«Cases of urgency» in criminal procedure law and law enforcement practice
The article deals with the term «cases of urgency» which is applied in criminal procedure legislation of Russia. The content of this term is not defined in Criminal Procedure Code. For this reason in some law-enforcement situations investigators faces an issue if this particular case is a case of urgency or not. In the article the author tries to determine the essence of the term «cases of urgency» through interpretation of legal rules and analysis of investigative and court practice. Historical experience of term’s application was also considered. In the article special attention is paid to the grounds of contestation of the results of investigative measures, which were conducted in cases of urgency without court decision or in night time. Courts’ opinions regarding their legality were analyzed. On author’s opinion neither the definition of «case of urgency» nor its list should be formalized in law. Instead the author proposes focusing on standards of urgency elaborated by court practice taking into account the opinion of Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russian Federation. Also the problem of reasonability of investigative measures conducting in case of urgency without court decision in criminal cases of less and middle grade is raised. Based on research the author offers recommendations for practitioners which help them to determine if any particular situation is a case of urgency or not.