On the possibility of conducting certain types of examinations in cases about road accidents before the opening of criminal proceedings

Abstract

The article examines the possibility of conducting some types of expert examinations in cases of road accidents before the opening of criminal proceedings, discusses the debatable issues related to the violation of the personal interests of the participants at the stage of opening criminal proceedings and the unjustified delay in making a decision to open criminal proceedings or to refuse them. The considered proposal to allow the conduct of certain types of forensic examinations at the stage of the opening of criminal proceedings for the purpose of verifying statements and reports about the commission of a criminal offense based on the current practice of appointing forensic medical examinations in certain categories of cases and conducting an inspection of the scene of the incident. The opinion was expressed regarding the lack of grounds for not granting permission to carry out an examination before the opening of criminal proceedings in view of the creation of a dangerous precedent of violation of the law in terms of the mandatory condition for conducting investigative actions only in open criminal proceedings. ​The appointment and conducting of an examination prior to the opening of criminal proceedings primarily refers to examinations on the facts of road accidents, when without the use of special knowledge it is practically impossible to establish the signs of the nature of the crime and to resolve the issue of opening criminal proceedings. ​The article concludes that conducting an examination before the opening of criminal proceedings does not violate the personal interests of the participants who have not yet received their procedural status at this stage. In contrast to the previous study, only the completion of the examination in full meets the legal requirements for the evidentiary resolution of special issues. In order to obtain evidentiary information when solving the question of the validity of opening criminal proceedings at the legislative level, it is proposed to provide for the possibility of conducting some types of examinations, in particular, during events related to fires, explosions, transport and technological accidents, etc.