The Validity of Suspicion as a Condition for Choosing Preventive Measures in the Russian Criminal Process

The article is devoted to the study of the essence of the category of reasonable suspicion of the involvement of the accused (suspect) in the committed crime, which is one of the fundamental conditions for the election of preventive measures in the form of house arrest and detention. It is determined that the validity of suspicion of involvement in a criminal act should be confirmed by the investigator (inquirer) only by evidence that has the criteria of relevance and admissibility. The author also considers the need in the course of judicial proceedings for the election of detention to authorize the court in each case to verify the correctness of the qualification of a criminal act given by the investigative authorities at the stage of pre-trial proceedings in a criminal case. It is concluded that the courts, considering the initiative of the investigative authorities to apply a preventive measure, do not pay due attention to verifying the involvement of a person in a criminal act and make gross mistakes that lead to illegal and unjustified decisions. The study examined the norms and provisions of criminal procedure legislation, decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, considered the positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, and analyzed the practice of courts of general jurisdiction in order to determine the content of reasonable suspicion and identify theoretical and practical problems. The authors propose amendments to the criminal procedure legislation, which will be able to increase the level of legality and legality of the use of this type of state coercion.