Reclassification of a Crime: Legality and the Need for the Investigator to Issue a Separate Resolution

A resolution on the reclassification of a crime is one of the most common documents drawn up by an investigator during the investigation of crimes that are not regulated by criminal procedure law. The issuance of this resolution is due to the need to change the classification of the crime committed by the suspect, accused or unidentified person. The science of criminal procedural law does not pay due attention to the theoretical issues of drafting such a document by an investigator, and uniform and specific rules for its drafting have not been developed in investigative and judicial practice. This leads to the fact that during the investigation of crimes, investigators often face significant risks of drawing up an illegal and unfounded decision to reclassify the crime, which may subsequently lead to a violation of the rights and legitimate interests of participants in criminal proceedings. This paper, based on an analysis of legislative and scientific provisions, as well as investigative and judicial practice, proposes rules that, if followed, will enable the investigator to issue the said procedural document that fully complies with the requirements of legality, validity, and justification stipulated in Part 4 of Article 7 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. 

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