How to write a complaint about the inaction of police officers

Constitution of the Russian Federation in Art. 32 and art. 34 guarantees the right of every citizen to personally appeal to government bodies, including the prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation. Most often, employees of internal affairs bodies violate the provisions of the Federal Law “On Police” dated 02/07/2011. A complaint to the prosecutor's office about the inaction of police officers, a sample of which can be obtained from the office of any departmental department, allows you to cope with arbitrariness and negligent attitude towards service on the part of law enforcement agencies.

Complaint to the prosecutor's office.

When to complain

There can be many situations when the rights of citizens to legal protection are violated. Most often such violations manifest themselves in the following:

• You filed an application to initiate a criminal case, but no one is investigating your application.
• The check was carried out, but superficially, without taking into account important circumstances, after which an unfounded decision was made to refuse to initiate a criminal case.
• The case was opened, but under the wrong article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, without clarifying the real circumstances indicating a more serious crime.
• A case has been opened, but practically no investigation is carried out into it: witnesses are not questioned, material evidence is not confiscated, measures are not taken to detain the criminal, etc. Ultimately, the proceedings may be suspended and it will be almost impossible to achieve justice.
• You do not receive any notifications, copies of decisions made, etc., you are in complete ignorance and all attempts to find out what happened to your application are absolutely unsuccessful.

In the listed examples, not only can you turn to the supervisory authorities for help, but you also need to do this as soon as possible . Otherwise, you may miss valuable investigation time “in hot pursuit.”

However, in some situations you can do without writing a complaint. For example, when during a certain investigative action there are inaccuracies or omissions that can be eliminated “on the spot.” There is a legal procedure for correction for this, and it is quite possible not to resort to the appeal procedure.

Example No. 1 . In the theft case, witness P.A. Vasyukov was questioned, whose testimony was recorded in the protocol by the police investigator. Before signing the protocol, Vasyukov P.A. I carefully read the text compiled by the investigator and found a lot of inaccuracies in it. Vasyukov P.A. refused to sign such a protocol because he considered it unreliable. Vasyukov P.A. drew the investigator's attention to the fact that the time and place were distorted, as well as other circumstances that were significant for the case. Acting in accordance with the law, the investigator invited the witness to supplement the contents of the protocol with his own hand, recording clarification on the date, time and place of events, which was done, and subsequently certified by the signature of P.A. Vasyukov.

Thus, if during the interrogation your testimony was recorded inaccurately, in this case there is no need to write a complaint - it is enough, when signing the document, to indicate what you do not agree with and clarify how it really happened.

The same rules apply to the appointment of examinations.

Example No. 2 . The victim Egorov K.A. burned the car, an appraisal examination was ordered using the available documents in order to find out the value of the car at the time of the crime. When making a decision to order an examination, the victim was absent from the city and was unable to raise his questions for the expert’s permission, while the investigator limited himself to only one thing: “what is the value of the vehicle as of November 1, 2016 (date of the crime).” When reading the expert's report, the victim saw that the estimate was significantly underestimated, since the specialists were not provided with documents on the installation of expensive video equipment in the car. The victim contacted the investigator with an application to order an additional examination, attaching the relevant documentation about additional equipment. This request was granted, and as a result of an additional assessment, the value of the car became higher. Thus, in such situations it is also possible to do without an appeal, following the algorithm of the application procedure in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.

And yet, in most situations, complaints cannot be avoided. In order to properly appeal the inaction of the police, let's figure out where to go.

Contents of the complaint

A complaint about police inaction is drawn up in a free form, which should include a number of mandatory elements, namely:

1. name of the body to which the complaint is sent;
2. Full name (or name for legal entities), address and contact details of the applicant;
3. information about the reason for filing a complaint. It should be indicated when the legal relationship arose that gave rise to dissatisfaction, what exactly the police officer did not do and why, in the author’s opinion, he was obliged to do it. As a rule, legal relations between a citizen and the police arise from the moment when these two parties, on someone else’s initiative, interact. This could be a statement about hooliganism, a complaint to a local police officer about neighbors, detention on suspicion of committing a crime, etc.;
4. a list of attachments, if the complainant wishes to attach anything. This may be the response of the district police officer to his complaint, or a copy of the statement with the date of delivery to the police, for which no check was undertaken, or other other documents indicating the inaction of the police;
5. date of filing the complaint and signature of its author.

Who can make the police work?

As a general rule, depending on your situation, you can file a complaint against the actions of the police with the following authorities:

To the prosecutor's office

This is a government organization that controls the police in everything. The prosecutor of a district or region may request any material or criminal case to verify the legality of the measures taken on it. If during the inspection (its duration is up to 10 days) violations of the law are revealed, the prosecutor gives instructions to immediately correct them and submits a proposal addressed to the head of the police department (administration) to bring the officials to disciplinary liability. In this case, the applicant must be notified of all stages of the verification process, after which a response about the decision made is sent to him.

To court

We can say that this is the highest authority in the matter of appealing the actions/inactions of police officers. In court, the complaint will be considered within five days, and the officials who made the decision or carried out the action you are appealing will be called to the meeting.

Based on the results of the review, the court may declare any action (inaction) of a police official illegal and order the violations to be eliminated. The court ruling is mandatory for everyone, including the investigator and interrogating officer. Let us note that such appeals are considered by the court in accordance with Art. 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, which excludes the possibility of appealing against police actions in cases that are already being considered by this or another judge on the merits.

Example No. 3 . Accused Sokolov A.Yu. filed a complaint in accordance with Art. 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation to the court, because he did not agree with the inaction of the investigator, expressed in the failure to conduct a confrontation between two witnesses. According to A.Yu. Sokolov, there are significant contradictions in the testimony of these witnesses, which is a legal basis for holding confrontations. When considering the complaint, the court found that the criminal case against Sokolov A.Yu. was submitted to the same court and scheduled for hearing in the coming days. In this regard, the complaint was rejected, since Art. 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation provides for the procedure for appealing against police inaction only in those cases that have not yet been brought to court.

To the head of the police authority

It is advisable to send complaints of a special nature to this addressee - for example, when during an inspection or investigation an official behaves incorrectly, rudely, communicates using obscene language, etc. Such circumstances will be the subject of an internal review, as a result of which the police officer may be subject to disciplinary action.

The law provides for the possibility of appealing to the head of a department on other issues, including appealing decisions, actions, or inactions of employees subordinate to him. But, as practice shows, it is still more effective to send complaints to the prosecutor’s office or court.

CSS

In some cases, when we are talking about possible criminal liability of a police officer, you need to contact the Internal Security Department (USB). Thus, in case of extortion of money for initiating a criminal case, obvious concealment of evidence, or even assistance to a suspect, you need to contact the security service, where, after an appropriate check, they can decide on the criminal liability of the guilty official.

Action and inaction

Expert opinion

Egorov Viktor Tarasovich

Lawyer with 10 years of experience. Specialization: family law. Recognized legal expert.

Article 12 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On the Police” contains an exhaustive list of police duties. Failure to perform at least one action from the list given in the law may be regarded as inaction.

Action must be distinguished from inaction. When appealing against the actions of the police, we may be talking about improper performance of duties, while inaction implies non-fulfillment or incomplete fulfillment of the duties assigned to the police.

For example, a detention made without complying with the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure may lead to a complaint against the action. At the same time, failure to take measures to detain will already be the basis for a complaint about inaction.

At the same time, we would like to draw the attention of our readers to the fact that neither the prosecutor’s office nor the Ministry of Internal Affairs requires the authors of appeals and complaints to correctly characterize the subject of the complaint. In any case, the official who will be entrusted with checking the complaint will independently determine its subject, that is, a specific action or inaction.

It is for this reason that there is no point in looking for lawyers or attorneys to write a complaint. Write it as best you can. The main thing is that the complaint explains exactly what its author is dissatisfied with and which police officer caused his dissatisfaction.

Alternatively, you can use the standard sample complaint about the inaction of a police officer presented in this article. Even if the complaint actually concerns actions and not inaction, that’s okay.

As for applications to the court to declare illegal decisions, actions (inactions) of the police, it is advisable to draw them up with the help of a lawyer, since the court imposes quite strict requirements on the content of administrative claims against officials in accordance with Art. 220 CAS RF.

Features of compilation

Regardless of which authority you decide to write a complaint to, take into account the following:

1. The author of the complaint can be any person whose rights have been violated. It can be either the victim in the case or the legal representative of the victim, the accused, his relatives, etc. In addition, the application can be signed by a representative by proxy in the interests of a certain person with whose personality the events are connected, as well as by a lawyer.
2. The complaint can be written either by hand or compiled on a computer.
3. The law does not contain any requirements for text formatting. At the same time, the application must meet certain criteria of local legislative acts. So, if you are preparing a statement about police inaction to the prosecutor’s office, it will be useful to know about some of the rules enshrined in the Instructions on the consideration of appeals, approved by the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. According to this internal document, prosecutors have the right to leave without consideration applications that do not contain a return address, as well as from the content of which it is impossible to understand the meaning of what happened, etc.

Why is it better to contact the prosecutor's office?

If the police are inactive, where should I go? In general, an application to the prosecutor's office can be submitted in any case and in any circumstances.

The prosecutor's office is initially a supervisory authority, and, of course, compelling circumstances are required to contact the prosecutor's office with a complaint against a police officer.

If a police officer is simply unsympathetic to someone, this will not be a reason for filing a complaint about the inaction of law enforcement agencies.

In addition, the prosecutor’s office is a completely different department and the chances of not remembering the proverb: “hand washes hand” are quite high.

It is the fact that prosecutorial officers are not subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs that plays the main role.

At the same time, the prosecutor’s office will definitely accept the application, the main thing is to draft it correctly. A competent lawyer can provide invaluable assistance with this.

A law firm will help and substantiate the information that should fall into the hands of the prosecutor. After all, an unfounded statement will not yield results.

Therefore, an application to the prosecutor’s office against a police officer, a sample of which is on our website, must have attachments. They, in turn, will serve as evidence of the guilt of police officers.

Sample complaint about inaction of police officers

Use the sample complaint about the inaction of police officers given as an example below (explanations are highlighted in blue):

To the prosecutor of the Ivanovo district of Kaliningrad, senior adviser of justice K.A. Mukonin. (either: to the Ivanovsky District Court of Kaliningrad, or to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for Kaliningrad). Serebryakov P.R., living at the address: Kaliningrad, st. Mira, 3, apt. 3 tel. 8929020202 (if the author is a representative, then his data is written, the basis for representing interests is the power of attorney, its date and details, as well as the person in whose interests the representative acts)

COMPLAINT to the prosecutor's office (to the court, to the Ministry of Internal Affairs) about the inaction of the police

I ask you to check the actions of police officers of department No. 1 of the Ivanovo district of Kaliningrad, who are interfering with the protection of my rights as an injured person.

You need to briefly outline the essence of the events in connection with which you submitted an application to the department:

So, on December 1, 2016, I contacted the duty department of the OP No. 1 of the Ivanovo district of Kaliningrad with a statement to bring citizen Shmanko R.O. to criminal liability. under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for fraud. So, Shmanko R.O. by deception and abuse of my trust, he stole gold items worth more than 200,000 rubles from me.

I provided the police with the necessary documents (contracts, invoices, invoices, receipts, etc.), on the basis of which Shmanko R.O., giving his actions the appearance of legality, took jewelry for sale, with which he subsequently disappeared.

Then you can indicate the details (name, position) of the police officer who conducted the inspection:

The verification of the circumstances set out in my application was carried out by the local police commissioner Kvasov A.P., whose inaction led to irreversible consequences - Shmanko R.O. managed to dispose of my property by selling it to unknown persons. According to my application by Kvasov A.P. a decision was made to refuse to initiate a criminal case due to the lack of corpus delicti.

Indicate why you consider the decision illegal, highlight what specifically was not done.

I consider this resolution illegal for the following reasons:

1. The seller P.L. Kireeva, who works for individual entrepreneur R.O. Shmanko, was not interviewed. and directly involved in the alleged jewelry transactions.
2. The documentation I provided was not examined.
3. No measures were taken to establish the whereabouts of R.O. Shmanko; he has not yet been interviewed.
4. A legal assessment of the actions of R.O. Shmanko was not given: the district police officer incorrectly concluded that there was no corpus delicti.

Under such circumstances, the resolution of the district police officer Kvasov A.P. dated 12/10/2016 is illegal and subject to cancellation.

Based on the above, guided by art. 124 (if the application is submitted to the court - then 125) of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation,

ASK:

1. Resolution dated December 10, 2016, refusing to initiate a criminal case on the grounds of fraudulent actions by R.O. Shmanko. declared illegal and cancelled.
2. Instruct police department No. 1 of the Ivanovo district of Kaliningrad to conduct a full and comprehensive inspection.
3. Submit to the head of the OP No. 1 of the Ivanovo district of Kaliningrad a proposal to eliminate the identified violations of criminal procedural legislation and to involve the district police officer A.P. Kvasov. to disciplinary liability. (If you file a complaint in court, you can ask for a private ruling to the head of the police department).
4. Inform me of the decision made by registered mail to the address I indicated.

Attachment: copy of the resolution dated December 10, 2016 (there is no need to attach documents directly related to the crime itself: the material will be requested during the inspection).

Serebryakov P.R., December 12, 2016.

Where to complain about the police: requirements for the content of the statement that you cannot do without

So, how to properly write a complaint about unlawful actions of police officers?

Preparing and drawing up an application requires extreme care from a person.

First of all, it is necessary to find out all the possible options for the development of events. And you need to start by deciding where exactly to complain.

So, citizens can express their complaints to several bodies that have supervisory functions over police officers.

These include:

1. Initially, the employee's superiors should be mentioned whose actions or inactions led to this situation.
2. A complaint about the inaction of the police on duty can be sent to the OSB (internal security department).
3. Citizens can also express their complaints to the prosecutor's office.

Expert commentary
Roslyakov Oleg Vladimirovich

Lawyer, specialization civil law. More than 19 years of experience.

Ask a question

It is difficult to say which action will be the most relevant and will bring the fastest result. To do this, you need to be aware of the specific situation. It is best to consult a lawyer here. However, our article will focus on the cases that have already been listed above.

Submission and Review Procedure

The completed appeal can be sent either by mail or electronically. On the website of the prosecutor's office of the region, region, as well as on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the court of the corresponding district, there are Internet reception areas where you can leave your letter and attach the necessary evidence (files, screenshots) to it. Notifications will be sent to your email about the progress of your application.

If you apply in person to the office of the prosecutor's office, the court or the Ministry of Internal Affairs, your application will be accepted by stamping the copy (prepare it in advance). You can find out about the details of the employee who will directly deal with your issue by calling the office - you can check the number when visiting the institution directly or on the official website.

You can receive a response to your application either electronically or by letter (regardless of how it was submitted) - you just need to indicate which is more convenient for the applicant. You can also agree with the executor to receive a response in person from the office of the prosecutor or court - this is the fastest way to get acquainted with the final decision.

When receiving an official response, pay attention to the indication of the possibility of appealing to a higher authority - you can use this right when your arguments were left unsatisfied. Thus, if you disagree with the response from the district prosecutor’s office, you can appeal it to a higher prosecutor’s office or court. If you receive a court ruling refusing to satisfy your complaint, you can appeal to the regional court.

Where to send

It is difficult to mistake the addressee of a complaint about police inaction. The main thing is that the title contains the word “Ministry of Internal Affairs” or “Prosecutor’s Office.” Of course, it is advisable to submit a complaint in accordance with the principle of territoriality and departmental hierarchy.

Thus, a complaint against a district police officer can be sent to the district prosecutor, or regional prosecutor, or to the district police department, etc.

But the fact is that both the prosecutor’s office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have inherited a clear system for forwarding complaints and applications from citizens since Soviet times. Therefore, if, instead of the district police department, you send a complaint to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation or to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation in Moscow, you can be sure that your complaint will not only be forwarded to its destination, but also, quite possibly, will be taken under control.

The principles for drawing up other types of complaints to the prosecutor’s office can be found in a special article on our website.

As for sending an application to the court in administrative proceedings, in this case the strict principle of territoriality must be observed. This means that applications must be sent to the district (city) courts at the location of the defendant.

The media constantly mentions the low level of trust of Russian citizens in police officers. This phenomenon has its own objective reasons and negative consequences, one of which is certainly the lack of desire to file a complaint with law enforcement agencies.

Especially if the crime is of minor gravity and does not entail consequences for life and health. And even more so, there is no desire to complain about police officers.

But there are quite effective methods of influencing negligent police officers. And it’s worth knowing about these methods so that, when faced with a situation of violation of your own rights and interests, you can be fully armed.

Application processing time

Received requests will be registered within a three-day period from the date of their receipt. Next, the jurisdiction is determined - the units that will consider them.

The review period is calculated from the date of its registration. The applicant will receive a response within thirty days from the date of registration. At the request of the applicant, the response is sent by mail or via the Internet.

When the claim described in the appeal is not within the competence of the internal affairs bodies, then within a 7-day period this appeal will be forwarded to the appropriate government agency, and the applicant will be notified.

The Russian police recommend that citizens not abuse the right to file complaints with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is known that a large number of appeals are not confirmed or do not fall within the scope of activity of the internal affairs bodies.

If the facts from the appeal are unreliable or false, then the applicant may be held accountable, including criminal liability.

Where can I complain?

It is important to know where to file a complaint if unlawful actions by police officers are identified.

An appeal against the actions or inactions of police officers is possible by contacting several government bodies: the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the prosecutor's office, and the court.

To senior management

It is required to contact higher management if inappropriate behavior of a police officer is noted. It is worth filing a complaint in case of rudeness, rude actions, or use of obscene language.

In this case, immediate management initiates an internal audit. The result of this, when violations are identified, is the bringing of the violator to disciplinary liability.

It is also possible to send a complaint to the head of the unit on other issues. You can appeal a decision, action or inaction of subordinates.

Contacting management is the first step in making a complaint. Sometimes situations are resolved at this stage. If there is no result or the citizen is not satisfied, it is worth contacting other authorities.

Hotline

It is not possible to submit a complaint anonymously. During the conversation you will need to provide your personal information and contact phone number. It is important to describe the current situation in detail and ask for action to be taken.

To the prosecutor's office

If there is no action on the part of management, you can contact the prosecutor's office. But even if the complaint has not previously been submitted directly to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the citizen has the right to send it directly to a higher authority.

The prosecutor's office is a supervisory authority. To apply to it there must be compelling reasons, as well as evidence of violations of citizen rights.

A complaint to the prosecutor's office about the inaction of police officers is considered within 30 days. This is the standard time limit for the procedure. Sometimes it can be extended if employees require a more detailed study of the situation or obtain any documents.

Also, the review period can be reduced to 15 days. This is possible if verification is not required (Order of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation No. 45 of January 30, 2013).

The response to the appeal must be motivated and detailed. If violations are detected in the actions of police officers, the prosecutor takes measures to bring them to justice.

You can contact the prosecutor's office in person. It is also possible to file a complaint through State Services.

In the USB

A complaint to the OSB (USB) against a police officer can be filed if a citizen wants to report corruption, and also suspects the police officer of personal interest in the course of the case.

In accordance with paragraph 120 of Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 707, there is a special unit in charge of this issue.

An appeal is drawn up in free form.

The document must indicate the following information:

• personal information about the applicant (last name, first name, patronymic, residential address, contacts);
• information about the police officer who violated the law;
• a detailed description of what happened.

You can deliver the document in person or by post. It is important to take a receipt that the complaint has been accepted.

Expert opinion

Egorov Viktor Tarasovich

Lawyer with 10 years of experience. Specialization: family law. Recognized legal expert.

You can also put the entry number on the second copy of the document, which will remain in the applicant’s hands. In this way, it will be possible to prove the fact of contacting the CSS.

Sometimes CSS ignores requests for various reasons. It is possible to re-submit a complaint while simultaneously submitting a copy of the document to the prosecutor's office. It is important to notify the CSS of this in advance.

Ways to file a complaint

There are several ways to file a complaint against a police officer.

A citizen has the right to choose the most convenient for him:

1. You can personally visit the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Internal Security Service, and the prosecutor's office. To do this, you will need to make an appointment in advance. This can be done through the official websites of institutions.
2. The complaint may be sent by mail. It is worth sending it by registered mail with acknowledgment of delivery. This will confirm that the document has been received by the addressee.
3. When contacting the Ministry of Internal Affairs, you can use the online reception on the website.
4. You can send a complaint to the prosecutor's office through the State Services portal.

A response to an appeal is given within 30 days.

Reasons for complaint

There may be several reasons to complain about a police officer:

• no work is carried out on the application left;
• the verification of the facts was formal, the important circumstances specified in the application were not taken into account, as a result of which the applicant was refused to initiate criminal proceedings;
• the case was opened under a more lenient article than the injured citizen expected, having superficially examined what happened;
• the investigation is not active, procedural actions are not carried out, no one is looking for the criminal;
• the applicant cannot obtain information about the progress of the investigation.

In some situations, filing a complaint is not necessary. For example, if a citizen, from whose words the protocol was drawn up, noticed errors or inaccuracies in it, he only needs to add in his own hand the missing facts, indicate the time and place of action. And only then set the date and sign.