The accused was denied compensation of 1.6 million rubles. for red tape on the part of the investigation

In Perm, for the first time, a civil case was considered to recover compensation from the state for violation of the right to conduct a preliminary investigation in a criminal case within a reasonable time, which has been established in Russia since April 30, 2010. A businessman from Chelyabinsk, Dmitry Ivchenko, accused of fraud, believes that due to the low qualifications of the police and the implementation of most investigative actions on flimsy grounds, the proceedings in the case were carried out very slowly and were eventually extended to 47 months and 22 days. The regional court supported the state and left the claim in the amount of more than 1.6 million rubles unsatisfied.

On November 2, before the start of the preliminary hearing in the Dzerzhinsky District Court of Perm of the 130-volume criminal case of fraud on an especially large scale, one of the 19 defendants, Dmitry Ivchenko, managed to familiarize himself with the materials of another case - a civil one. In the Perm Regional Court, the commercial director of Delovoy Kvartal - SEROSAK LLC copied the materials of his litigation with the Russian Federation onto a digital camera. The decision was rendered on October 26, and finalized on November 1. In the office of civil cases of the first instance, Mr. Ivchenko told Kommersant about his intention to complain further. The dispute clearly goes beyond the usual framework of communication between citizens and the state, since a resident of Chelyabinsk wanted to put into practice the new Russian Law No. 68 of April 30, 2010 “On compensation for violation of the right to legal proceedings within a reasonable time or the right to execution of a judicial act within a reasonable time” "

In the statement of this accused, the duration of the preliminary investigation by the investigative unit of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Volga Federal District in criminal case No. 4028, initiated on May 29, 2006, was called unreasonable. Another 70 cases of theft by deception and abuse of trust of other people's funds received from the sale of goods that do not meet consumer properties, causing damage to the victims on an especially large scale, were then combined into one proceeding with him. Mr. Ivchenko was detained on January 25, 2007 and interrogated as a suspect. He was in custody for seven months, having been charged with 72 crimes. Some of the procedural shortcomings he indicated were identified by the court and the prosecutor's office. Thus, on June 3, 2010, the Dzerzhinsky District Court returned the case to the prosecutor of the Perm Territory to eliminate the violations that precluded the possibility of a conviction. And in August, after an additional investigation, the regional prosecutor's office again found shortcomings and once again returned the case to the police. The investigation resumed again - with an extension of the term until September 26, 2010, that is, up to 47 months 22 days. Finally, in September, the supervisory authority approved an amended indictment of 5.5 thousand sheets and re-sent all the collected evidence to the court. Taking into account the suspension of the investigation, its term was 47 months 18 days.

According to the accused Ivchenko, the red tape was facilitated by the inexperience and incompetence of the investigators, who violated the procedural law and did not even try to complete the proceedings in the case within a reasonable time. Most of the investigative actions were carried out on flimsy grounds, very slowly. Inadequate examination of material evidence seized during the search and seizure of documents, and individual cases of their loss also affected the delay in the investigation. The refusal to satisfy numerous requests of the accused to speed up the investigation and errors in drawing up the indictment significantly affected the duration of pre-trial proceedings. The complexity of the case does not justify an almost four-year investigation given such shortcomings. The European Court of Human Rights states: those accused of committing a crime have the right to expect that their case will be examined with special diligence. The provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms are aimed at preventing the accused from remaining in a state of uncertainty about his fate for too long. Having presented these arguments, Mr. Ivchenko asked to recover from Russia compensation in the amount of 1.65 million rubles, as well as legal expenses for the services of a representative, travel from Chelyabinsk to Perm and back, accommodation in Perm and state duty in a total amount of over 110 thousand rubles.

Representatives of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, the Department of the Federal Treasury for the Perm Territory and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation opposed it. Officials primarily cited the legal and factual complexity of Criminal Case No. 4028. Having heard the parties, interrogated three police officers and examined the materials of the criminal case, the Perm Regional Court considered the statement of the accused Ivchenko not subject to satisfaction. It was established that out of 19 people under investigation, 12 lived outside of Perm and the region; all of them were given a preventive measure in the form of detention with the presentation of charges and the re-presentation of an amended charge. 70 victims were involved and questioned in the case. To secure their civil claims, the investigation imposed numerous seizures on the property of those responsible for the damage caused. During numerous searches and seizures, a “huge” number of payment, financial, organizational, constituent, contractual and other documents, items, things were seized and examined with the drawing up of protocols as evidence of crimes committed. A large number of various examinations were ordered and carried out, including handwriting examinations with the seizure of free and experimental handwriting samples from the accused for comparative research. The defendants became familiar with the experts' conclusions, as well as with all 130 volumes of the case, over a long period of time - while the police kept schedules and protocols.

Minor errors in the legal qualification of the actions of the accused, which led to the return of the case from the district court, are not actions of the police to delay the criminal prosecution of Mr. Ivchenko. One-time errors during the inspection and inclusion of evidence, individual cases of their loss may indicate the presence of disciplinary offenses or other offenses on the part of the investigators, but not a violation of reasonable deadlines for pre-trial proceedings in a criminal case, the regional court noted. In the decision made by Judge Konstantin Shvetsov, in addition to other factual circumstances, the legal framework was analyzed in detail, including the resolution of the plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated October 10, 2003 on the application of international legislation in Russia. The new Federal Law No. 68, in particular, determines: suspects, accused, defendants, convicted, acquitted, victims, plaintiffs and defendants can apply for an award of compensation in case of violation of a reasonable period of legal proceedings. Kommersant’s interlocutor from the judicial community of the Kama region did not hide his special interest in the outcome of Mr. Ivchenko’s further litigation: “Then citizens and lawyers will be able to compare their expectations with the law enforcement practice of the state.”

Mikhail Lobanov

I wanted to bring some sense to the police