LEGALITY AND VALIDITY OF THE INVESTIGATING JUDGE’S DECISION
Authors:   Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine, Syza N.P. 
Published: March 2024

The norms of Article 370 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine (CPC) define the normative content of the legality and validity of the court decision, which requires a special interpretation for application to the decision of the investigating judge. The purpose of the article is to establish the content of requirements for the legality and validity of the investigating judge’s decision and the conditions for their provision during the pre-trial investigation of criminal proceedings based on the study of the theoretical developments of scientists and the analysis of the norms of criminal procedural legislation. The research made it possible to draw the following conclusions: The legality of the investigating judge’s decision is ensured by: 1) the issuance of the decision by a competent subject; 2) proper establishment of legal and factual grounds for issuing a decision; 3) compliance with the procedural form of the decision. Proper establishment of the factual grounds for issuance the investigating judge’s decision of ensures the validity of the court decision. In order to make a legal and validity of the decision on the application of a measure to ensure criminal proceedings, the investigating judge must establish the legal and factual grounds for issuing the relevant decision, namely: compliance with the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which provide for its application, as well as the proper establishment of the circumstances that are the grounds and conditions for the application of the measure provision of criminal proceedings, based on the assessment of evidence from the point of view of their propriety, admissibility and credibility. The legality and validity of the investigating judge’s decisions on the conduct of investigative (search) actions and secret investigative (search) actions that limit the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens are conditioned by compliance with the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Code regarding the content of the petition submitted by the investigator in agreement with the prosecutor or the prosecutor, and regarding its consideration by the investigating judge, during which the prosecutor, the investigator must prove the existence of sufficient grounds for conducting the corresponding investigative (search) action or secret investigative (search) action. The legality and validity of the investigating judge’s decisions, made based on the results of the review of complaints against the decision, actions or inaction of the investigator, inquirer or prosecutor during the pre-trial investigation, presupposes the establishment of compliance with the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Code of the object, the subject, the appeal period, compliance by the investigating judge with the procedure for handling complaints, finding out the circumstances that substantiate the claims of the complaint and objections against it, as well as other circumstances that are important for establishing the legality of the decisions, actions or inaction of the investigator, inquirer or prosecutor.