Judiciary in ukraine
Justice in Ukraine is administered only by courts. The jurisdiction of the courts extends to all legal relations that arise in the state. Courts ensure the protection of human and civil rights and freedoms, rights and interests of legal entities, public and state interests. The courts act under the Constitution of Ukraine and Ukrainian laws, on the basis of the rule of law.
Ukraine's judicial system consists of courts of general jurisdiction and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
Courts of general jurisdiction form the unified system of courts. Under the Constitution of Ukraine, the system of courts of general jurisdiction is formed according to the territorial principle and the principle of specialisation. The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the highest judicial body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction.
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is a single body of constitutional jurisdiction in Ukraine.
The judicial system ensures access to justice for every person in compliance with the procedure established by the Constitution of Ukraine and Ukrainian laws. People can participate in the administration of justice as people's assessors and jurors.
Court decisions are taken by the courts in the name of Ukraine and are obligatory for execution on all the territory of Ukraine.
In their work judges must be independent and obey only the law. The independence and immunity of judges are guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.
Professional judges must not belong to political parties or trade union» take' part in any political or business activity, hold any other offices, perform other paid work except for research, teaching, or creative activities.
INVESTIGATOR
In accordance with the Ukrainian legislation, the Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, the Ministry of the Interior, Tax Police and the Security Service of Ukraine have their own investigation departments, which perform a pretrial investigation. A pretrial investigation is carried out in accordance with the Criminal Code of Ukraine. It is conducted after certain criminal proceedings have been instituted and should be closed within 2 months.
An official who is responsible for a crime investigation is called an investigator. A citizen of Ukraine who has higher legal education and has corresponding qualification to carry out pretrial investigation may become an investigator. Besides this person should possess certain analytical mentality enabling him/her to foresee plans and actions of criminals. The main task of an investigator is to prepare the materials of cases for court hearing.
Investigators from the Prosecutor's Office deal with the crimes against electoral, labour and other individual rights and freedoms of individuals, crimes against the environment, such crime as malfeasance and crimes, committed by officers of law-enforcement bodies.
Investigators from the Ministry of Interior have the right to investigate more serious crimes such as murder, embezzlement on a large scale, rape, banditry, drug and people trafficking, burglary and less serious crimes such as theft, swindling, disorderly conduct, economic crimes, juvenile delinquency and others.
Investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine investigate cases of treason, espionage, smuggling, organized crime, acts of terrorism and crimes against peace, security of mankind and international law and order.
Investigators from the Tax Police investigate cases of evasion of taxes, illegal use of foreign currency accounts abroad, money laundering, etc.
Before a case is submitted to court a pretrial investigation has to:
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establish whether of not an offence has actually been committed, under what circumstances it occurred and the identity of the parties concerned; 2) provide a comprehensive research of all circumstances of a criminal case; 3) discover proofs for the judicial proceedings; 4) establish the extent of the injury or damage caused by the offence, the gain effected by the offender and the demands of the injured party 5) prevent new offences.
In fact investigators are entrusted to disclose crimes and expose people who are guilty of them. In the course of investigation they study the materials of cases, look for suspects, question witnesses, carry out inspection of the scene of a crime etc.