The period from the date of occurrence of grounds for instituting criminal proceedings prior to the actual adoption of the corresponding decision by the investigator, the investigator is called pre-investigation check. The duration of this period is regulated by article 144 of the Criminal procedure code of the Russian Federation. This provision establishes that the appropriate official shall make the decision on excitation of criminal case no later than three days from the receipt of a crime report. The specific grounds for initiation of criminal proceedings is irrelevant because the duration of the preliminary investigation should be applied in all cases.

Is it possible to extend the term of the preliminary investigation?



Called the norm of the criminal procedural law also extends the term of the preliminary investigation if there are sufficient grounds for such extension. In particular, the investigator or the investigator can send the petition to the head of the investigative body of the investigation Department, which after consideration of the request will decide on the extension of the period of the preliminary investigation up to ten days. However, the aforementioned petition must be motivated, that is to contain the specific grounds for increasing the term generally established. Usually specified the necessity due to the need for a large number of investigative activities, of their high complexity or of significant duration.


The maximum term of the preliminary investigation



The above-described ten-day deadline for preliminary examination is not the maximum, because objective circumstances, provided the legal possibility to increase it up to thirty days. This occurs if you need to conduct documentary inspection, audit, verification and other lengthy events. In this case, the investigator also submits the petition to the head of the investigative body, the investigator – Prosecutor. These officials shall make a decision on extending pre-investigation check to 30 days, while they imposed a duty on the specific circumstances, which are the basis for this decision. The thirty-day validation period is maximum, as other legal options to extend the time period absent.