American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
89
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajsshr
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue02 2025
PAGE NO.
89-92
10.37547/ajsshr/Volume05Issue02-22
The comparison of the foreign experience of leading
states in using the institution of petitions and complaints
Igilikov Jaksilik Joldasbaevich
Researcher of Karakalpak State University, Uzbekistan
Received:
24 December 2024;
Accepted:
26 January 2025;
Published:
28 February 2025
Abstract:
The article examines the institution of petitions and complaints in criminal proceedings, with particular
attention paid to the experience of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. A
comparative analysis of regulatory and legal regulation was conducted, the distinctive features and prospects for
improving legislation were identified. Particular attention is paid to the status of the institute of petitions and
complaints, procedures for submitting, considering and resolving these procedural actions at the pre-trial and trial
stages of criminal proceedings. Recommendations have been proposed to borrow successful practices from the
legislation of Kazakhstan and Russia to strengthen the legal protection of participants in the criminal process in
Uzbekistan.
Keywords:
Motion, complaint, criminal proceedings, participants' rights,pre-trial proceedings, judicial
proceedings, legislation, the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the Code of Civil Procedure of the
Republic of Kazakhstan, the Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Introduction:
In this article, we will examine the
experience of several foreign countries, including post-
Soviet states, and analyze trends in the use of petitions
and complaints within the criminal procedures of
advanced nations.
In the Criminal Procedure Codes of the Russian
Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan, petitions
and complaints are given special attention, being
allocated separate chapters. This emphasizes their
status as a distinct institution aimed at protecting the
rights of participants in criminal proceedings.
Examining Chapter 15 of the Criminal Procedure Code
of the Russian Federation (Petitions), we noted that the
legislator specifically identifies the persons entitled to
file petitions, the stages of filing, the timeframes for
consideration, and the procedure for resolving them.
According to Article 119 of the Criminal Procedure
Code of the Russian Federation, the suspect, the
accused, their defense counsel, the victim, their legal
representative and representative, the private
prosecutor, the expert, the civil claimant, the civil
defendant, their representatives, the representative of
the administration of an organization, and any other
person whose rights and lawful interests are affected
during pre-trial or trial proceedings have the right to file
a petition for the conduct of procedural actions or the
adoption of procedural decisions. This is done to
establish circumstances significant to the criminal case
and ensure the rights and lawful interests of the person
filing the petition or those of the individuals or
organizations they represent.
The petition is submitted to the inquiry officer,
investigator, or court.
During the trial, the public prosecutor1 is also entitled
to file petitions.
Parts 1 and 2 of this article address the submission of
petitions as a means of protecting the rights and lawful
interests of participants in criminal proceedings at the
pre-trial or trial stages. The third part, however,
regulates the right of the public prosecutor to file
petitions during the trial stage, which undoubtedly
carries an accusatory nature.
In other words, the prosecutor, acting as the public
prosecutor, will predominantly file petitions of an
accusatory nature, as it is in their interest to prove the
defendant's guilt (if it exists) and uphold the laws of the
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American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research (ISSN: 2771-2141)
country.
Based on the analysis of the above-mentioned article of
the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation,
the following conclusion can be drawn: witnesses have
the right to file petitions, as stated in Part 1 of this
article, whic
h specifies “... and other persons whose
rights and lawful interests are affected during pre-trial
or trial proceedings.” Consequently, “other persons”
can be understood to include witnesses because their
interests may be directly affected. For example, this
often pertains to ensuring the safety of witnesses if
there is a real threat to their life, property, or relatives.
Nevertheless, according to Part 1 of Article 66 of the
Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan,
which outlines a number of the rights of witnesses, it
does not establish the right of a witness to file petitions
as a participant in criminal proceedings who can
protect their rights and defend their interests,
particularly in aspects concerning witnesses.
Additionally, Article 120 of the Criminal Procedure
Code of the Russian Federation provides that a petition
may be filed at any stage of criminal proceedings. A
written petition is included in the criminal case, while
an oral petition is recorded in the protocol of the
investigative action or court session.
The rejection of a petition does not deprive the
applicant of the right to re-submit the petition.
This provision is similar to what is established in the
criminal procedural legislation of the Republic of
Uzbekistan.
However, the legislator of the Russian Federation
provides a specific timeframe for resolving petitions,
which would be a beneficial innovation in the Criminal
Procedure Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The lack
of defined timeframes for considering and deciding on
filed petitions leads to the infringement of the rights of
participants in criminal proceedings.
According to Article 121 of the Criminal Procedure
Code of the Russian Federation, a petition must be
considered and resolved immediately after it is filed. In
cases where an immediate decision on a petition filed
during the preliminary investigation is not possible, it
must be resolved no later than three days from the date
of filing1.
The concluding provision regulating the resolution of
petitions states a
s follows: “The inquiry officer,
investigator, or judge issues a ruling, and the court
issues a determination on the satisfaction of the
petition, whether fully or partially denied. This decision
is communicated to the individual who filed the
petition. The decision on the petition may be appealed
in accordance with the procedure established by
Chapter 16 of this Code2.”
The above article establishes the form of decision-
making by officials at the corresponding stages of
criminal proceedings (pre-trial and trial stages).
According to Article 123 of the Criminal Procedure
Code of the Russian Federation, the actions (or
inaction) and decisions of the inquiry officer, the head
of the inquiry unit, the head of the inquiry div, the
inquiry div itself, the investigator, the head of the
investigative div, the prosecutor, and the court may
be appealed by participants in criminal proceedings, as
well as other persons, to the extent that the procedural
actions performed and decisions made affect their
interests.
If reasonable timeframes for criminal proceedings are
violated during the pre-trial stage, participants in the
proceedings, as well as other persons whose interests
are affected, may file a complaint with the prosecutor
or the head of the investigative div. Such complaints
must be considered in accordance with the procedure
and within the timeframes established by Article 124 of
this Code1.
The analysis of this article identifies the range of
persons whose decisions and actions (or inactions) may
be appealed. Additionally, the second part emphasizes
departmental appeals, as discussed earlier.
The next article establishes a specific procedure and
timeframe for considering and resolving complaints.
According to Article 124 of the Criminal Procedure
Code of the Russian Federation, the prosecutor or the
head of the investigative div reviews the complaint
within three days of its receipt. In exceptional cases,
when additional materials need to be requested or
other measures need to be taken to verify the
complaint, the review period may be extended to ten
days, with the applicant being notified of this
extension.
Based on the results of the complaint review, the
prosecutor or the head of the investigative div issues
a resolution either fully or partially satisfying the
complaint or refusing its satisfaction.
If a complaint filed in accordance with Part 2 of Article
123 of this Code is upheld, the resolution must specify
the procedural actions to be taken to expedite the
consideration of the case and the timeframes for their
implementation.
The applicant must be promptly notified of the decision
made regarding the complaint and the further
procedure for appealing it.
In cases provided for by this Code, the inquiry officer or
investigator has the right to appeal the actions (or
inaction) and decisions of the prosecutor or the head of
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American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research (ISSN: 2771-2141)
the investigative div to the respective higher-ranking
prosecutor or the head of the higher-ranking
investigative div .
One of the key aspects of this article is the fact that the
legislator views the institute of appeal both as a tool for
protecting the rights and lawful interests of
participants in criminal proceedings and as a
mechanism for ensuring the independence of inquiry
officers and investigators. The final part emphasizes
that inquiry officers and investigators have the right to
appeal decisions made by the prosecutor and the head
of the investigative div to higher authorities in
accordance with the departmental hierarchy.
These guarantees protect the law in cases where the
prosecutor or head of the investigative department
gives unlawful instructions or directives that contradict
the swift and comprehensive investigation of the case.
Thus, investigators and inquiry officers maintain a
certain degree of independence.
In addition to the departmental level of appeals, the
criminal procedural legislation of the Russian
Federation also provides for a judicial procedure and
jurisdiction for considering complaints about the
decisions and actions (or inactions) of officials
conducting pre-trial investigations. Article 125 of the
Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation
regulates the procedure for filing complaints and the
process of their consideration in court, which is
undoubtedly a notable difference from the Criminal
Procedure Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
It should be noted that a similar procedure for
considering complaints by an investigative judge is also
provided in the Criminal Procedure Code of the
Republic of Kazakhstan.
A complaint to the court may also be filed through the
inquiry officer, the head of the inquiry div, the
investigator, the head of the investigative div, or the
prosecutor, as stated in Article 125 of the Criminal
Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. This rule
means that the person filing the complaint is not
obligated to spend time submitting the complaint
according to the court's jurisdiction.
Article 125.1 regulates the specifics of considering
certain categories of complaints, including complaints
about the decision of the inquiry officer, the head of
the inquiry div, the investigator, the head of the
investigative div, or the prosecutor to discontinue a
criminal case because a new law was enacted before
the conviction became final, which eliminated the
criminality and punishability of the act, or when the
person was under the age of criminal responsibility, or
even if they reached the age but did not fully
understand the public danger of their actions due to
developmental delay not related to mental illness.
After examining the content of this article, we assume
that there was no separate need to establish these
rules, as the procedure for considering such cases falls
under the general procedure provided in Article 125 of
the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.
The procedure for submitting complaints by suspects
and accused persons held in custody is regulated by
Article 126 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the
Russian Federation, which states that complaints by
suspects and accused persons must be immediately
forwarded to the prosecutor or the court to which they
are addressed.
In light of current challenges and trends in the
development of criminal procedure, the legislation of
the Republic of Kazakhstan has made significant
progress in this area, surpassing even many advanced
countries by applying various scientific approaches in
practice. Since the Republic of Kazakhstan is one of the
closest neighbors of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and
their legal systems are largely similar, we can
confidently analyze and compare Kazakhstan’s
experience in criminal procedure and the prospects for
implementing some new institutions.
The Republic of Kazakhstan has also succeeded, to a
certain extent, in ensuring the existence and
functioning of the process for filing motions and
complaints as a separate and independent institution,
which guarantees the protection of the rights and
legitimate interests of participants in the criminal
process. A clear example of this is the allocation of the
institution of motions and complaints during the pre-
trial phase of criminal proceedings into a separate
chapter of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic
of Kazakhstan, which specifies the timelines,
procedures, persons entitled to file motions and
complaints, as well as the individuals who resolve these
motions and complaints, and more.
According to Article 99 of the Criminal Procedure Code
of the Republic of Kazakhstan, participants in the
criminal process have the right to submit motions to
the person conducting the pre-trial investigation, the
prosecutor, or the judge (in court) regarding procedural
actions
or
decisions
aimed
at
establishing
circumstances relevant to the criminal process,
ensuring the rights and legitimate interests of the
person submitting the motion or the person they
represent.
Motions may be submitted at any stage of the process.
The person submitting the motion must specify what
circumstances they seek to establish through the action
or decision. Written motions are attached to the case
materials, while oral motions are recorded in the
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American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research (ISSN: 2771-2141)
protocol of the investigative action or court hearing.
The rejection of a motion does not prevent its
resubmission at later stages of the criminal procedure
or to another div handling the criminal process.
Motions must be reviewed and resolved immediately
after they are submitted. If an immediate decision on
the motion is not possible, it must be resolved no later
than three days from the date of submission.
The motion must be granted if it contributes to a
thorough, complete, and objective investigation of the
case's circumstances, ensuring the rights and legitimate
interests of the participants or other persons in the
process. In other cases, the motion may be rejected.
The div conducting the criminal process cannot
refuse to grant a motion to summon individuals as
experts or witnesses whose attendance is ensured by
the parties. The div conducting the criminal process
is obliged to assist the party in securing the appearance
of such persons for questioning, including through the
use of legal measures of procedural coercion.
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