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Throughout the post, two pieces of advice will be key: "don't go" and "if you go, take a lawyer with you."
I am mentally prepared for the fact that the comments will contain criticism and phrases like: "yet another lawyer has decided to give more importance to representatives of his profession than it deserves." Well, an opinion has a right to exist, even if it is wrong.
There are many cases when a person comes to the police department as a witness and leaves as a suspect with a decision on the selection of a preventive measure. There are also many cases when he leaves on a call and then his relatives and lawyers search for him for a week. For cases of illegal actions against citizens by police officers - just look at the news on the Internet for the last 24 hours.
Following the first advice (not to go) can save you from all this. Whether there is any responsibility for this - will be below.
The second (comes with a lawyer) - can significantly reduce the time spent in the police department, possibly save you from illegal actions.
Now let's get back to the topic.
To summarize and state briefly: Police officers have the right to summon citizens to obtain explanations and give testimony when conducting an investigation into a report of a crime, proceedings on an administrative offense, or an investigation of a criminal case.
Does this mean that you should run headlong at the first phone call from a district police officer/operational officer, investigator/investigator, juvenile affairs inspector? Of course not.
A classic summons for questioning is a subpoena delivered to you against signature or sent by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt. The subpoena must indicate: who (for example, investigator Ivanov, Investigative Department of the OMVD for city No. ...sk), whom (for example, you, Petrov Petr Petrovich), where (to the Investigative Department located at the address: city No. ...sk, Felix Dzerzhinsky Street, building 1, office 13), when (date and time) and in what capacity (witness in a case of an administrative offense, suspect in a criminal case, etc.) is summoning. The full name, position and signature of the person issuing the subpoena must be included. A contact phone number is usually also indicated.
If you don't have one of these details, then when you receive a summons, you can immediately throw it in the trash and not go anywhere. They can't force you to come with such a summons. Or rather, they can. But it's illegal.
Forced summons is also illegal if the summons was sent by letter without notification, or transmitted through relatives or neighbors.
Often the police use the following life hack: they hand you a summons, which indicates the time of appearance in such a way that, for example, the time of delivery is 10:00, but you must appear on the same day at 10:30.
How to deal with this?
Notify the person calling you about the impossibility of appearing at the specified time due to the fact that you need to meet with a lawyer, and demand a call for another time-date. And, of course, do not go anywhere
Be sure to pass on the information about who, where and why you are being called to people who care about your fate. If something happens, it will be easier to find you.
A few more words about why a summons is mandatory. Firstly, to avoid absenteeism from work. Secondly, there were cases when a person was called by phone almost every day, but no investigative actions were carried out (the investigator is busy, we have a corpse, possibly a criminal one). When a citizen got tired of being constantly bothered, and nothing happens, he wrote a complaint. The outcome of the review is logical: "he came himself, we don't know why, we didn't call him."
If you do decide to visit the police department, you should find yourself a lawyer. It's not very expensive, but it can help a lot. For example, during conversations about how you should write a confession about committing a crime, since the police have a lot of incriminating evidence against you, someone playing for your team should say: "Pfft, what nonsense? They have nothing on you, get up and leave." A professional's perspective will help sift through all this verbal chaff that will be dumped on you to speed up the decision the police need.
Ok, you've found yourself a lawyer...
Procedure: agreement on the provision of legal assistance, payment of the fee to the attorney's office, consultation, if you know the issue on which you are being called, you can put your testimony on paper (I prefer that the receipt of explanations/interrogation take place in the following order: the person being questioned/interrogated reads out the testimony on paper, refuses to answer the remaining questions, discuss two conventional signs "Get up and leave" and "You started talking in the wrong direction, you can talk yourself into an article", as well as the procedure if, upon arriving for questioning with a lawyer, they try to separate you into different offices (more on this below).
About conventional signs.
"Get up and leave." Sometimes it becomes clear from the first minutes that no investigative/procedural actions will be carried out, conversations are pointless and a waste of time. Sometimes it is worth listening (both sides get what they need: the police try to persuade the person called to make the decision they need, the person called gets information about how serious the situation is), but during the conversation threats and other obscenities may begin. Then the only correct course of events is to get up and leave.
"You talk too much." During investigative and procedural actions, a lawyer can give a client brief consultations. Excessive detail and openness are not always useful during interrogation or giving explanations; sometimes shutting up in time = avoiding an article.
About depriving you of the opportunity to communicate with a lawyer. There were several times when a proud detective officer, no less proudly, declared that now there will be no obtaining of explanations in the order of verification of the report of a crime, but an operational-search measure Interrogation will be carried out, and in accordance with the Law on operational-search activities, the participation of a lawyer is not provided for. The only correct way out of this situation in this case is to remind the valiant policeman that public operational-search measures are carried out only with the consent of citizens (thanks to training at a police university), declare that no one wants to participate in the ORM and leave with his head held high.
Now briefly about the continuation. They came, found out why they were summoned. You can ask for time to talk to a lawyer. They started giving explanations or investigative actions. We demand an explanation of rights, if the investigator/inquirer cannot cope, then ask a lawyer to help them. You give explanations/testimony and, if possible, avoid expressions that allow more than one interpretation. Ideally, you read from a piece of paper. At the end, we carefully read the text of the protocol and check whether the testimony was entered into the protocol correctly. We do not listen to how the police officer reads the testimony, we do not ask the lawyer to check everything, but we read it ourselves (if anything, you will be in jail).
If something is entered incorrectly, do not hesitate to correct it or demand changes. As a rule, at the end of the investigative (or other) actions, you can make statements (I was beaten, I am not guilty) and bring comments on the correctness of the document. Both are entered into the protocol and certified by your signature.
Another important thing is not to be scared before, during, or after the actions you were called for. Otherwise, they may show you a random article in the criminal code, your eye will catch a punishment in the form of 20 years of imprisonment or life imprisonment, and that's it - the person sees nothing, hears no one, including the lawyer, signs everything without looking.
When they threaten to close, or confession and written undertaking not to leave, it is important to remember: whether they will close (and subsequently arrest) or not is still a question, but confession can result in a real term, even if during the investigation and trial you were on written undertaking. It is annoying, when familiarizing yourself with the materials of a criminal case at the end of the investigation, to understand that without confession the remaining evidence is not enough to send the criminal case to court.
For interrogations, the duration without a break is limited to 4 hours. If you get tired earlier, you can ask for a break, if they do not allow you to rest, you can refuse to testify. It is difficult to interrogate a person who does not answer questions.
After that, that's it. You came to the police with a lawyer, and you must leave with a lawyer (although there are options). Then follow the developments.
That's all the advice for today. Criticism is welcome. Constantly slipped into examples from criminal prosecution. I confess, I am guilty
Good luck to everyone, good luck and may you avoid police brutality
A random photo of a summons from the Internet, an attentive reader will notice that it is not indicated in what capacity the person is being summoned. I would not go anywhere with such a summons….
Source
I am mentally prepared for the fact that the comments will contain criticism and phrases like: "yet another lawyer has decided to give more importance to representatives of his profession than it deserves." Well, an opinion has a right to exist, even if it is wrong.
There are many cases when a person comes to the police department as a witness and leaves as a suspect with a decision on the selection of a preventive measure. There are also many cases when he leaves on a call and then his relatives and lawyers search for him for a week. For cases of illegal actions against citizens by police officers - just look at the news on the Internet for the last 24 hours.
Following the first advice (not to go) can save you from all this. Whether there is any responsibility for this - will be below.
The second (comes with a lawyer) - can significantly reduce the time spent in the police department, possibly save you from illegal actions.
Now let's get back to the topic.
To summarize and state briefly: Police officers have the right to summon citizens to obtain explanations and give testimony when conducting an investigation into a report of a crime, proceedings on an administrative offense, or an investigation of a criminal case.
Does this mean that you should run headlong at the first phone call from a district police officer/operational officer, investigator/investigator, juvenile affairs inspector? Of course not.
A classic summons for questioning is a subpoena delivered to you against signature or sent by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt. The subpoena must indicate: who (for example, investigator Ivanov, Investigative Department of the OMVD for city No. ...sk), whom (for example, you, Petrov Petr Petrovich), where (to the Investigative Department located at the address: city No. ...sk, Felix Dzerzhinsky Street, building 1, office 13), when (date and time) and in what capacity (witness in a case of an administrative offense, suspect in a criminal case, etc.) is summoning. The full name, position and signature of the person issuing the subpoena must be included. A contact phone number is usually also indicated.
If you don't have one of these details, then when you receive a summons, you can immediately throw it in the trash and not go anywhere. They can't force you to come with such a summons. Or rather, they can. But it's illegal.
Forced summons is also illegal if the summons was sent by letter without notification, or transmitted through relatives or neighbors.
Often the police use the following life hack: they hand you a summons, which indicates the time of appearance in such a way that, for example, the time of delivery is 10:00, but you must appear on the same day at 10:30.
How to deal with this?
Notify the person calling you about the impossibility of appearing at the specified time due to the fact that you need to meet with a lawyer, and demand a call for another time-date. And, of course, do not go anywhere
Be sure to pass on the information about who, where and why you are being called to people who care about your fate. If something happens, it will be easier to find you.
A few more words about why a summons is mandatory. Firstly, to avoid absenteeism from work. Secondly, there were cases when a person was called by phone almost every day, but no investigative actions were carried out (the investigator is busy, we have a corpse, possibly a criminal one). When a citizen got tired of being constantly bothered, and nothing happens, he wrote a complaint. The outcome of the review is logical: "he came himself, we don't know why, we didn't call him."
If you do decide to visit the police department, you should find yourself a lawyer. It's not very expensive, but it can help a lot. For example, during conversations about how you should write a confession about committing a crime, since the police have a lot of incriminating evidence against you, someone playing for your team should say: "Pfft, what nonsense? They have nothing on you, get up and leave." A professional's perspective will help sift through all this verbal chaff that will be dumped on you to speed up the decision the police need.
Ok, you've found yourself a lawyer...
Procedure: agreement on the provision of legal assistance, payment of the fee to the attorney's office, consultation, if you know the issue on which you are being called, you can put your testimony on paper (I prefer that the receipt of explanations/interrogation take place in the following order: the person being questioned/interrogated reads out the testimony on paper, refuses to answer the remaining questions, discuss two conventional signs "Get up and leave" and "You started talking in the wrong direction, you can talk yourself into an article", as well as the procedure if, upon arriving for questioning with a lawyer, they try to separate you into different offices (more on this below).
About conventional signs.
"Get up and leave." Sometimes it becomes clear from the first minutes that no investigative/procedural actions will be carried out, conversations are pointless and a waste of time. Sometimes it is worth listening (both sides get what they need: the police try to persuade the person called to make the decision they need, the person called gets information about how serious the situation is), but during the conversation threats and other obscenities may begin. Then the only correct course of events is to get up and leave.
"You talk too much." During investigative and procedural actions, a lawyer can give a client brief consultations. Excessive detail and openness are not always useful during interrogation or giving explanations; sometimes shutting up in time = avoiding an article.
About depriving you of the opportunity to communicate with a lawyer. There were several times when a proud detective officer, no less proudly, declared that now there will be no obtaining of explanations in the order of verification of the report of a crime, but an operational-search measure Interrogation will be carried out, and in accordance with the Law on operational-search activities, the participation of a lawyer is not provided for. The only correct way out of this situation in this case is to remind the valiant policeman that public operational-search measures are carried out only with the consent of citizens (thanks to training at a police university), declare that no one wants to participate in the ORM and leave with his head held high.
Now briefly about the continuation. They came, found out why they were summoned. You can ask for time to talk to a lawyer. They started giving explanations or investigative actions. We demand an explanation of rights, if the investigator/inquirer cannot cope, then ask a lawyer to help them. You give explanations/testimony and, if possible, avoid expressions that allow more than one interpretation. Ideally, you read from a piece of paper. At the end, we carefully read the text of the protocol and check whether the testimony was entered into the protocol correctly. We do not listen to how the police officer reads the testimony, we do not ask the lawyer to check everything, but we read it ourselves (if anything, you will be in jail).
If something is entered incorrectly, do not hesitate to correct it or demand changes. As a rule, at the end of the investigative (or other) actions, you can make statements (I was beaten, I am not guilty) and bring comments on the correctness of the document. Both are entered into the protocol and certified by your signature.
Another important thing is not to be scared before, during, or after the actions you were called for. Otherwise, they may show you a random article in the criminal code, your eye will catch a punishment in the form of 20 years of imprisonment or life imprisonment, and that's it - the person sees nothing, hears no one, including the lawyer, signs everything without looking.
When they threaten to close, or confession and written undertaking not to leave, it is important to remember: whether they will close (and subsequently arrest) or not is still a question, but confession can result in a real term, even if during the investigation and trial you were on written undertaking. It is annoying, when familiarizing yourself with the materials of a criminal case at the end of the investigation, to understand that without confession the remaining evidence is not enough to send the criminal case to court.
For interrogations, the duration without a break is limited to 4 hours. If you get tired earlier, you can ask for a break, if they do not allow you to rest, you can refuse to testify. It is difficult to interrogate a person who does not answer questions.
After that, that's it. You came to the police with a lawyer, and you must leave with a lawyer (although there are options). Then follow the developments.
That's all the advice for today. Criticism is welcome. Constantly slipped into examples from criminal prosecution. I confess, I am guilty
Good luck to everyone, good luck and may you avoid police brutality
A random photo of a summons from the Internet, an attentive reader will notice that it is not indicated in what capacity the person is being summoned. I would not go anywhere with such a summons….
Source
