DETENTION BY THE AUTHORIZED OFFICER: LEGISLATIVE «LABYRINTS» AND REALITIES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT PRACTICE
Authors:   Dnipropetrovsk State University of Internal Affairs, Ukraine, Rohalska Viktoriia , Fomina Tetiana ,   Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs, Ukraine
Published: May 2022

The problems related to the procedure of detention by an authorized official without the decision of the investigating judge or court, of a person suspected of committing a crime have been studied, namely: the uncertainty about who is authorized to detain persons under Art. 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine; lack of understanding or authority of the above-mentioned persons to detained persons before entering information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations, to execute search warrant of detained person and to carry out temporary seizure of things and documents and whether further evidence obtained during such proceedings will be declared inadmissible; the lack of an effective mechanism for ensuring the rights of detainees, in particular, round-theclock urgent linguistic assistance for persons under criminal prosecution, etc. The purpose of the study is the new scientifically substantiated results of detention by an authorized official without the decision of the investigating judge, of a person suspected of committing a crime, as well as formulating on their basis scientifically based proposals and recommendations for improving criminal procedure law and practices of its application in the aspect of the subject of research. It is concluded that in today’s actuality it is possible to change the practice of detention only by taking comprehensive measures. The first aspect is related to legislative changes. We believe that the law should be clear. Consequently, the CPC of Ukraine must clearly define, first, the procedural status of a detained person, with the provision in a separate rule of his concept, rights and responsibilities; second; the issue of legality of detention before entering information into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations has been resolved; thirdly, the procedure for searching of a detained person has been regulated. The second aspect is related to the development of bylaws on the algorithm of actions of the authorized official, which would clearly define his powers; the order of interaction between different services and units during the detention of a person. The third aspect is related to the continued implementation of pre-trial investigation and pre-trial detention facilities in all units of the Custody Records system, which allows recording of all actions of a detainee from the moment of his/her actual detention until the issue of choosing a measure of restraint against him/her is resolved, in particular – and during the explanation of the rights of the detainee by the officials responsible for the stay of the detainees. The fourth area is to strengthen the measures of respect of the rights of the detained person and, in particular, the need to develop a procedure for hiring an interpreter through the Centers for Free Secondary Legal Aid and an effective round-the-clock mechanism for providing urgent linguistic assistance to detainees who do not speak the language of criminal justice.