Investigative Committee staff numbers 5,000

The Investigative Committee has been created in a very short time.

It has been stated today by the chairman of the Investigative Committee of Belarus Valery Vakulchyk in “Topical microphone” program of the Belarusian Radio, BelTA informs.

A little more than three months were given for founding the Investigative Committee, which caused concerns, considering the experience of other states (Russia and Kazakhstan), where such transformation had taken much more time. “However even now after main organizational issues are completed, we can say that we have accomplished the task set for us,” Vakulchyk said.

Creation of the Investigative Committee will help to solve the vital problem, when despite independence of an investigator provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure, investigators were directly subordinated to the head of the division of his governmental agency. It caused worse quality of investigation. Independence of the Investigative Committee lies in the fact that operational subdivisions, investigators and supervision agencies are divided completely. “Earlier we often encountered a situation when investigation was carried out by prosecutors, and at the same time supervision over their activities was done by the same prosecutor’s office,” Valery Vakulchyk noted.

As said by him, such a system was not effective. Since January 1 different agencies are to carry out investigation at different stages, and they would have their own subordination. At the same time, as he said, “a field officer is interested in his efforts on establishing and incrimination of a criminal not to be lost, so in case any mistakes are done by the investigator, a field officer would not keep silent.”

At the same time, supervision of by the public prosecutor remains the same, and it is to fulfil its functions. “Thus we have divided investigation and supervision,” Valery Vakulchyk concluded. And responsibility for quality of the work should be taken by immediate heads of investigation groups.

valery Vakulchyk has also stressed the high professional qualities of the Investigative Committee personnel. “We have invited the most skillful and professional experts, who had passed a careful shortlisting.” Representatives of the investigation bodies of the Interior Affairs Ministry and Financial investigation department had been chosen primarily, and they became the backbone of the new institution. 80% of the staff has been appointed, which is 4,000 workers.

We remind that on December 7 the Law on Investigative Committee was adopted. Under the law, investigation agencies are to become a separate structure, and the Interior Affairs Ministry, the prosecutor’s office and the Financial investigations department are to be divested of authority to investigate criminal cases.

According to the draft law, only investigators of the Investigative Committee and the KGB have a right to initiate criminal cases. And the KGB is to be responsible for specific criminal cases – espionage, terrorism, crimes against peace and so on. Investigative subdivisions in the Interior Affairs Ministry and the Department of Financial Investigations department are to be eliminated.