ROMAN ZAKHAROV v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT
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to the complainant that he may raise the complaints before the relevant trial
court (paragraph 9).
89. Article 125 of the CCrP provides for the judicial review of decisions
and acts or failures to act by an investigator or a prosecutor which are
capable of adversely affecting the constitutional rights or freedoms of the
participants to criminal proceedings. The lodging of a complaint does not
suspend the challenged decision or act, unless the investigator, the
prosecutor, or the court decides otherwise. The court must examine the
complaint within five days. The complainant, his counsel, the investigator
and the prosecutor are entitled to attend the hearing. The complainant must
substantiate his complaint (Article 125 §§ 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the CCrP).
90. Participants in the hearing are entitled to study all the materials
submitted to the court and to submit additional materials relevant to the
complaint. Disclosure of criminal-case materials is permissible only if it is
not contrary to the interests of the investigation and does not breach the
rights of the participants in the criminal proceedings. The judge may request
the parties to produce the materials which served as the basis for the
contested decision or any other relevant materials (paragraph 12 of Ruling
no. 1).
91. Following the examination of the complaint, the court either declares
the challenged decision, act or failure to act unlawful or unjustified and
instructs the responsible official to rectify the indicated shortcoming, or
dismisses the complaint (Article 125 § 5 of the CCrP). When instructing the
official to rectify the indicated shortcoming, the court may not indicate any
specific measures to be taken by the official or annul or order that the
official annul the decision that had been found to be unlawful or unjustified
(paragraph 21 of Ruling no. 1 of 10 February 2009 of the Plenary Supreme
Court of the Russian Federation).
3. A judicial-review complaint under Chapter 25 of the Code of Civil
Procedure, the Judicial Review Act and the Code of Administrative
Procedure
92. Ruling no. 2 of 10 February 2009 of the Plenary Supreme Court of
the Russian Federation provides that complaints concerning decisions and
acts of officials or agencies performing operational-search activities that
may not be challenged in criminal proceedings, as well as complaints
concerning a refusal of access to information about the data collected in the
course of operational-search activities, may be examined in accordance with
the procedure established by Chapter 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure
(“the CCP”) (paragraph 7).
93. Chapter 25 of the CCP, in force until 15 September 2015,
established the procedure for examining complaints against decisions and
acts of officials violating citizens’ rights and freedoms, which was further
detailed in the Judicial Review Act. On 15 September 2015 Chapter 25 of