The subject of the dispute concerns the correctness of the criminal proceedings closure by the court of first instance due to the alleged expiration of pre-trial investigation terms. The court was guided by the fact that the period between the criminal proceedings closure by the prosecutor (01.03.2022) and the cancellation of this resolution by a higher-level prosecutor (27.05.2022) should not be counted towards the pre-trial investigation period. In this case, the Supreme Court directly deviated from its previous position, outlined in the resolution dated 03.04.2023, and referred to a new conclusion of the Joint Chamber of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court dated 09.09.2024. Since the indictment was submitted to the court within the correctly calculated pre-trial investigation period, there were no grounds for closing the proceedings.
The Supreme Court satisfied the prosecutor’s cassation appeal, cancelled the decisions of previous instances, and sent the case for a new review to the court of first instance.
