Typical investigative situations in the initial phase of a war-related sexual violence investigation

Abstract

A comparative analysis of scientific provisions regarding the phasing of the pretrial investigation process and the content of the concept of “investigative situation” has been conducted. The essence and meaning of the specified scientific abstraction has been revealed. Investigative situations at the initial stage of investigation of sexual violence committed in wartime are typified by the information component depending on the determinism of the social relationship between the rapist and the victim at the time of the criminal intent, which correlates with the forensic qualification of these crimes. These include: 1) criminal proceedings have been initiated against a specific person who has committed a crime, provided for in Art. 153 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (in 76 % of the summarized materials of criminal proceedings); 2) criminal proceedings have been opened for the fact of sexual violence, as the perpetrator has not been identified (in 24 % of cases). A number of tasks that need to be solved by the pre-trial investigation body in order to obtain sufficient grounds for making a reasonable procedural decision determining the proper limits of the investigation have been identified. Algorithms of corresponding actions have been developed, which are reflected in a procedural form through the prism of the intellectual activity of an official, in particular, an inspection of the scene of the incident, questioning of the victim or witnesses, taking biological samples of a person, appointing forensic experts, taking measures to ensure criminal proceedings in the form of temporary access to things and documents for the purpose of extracting photo or video material in digital form, using OSINT technologies to identify the rapist through social networks Instagram, Facebook, VK, etc., conducting covert investigative (search) actions and operational-search activities in order to establish the location the suspect, etc.

Keywords

• sexual violence
• war
• martial law
• stage of investigation
• typical investigative situation
• criminal proceedings
• pre-trial investigation.