MPs have proposed that the Verkhovna Rada adopt amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) aimed at ensuring proper pre-trial investigations and minimizing the risks of abuse of procedural rights by participants in criminal proceedings.
Corresponding bill No. 15333 on amendments to the CPC regarding enhancing the efficiency of criminal proceedings in the event of the expiration of pre-trial investigation periods and preventing the abuse of procedural rights by participants in criminal proceedings was registered in the Verkhovna Rada by a group of People's Deputies on June 16, according to the parliament's website.
The text of the bill has not yet been published on the Verkhovna Rada website.
As reported on his Telegram channel by one of the bill's initiators, Yaroslav Zhelezniak (the Holos faction), the initiative proposes to abolish the automatic dismissal of a case solely because the investigation period has expired. According to him, oversight remains in place: the defense or the victim will be able, through an examining judge, to compel the prosecutor to make a final decision regarding the conclusion of the pre-trial investigation periods.
"We are giving the court tools against delays: to reject repeated motions that lack new circumstances, to not postpone hearings if another defense counsel is present, and to limit the duration of speeches when signs of abuse are present," the MP noted.
He emphasized that the bill proposes to return the right to extend pre-trial investigation periods up to six and 12 months to the heads of prosecutor's offices (a function currently performed by examining judges). Zhelezniak also added that for particularly complex cases, the possibility of extending the pre-trial investigation for up to 18 months is envisioned, but strictly by a judge's decision.
The MP stressed that the bill was prepared within the framework of the action plan on the path to the EU.
