Investigation without trial: Investigative Committee of Russia wants to return the right to seize the property of suspects

Such a measure, according to Bastrykin, will make the fight against corruption more effective.

The head of the Investigative Committee is convinced that in order to be more effective in compensating for the damage caused by the actions of corrupt officials, the investigating authorities should be given the right to seize the property of not only the suspects themselves, but also those associated with them.

Bastrykin said that among the measures to improve legislation in the field of combating corruption, he proposes amendments to Art. 165 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. They relate to the empowerment of the investigator “with the authority to apply urgent arrest for all the reasons specified in Part 1 of Art. 115 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, and not only in relation to the property listed in Part 1 of Art. 104.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (that is, property subject to confiscation)”, - RIA Novosti quotes Bastrykin’s proposal.

Now investigators have the right to impose an urgent arrest only on things pledged or handed over to a pawnshop, including money, cars and other valuables owned by the defendant, Kommersant notes. But after such actions, the investigator is still obliged to apply to the court and enlist the support of the judge, who makes the appropriate decision during the trial, which takes place according to the rules of adversarial parties.

Human rights activists see a danger in the further expansion of the powers of the investigation, proposed by the head of the ICR.

According to lawyers, before the early 2000s, investigators already had the right to extrajudicial seizure of suspects' property, which created many problems and gave grounds for abuse. Without judicial control, investigators gained almost unlimited power over suspects, which gave rise to a lot of complaints throughout the country about the emergence of “custom-made” criminal cases against certain categories of citizens.

The vicious practice required a serious reform of law enforcement agencies in the country. In 2007, to investigate certain categories of cases in Russia, the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office was created, which in 2010 became an independent structure. And in 2011, the UPC ceased to exist due to the formation of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.

Experts note that an attempt to reinstall certain functions of the investigation according to the pre-reform version carries many risks associated with a possible violation of human rights during the conduct of investigative actions.