On October 11, a unique large-scale study of the actual practice of public prosecutors at the stage of pre-trial investigation was released. The study titled "The Role of the Public Prosecutor at the Pre-Trial Stage of the Criminal Proceedings" was conducted through the initiative of the International Renaissance Foundation during 2016-2017 by a group of 18 researchers. They assessed the actual practice of prosecutors, its effectiveness and compliance with national legislation and international standards based on internal data of the law enforcement agencies.
On October 11, a unique large-scale study of the actual practice of public prosecutors at the stage of pre-trial investigation was released. The study titled “The Role of the Public Prosecutor at the Pre-Trial Stage of the Criminal Proceedings“ was conducted through the initiative of the International Renaissance Foundation during 2016-2017 by a group of 18 researchers. They assessed the actual practice of prosecutors, its effectiveness and compliance with national legislation and international standards based on internal data of the law enforcement agencies.
The researchers interviewed 503 prosecutors, held 7 focus groups with prosecutors, lawyers, investigating judges, and heads of the National Police investigation units in five oblasts (Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Sumy, Kherson, Khmelnytsky) and city of Kyiv. They also analyzed thousands of pages of documents and official statistics of the Prosecutor General’s Office for 2013-2016.
The results of the study showed that the adoption of the new Criminal Procedural Code in 2012 did not foster any real change in the system of criminal justice at the stage of pre-trial investigation. Full research, detailed findings and recommendations, along with summary infographics in English and Ukrainian can be downloaded.
Authors:
- Roman Romanov, director of the program initiative “Human Rights and Justice“ of the International Renaissance Foundation;
- Yuriy Belousov, PhD in Sociology, Head of the Expert Center for Human Rights;
- Volodymyr Sushchenko, associate professor, PhD in Law, Executive Director of the Center for Research on Challenges of the Rule of Law and Its Implementation in Ukraine of the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy;
- Volodymyr Venher, ZPhD in Law, researcher with the Center for Research on Challenges of the Rule of Law and Its Implementation in Ukraine of the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy;
- Viktoriia Mitko, attorney;
- Andrii Orlean, PhD in Law, associate professor, leading researcher with the Law Faculty of the Taras Shevchenko National University Kyiv, expert of the Expert Center for Human Rights.
For additional comments on results of the study, journalists may contact the authors by sending a request to voloshenko@irf.kiev.ua.
