Assessment of the effectiveness of the investigative units at the district level: from the complexity of the criminal case to the timing of its investigation

Introduction. The article is devoted to the analysis of modern approaches to assessing the effectiveness of the investigative units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in the context of the categories of "complex" and "simple" criminal cases in relation to the timing of its investigation. According to the author of the study, the current system for evaluating the work of investigative units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, established in accordance with the Order of the Deputy Minister – Head of the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General of Justice Lebedev S.N. No. 1/8120 of July 19, 2021, does not seem objective and requires changes in terms of differentiating criminal cases into categories of "complex" and "simple" depending on the number of defendants, the number of episodes of criminal activity, the qualification of the crime, the procedural behavior of participants in criminal proceedings and other characteristics.

Purpose. Substantiation of the relationship between the effectiveness of the investigative units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and the complexity of the investigation of criminal cases under investigation and the timing of their investigation.

Methods. Empirical methods of comparison, description, interpretation; theoretical methods of formal and dialectical logic. Private scientific methods: systematic, grammatical and logical interpretation. Special legal methods: formal legal. Mathematical methods: the method of mathematical induction, mathematical deduction, mathematical analysis. The theoretical basis of the study was made up of the works of Russian legal scholars, as well as the results of the study and analysis of 4,997 criminal indictments that were under investigation by investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Results. The lack of objectivity in assessing the activities of the investigative units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the failure to take into account the relationship between the complexity and procedural timing of the investigation of criminal cases, has been established. A direct relationship has been established between the characteristics of the criminal case (the number of defendants, the number of episodes of criminal activity, the qualification of the crime, and the procedural behavior of participants in criminal proceedings). with the terms of the investigation of the criminal case.

Conclusions. The current assessment of the effectiveness of the investigative units at the district level is biased and needs to be adjusted. Departmental assessment of the timing of the investigation of a criminal case does not always allow us to draw a conclusion about the effectiveness (inefficiency) of the work of the investigative unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation at the district level. Management decisions made based on an assessment of the activities of the investigative units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation at the district level cannot be objective due to the imperfection of the relevant indicators.

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