Pre-investigation
checks: a company
director’s rights

When the police, the Investigative Committee or another authority receives a complaint or an officer’s report about a possible crime, they are obliged to check it. This is what a pre-investigation check is. Its outcome is the opening of a criminal case, a refusal to open one, or the transfer of the file to the authority with investigative jurisdiction (Articles 144–145 of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure).

As a general rule, three days are allowed for the check. The head of the investigative body or the head of the body of inquiry may extend this to 10 days, and, where documentary checks, audits or expert examinations are needed, to 30 days. So events move quickly, and decisions often have to be made without lengthy preparation.

A company director is usually invited to give a statement. They do not yet have the procedural status of a suspect or a witness, and formally a statement is not questioning. But information obtained during the check may become evidence (Article 144(1.2) of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure), so it is worth treating the conversation as questioning.

Those taking part in the check must have their rights explained to them: the right not to testify against themselves or their close relatives, to use the services of a lawyer, and to complain about the actions and decisions of those conducting the check (Article 144(1.1) of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 51 of the Russian Constitution). If the rights were not explained, it is worth noting this in the statement.

The main safeguards are set out in Article 51 of the Russian Constitution and Articles 124–125 of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure. In practice, a director is entitled to:

Refusing to give a statement is not in itself a breach of the law. But the decision should be a considered one: sometimes it is wiser to give brief written explanations and attach documents than to stay silent. The choice depends on the material of the particular check.

Those conducting the check are entitled to demand documents and objects, seize them in accordance with the procedure set out in the Code of Criminal Procedure, require documentary checks and audits to be carried out, and conduct an examination (Article 144(1) of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure). It is better to get a request for documents in writing and to reply in writing too – with an inventory of what you hand over.

During an examination or seizure, read the record carefully: whether everything is listed, whether the participants are named, whether any use of video recording is noted. Add your comments straight away, before signing – later it will be much harder to prove that the record is incomplete.

Ideally, before the first statement. The lawyer will find out which file the check concerns, help decide what to say and which documents to hand over, and be there during the conversation. If a statement has already been given, the lawyer will assess what was recorded and suggest how to build the position from there.