beneficial and will produce a positive effect.”
“After studying the facts we will gather up and will make the decision or we will decline it and will never return to the matter,” said the Belarus President.
Alexander Lukashenko pointed out that people do not bother police with trifles. “People primarily bring their problems and pain to police. You cannot just bounce them. You may have to determine that the cause of the suggested investigation is not worth a dime, but you have to give some answer to the person. You may have to act upon the application without opening a criminal case,” said the head of state.
Alexander Lukashenko went on saying that police can then tell the person that the criminal case will not be opened. “But you have to somehow satisfy the person's request by some means, including talking to him or her or taking measures in the preliminary investigation phase. If a criminal case has to be opened, the interrogating officer has to take the matter up to the investigator,” said the Belarus President.
Alexander Lukashenko stressed that parameters used to evaluate the performance of investigators should not be limited to interests of one agency.
The possibility of discussing whether some criminal investigation procedures should be changed or not was raised by Belarusian Interior Minister Igor Shunevich during the session of the Investigation Committee. “People should not care what procedures we use. We get too many complaints in response to refusals to initiate criminal investigations,” he noted. The Interior Minister explained that some rejections come with the explanation “No prospects of court prosecution”. “Why do we need them? The entire world no longer does that. We stubbornly refuse to consider changing something in this matter,” said the official.
In turn, Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Valery Mitskevich pointed out that the current system was created back in the Soviet time. However, it has been seriously modernized since then. The system will have to be changed radically if the criminal case initiation stage is phased out. “If necessary, the option can be adopted if it fits the practice but it would be a very radical solution,” noted Valery Mitskevich.
Presiding Judge of the Supreme Court Valentin Sukalo noted that the criminal case initiation stage has been phased out in Ukraine among other countries. “It is a totally radical idea. Something we have not been accustomed to yet,” he added.
According to Prosecutor General Alexander Konyuk, the criminal prosecution process does not tolerate any indefiniteness. “But the role of the agency in charge of preliminary investigation in our process has not been determined. It seems to me that the preliminary investigation agency as a participant of the criminal prosecution process should make a concrete decision on the case and then forward it to the Investigation Committee,” he said.
