Over 20,000 criminal proceedings against businesses: Kravchenko reported on audit results and three paths for further action
Kyiv • UNN
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko reported that the audit revealed over 20,000 criminal proceedings against businesses, which significantly exceeds official data. All these cases will be reviewed, leading to their closure, additional expert examinations, or referral to court.
An audit of business-related criminal cases revealed serious discrepancies with official statistics: instead of the declared 6,249, there are over 20,000 proceedings. All of them require review, which could result in one of three scenarios – from closing cases to transferring them to court. This was reported by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko on Facebook, as conveyed by UNN.
Details
Business. Many questions still remain open. We have completed a quantitative audit of criminal proceedings that directly or indirectly concern business entities. And there are problems here. The latest dashboard data – 6,249 criminal proceedings concerning business entities – turned out to be many times less than the real audit data, which amounts to over 20,000 proceedings. And all of them are subject to verification
He emphasized that the result of the checks would be one of three paths, including proceedings that have not been investigated for years and do not contain objective data confirming the elements or event of a crime, which will be necessarily closed within a reasonable time under Article 284 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
The second path – in criminal proceedings where sufficient evidence has not yet been collected to make a lawful decision, necessary examinations will be appointed to establish the truth, the results of which will determine the fate of these proceedings.
"At the same time, legitimate businesses will be relieved of unlawful pressure and interference in their economic activities. Numerous unfounded searches, summonses for interrogations to allegedly establish circumstances that have already been established will be stopped. Every expert opinion provided by the defense will be thoroughly investigated and verified as part of the investigation. We also appeal to businesses – maintain open communication with law enforcement agencies. Provide your evidence, which will certainly be taken into account.
If the examinations do not confirm the existence of the circumstances being checked, we make a decision under Article 284 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, that is, we close the proceedings and the business operates with a clear conscience. If the examination confirms the position of the investigation, we act according to the law: we complete the investigation and transfer the case to court," Kravchenko added.
The third path, according to him, is criminal proceedings in which expert conclusions have already been made or persons have been notified of suspicion, which will be transferred to court.
Do you have distrust, doubt about the conducted examinations that confirmed the position of the investigation or the prosecutor? No problems, the adversarial nature of the parties in criminal proceedings is guaranteed by law. But I emphasize: investigation is not a competition of examinations. In criminal proceedings, examinations play a significant role, but are not the exclusive basis. The key are the legality, quality, and quantity of evidence collected during the pre-trial investigation
Recall
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko announced the reorganization of the Department of Criminal Policy and Investment Protection of the Prosecutor General's Office, which was supposed to play a key role in ensuring rights for investors and businesses, but did not meet expectations.