The administrative and legal status of the investigating judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court

Abstract

The article deals with the administrative and legal status of the investigating judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC), who provides of judicial control the pre-trial investigation of corruption and related criminal offenses, observance of the rights, freedoms, and interests of persons in criminal proceedings. The features of administrative and legal status of the investigating judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC), include: the procedure for acquiring status; implementation of judicial control over the pre-trial investigation of corruption and related criminal offenses, observance of the rights, freedoms and interests of persons in criminal proceedings in three main areas (consideration of applications for measures to ensure criminal proceedings, consideration of applications for permission to conduct covert investigative (search) actions; consideration of complaints about the decisions, actions or inactions of the investigator, investigator or prosecutor); priority of judicial control over the pre-trial investigation of corruption and related criminal offenses, observance of the rights, freedoms and interests of persons in criminal proceedings over the exercise of the judge's powers to administer justice; discretionary nature of authority; the unique nature of the exercise of the powers of the investigating judge, due to the substantive and subject jurisdiction of the cases of the HACC.

Special attention is paid to the analysis of statistical indicators of the activities of investigating judges of the HACC in 2022-2023, which indicate a significant burden on investigating judges and simultaneously confirm the importance of their controlling influence on pre-trial proceedings in corruption cases. It is concluded that the investigating judge of the HACC is the guarantor of ensuring the legality and validity of the restriction of constitutional rights and freedoms in Ukraine. From his professional activity, the observance of the rights and freedoms of participants in criminal proceedings, the effectiveness of the pre-trial investigation, and the achievement of the tasks of the criminal process largely depend.