| Abstract [eng] |
Scientific problem. Not a single area of human activity goes without organization. This process is also tightly linked with the activity of every institution. Seeking to achieve efficient activity results, organization as a process is based on identification of particular links, establishment of relations, use of measures, and determination of contents of certain work. The concept of organization lies within the unity of all employees of an institution for the purposes of achieving general objectives, as well as within establishment, coordination and arrangement of certain activity. The existence of various conceptions or notions of organization enables to say that the aim of organizing is to regulate particular internal and external processes efficiently. Whereas the main task of organizing is to identify the balance between differentiation and coordination, to optimize the activity of an institution, to give grounds for the enhancement of its efficiency by choosing optimal management structure, proper competent people, work forms and methods, as well as by planning sufficient resources, etc. Therefore, it may be proposed that organization structures the work and forms a cohesive whole. Investigation of criminal offences is a complex, multistage process, which becomes impossible without proper coordination of activity of all pre-trial investigation subjects. Within this process, officers of several law-enforcement institutions cooperate both inside their institutions (internal relations), and with employees of other bodies (external relations). Without such relations, it would be impossible to regulate the process of investigation and as a result to have criminal offences successfully investigated. Recently, it has been observed that procedural functions of pre-trial investigation subjects, as well as separation, planning, division and cooperation of these functions are a prerequisite for an effective pre-trial investigation. Provisions on the organization of an effective pre-trial investigation are also essential for the implementation of the guidelines of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania that the regulation on criminal procedure may not serve as the basis for the delay of pre-trial investigations or hearings of criminal cases, as well as for the misuse of procedural and other rights by criminal procedure participants. Therefore, concentration of common efforts (cooperation), definition of powers of pre-trial investigation subjects, their coordinative actions, insurance of their qualification and competence, and other factors provide pre-trial investigation subjects with a possibility to work purposefully and to pursue common objectives – to get criminal offences investigated quickly, effectively and in within the shortest possible time limits. Recently, it has been observed that the number of some criminal offences has increased . With regard to the dynamics of criminal offences, law-enforcement institutions working in the field of prevention and fight against crime should pay notable amount of attention to the speed and level of crime investigation, as well as to the enhancement of organizational work in 2011. Therefore, an increase of the process of pre-trial investigation organization efficiency becomes a high priority for all law-enforcement institutions. Pre-trial investigation organization efficiency problem raised in this doctoral thesis is highlighted by analysing the possibilities for ensuring the powers of pre-trial investigation subjects, their cooperation, qualification and competences through the areas of legal regulation and practical application of criminal procedure, as well as through the prism of criminalistics, management and educology. Novelty of dissertational research. The final report – Dynamics, tendencies of prognosis and modern criminalistics concept of crime in Lithuania – of 2003 highlights that new Criminal Procedure Code is at the same time new goals of criminalistics tactics. Seeking to ensure an effective, rational, prompt and useful investigation of criminal offences, it is necessary to continue the research of criminal procedure and modelling of its optimal forms. Certainly, 8 years after the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as CPC of the Republic of Lithuania) had come into force, the need to overview pre-trial investigation organization procedure and its legal regulation has emerged. Changing legal provisions also have an impact on the procedure of pre-trial investigation organisation. Due to an active dynamics of legal provisions – during the eight-year period provisions of CPC of the Republic of Lithuania have been constantly amended and supplemented – effective forms of pre-trial investigation organisation are still being sought. During this period, the Public Prosecutor General of the Republic of Lithuania has approved several recommendations on pre-trial investigation procedure. Besides, the analysis of police activity reports from recent years shows that most of the essential problems of police activity are related to decrease of personnel and increase of workload for serving officers, decrease of police funding, increase of criminal offences, suspension of officers’ qualification development processes, slow development of legal basis. These changes encourage looking for optimal forms and methods of organising pre-trial investigations, and for application of these forms and methods in practice. Seeking to review the role and importance of criminalistics tactics in the process of investigation of criminal offences, it is essential to identify main directions of development and realization of modern criminalistics, name basic problems, arising during the organisation of and cooperation within a pre-trial investigation, and evaluate the problem of competences in it. Having analysed and evaluated these aspects, it is expedient to make proposals on how to improve the process of organising a pre-trial investigation. Noteworthy to say that after new procedural provisions had come into force, the content of tasks of criminalistics tactics changed. Certainly, the main task of experts of criminalistics tactics is to prepare recommendations and create tactical methods facilitating methodological investigation of criminal offences, as well as rational organisation and effective performance of a pre-trial investigation. It might be said that these tasks of criminalistics tactics have also become the priority problem of modern criminalistics. However, the need to create new recommendations, related to the changes of procedural provisions–for instance, in the area of pre-trial investigation organisation – emerged. Such demand was influenced not only by the change of roles of pre-trial investigation officer or prosecutor, but also by the appearance of pre-trial investigation judge as a process participant. The content of the provisions regulating the organisation of pre-trial investigation, the content of powers of pre-trial investigation subjects and the peculiarities of their cooperation, and the aspiration of an effective process of pre-trial investigation organisation have basically influenced the revision of the organisational process of pre-trial investigation and encouraged to provide effective ways of its optimisation by suggesting to create a new model of organising a pre-trial investigation. During the application of provisions of CBC of the Republic of Lithuania, there are numerous situations at issue, which are further explained in recommendations of the Public Prosecutor General of the Republic of Lithuania. Later on, these recommendations have been repeatedly amended, departmental legal acts of other institutions, regulating issues of pre-trial investigation organisation, have been adopted. Many adopted legal acts, regulating issues of organising a pre-trial investigation, provides for a reasonable discussion on whether a recommendation as a legal act is effective and correct. In our opinion, creation of such recommendations, other departmental legal acts, regulating issues of pre-trial investigation organisation, stimulates a discussion on whether these legal acts correspond to each other, and whether such method of regulation is sufficient in order to organise a proper pre-trial investigation. CPC of the Republic of Lithuania regulates various actions of pre-trial investigation subjects. And in order for these actions to be performed properly and effectively, it is essential to have a clear and definite legal regulation. CPC of the Republic of Lithuania vests public prosecutor with wide latitude of powers. In practice, however, the conflict of powers of a pre-trial investigator and those of a prosecutor may be noticed. Adding to that, research results revealed that a pre-trial investigator often performs pre-trial investigation actions which are solely within the competence of a public prosecutor, drafts various procedural documents in the name of a prosecutor. In the new CPC of the Republic of Lithuania, the function of organising a pre-trial investigation is vested exclusively within the competence of a public prosecutor. The status of a pre-trial investigation officer is also changed. In the previous CPC, pre-trial investigator has been given a wide range of powers and independence, whereas now this subject of pre-trial investigation is no independent enough in planning and organising work. However, recent changes in the CPC – for instance, on imposition of mild measures – shows that the broader scope of procedural independence is being returned to a pre-trial investigator. Scholars and practitioners debate on how to enhance the procedure of organising a pre-trial investigation, whether the cooperation between pre-trial investigation subjects is effective, whether their competence is sufficient for ensuring a high quality performance of operational, pre-trial investigation actions,. |
