How to challenge an investigator’s or prosecutor’s inaction

When this is needed

Use this guide if a pre-trial in­ves­ti­ga­tion body fails to enter in­for­ma­tion in the URPTI, con­sid­er a motion, take a pro­ce­dur­al action, or issues a res­o­lu­tion that may be ap­pealed to an in­ves­ti­gat­ing judge. A common case is when someone reports a crim­i­nal offense but re­ceives silence or a formal re­sponse instead of a URPTI extract.

In Kyiv, do not start with a general com­plaint “about the police.” An in­ves­ti­gat­ing judge reviews spe­cif­ic de­ci­sions, actions, or in­ac­tion under the Crim­i­nal Pro­ce­dure Code. State which doc­u­ment was filed, when the dead­line expired, what action was not taken, and which body is re­spon­si­ble.

If the matter con­cerns an ad­min­is­tra­tive fine or a ruling under the Code of Ukraine on Ad­min­is­tra­tive Of­fens­es, a dif­fer­ent route may apply. See the sep­a­rate guide on chal­leng­ing an ad­min­is­tra­tive fine and the rel­e­vant dead­line cal­cu­la­tor.

Applicable deadline or procedure

The Crim­i­nal Pro­ce­dure Code sets a 10-day dead­line to com­plain about an in­ves­ti­ga­tor’s or pros­e­cu­tor’s de­ci­sion, action, or in­ac­tion. If chal­leng­ing a res­o­lu­tion, the period runs from the day its copy is re­ceived. Use the in­ves­ti­ga­tor in­ac­tion com­plaint dead­line cal­cu­la­tor for a quick check.

For failure to enter in­for­ma­tion in the URPTI, there is an ad­di­tion­al step: under the Crim­i­nal Pro­ce­dure Code, in­for­ma­tion must be entered without delay and no later than 24 hours after the report or no­ti­fi­ca­tion. It is there­fore not always correct to count 10 days from the moment the report was filed. First de­ter­mine when the 24-hour period expired or when the ap­pli­cant re­ceived ev­i­dence that the in­for­ma­tion had not been entered.

Check the ref­er­ence in the 24-hour URPTI cal­cu­la­tor, and review the method for filing and proving the report in the sep­a­rate guide. If tech­ni­cal access to the URPTI is un­avail­able during martial law, Article 615 of the Crim­i­nal Pro­ce­dure Code pro­vides a special pro­ce­dure for start­ing an in­ves­ti­ga­tion; the passage of time alone does not prove in­ac­tion.

Venue also matters. A com­plaint is usually filed with an in­ves­ti­gat­ing judge at the local court as­so­ci­at­ed with the pre-trial in­ves­ti­ga­tion body, not simply at the ap­pli­cant’s home address.

How to proceed step by step

First, pre­serve proof of filing. This may be a receipt slip, stamp, in­com­ing ref­er­ence number, postal item, elec­tron­ic con­fir­ma­tion, or another doc­u­ment. Without it, it is dif­fi­cult to prove that the body’s duty to act arose on a par­tic­u­lar date.

Next, define the subject of the com­plaint. For the URPTI, it is usually failure to enter in­for­ma­tion after a report of a crim­i­nal offense. For a motion, it is failure to con­sid­er it as re­quired by pro­ce­dure. For a res­o­lu­tion, iden­ti­fy the in­ves­ti­ga­tor’s or pros­e­cu­tor’s spe­cif­ic de­ci­sion and the date its copy was re­ceived.

Then cal­cu­late the dead­line. Select the correct base date: when you learned of the in­ac­tion, when you re­ceived a copy of a res­o­lu­tion, or the date after the URPTI 24-hour period expired. Keep ev­i­dence of that date because the court may verify it.

Finally, prepare the com­plaint. Iden­ti­fy the body, the sub­stance of the report or motion, the chronol­o­gy, the Crim­i­nal Pro­ce­dure Code pro­vi­sion, the spe­cif­ic request to the in­ves­ti­gat­ing judge, and the at­tach­ments. If filing through the elec­tron­ic court system or court reg­istry, keep proof of the filing time.

What to check before filing

Check that you are de­scrib­ing a crim­i­nal offense rather than only a civil or com­mer­cial dispute. For the URPTI, the report should set out facts that may in­di­cate a crim­i­nal offense. Oth­er­wise, the body may argue that it had no duty to enter in­for­ma­tion.

Check the court sep­a­rate­ly. In Kyiv, dif­fer­ent pre-trial in­ves­ti­ga­tion bodies may be as­so­ci­at­ed with dif­fer­ent local courts. Choos­ing the wrong court is not always fatal, but it costs time and the dead­line is short.

If there are par­al­lel en­force­ment pro­ceed­ings, an account freeze, or another non-crim­i­nal dispute, do not mix the pro­ce­dures. These matters may call for a com­plaint against an en­force­ment officer, an ad­min­is­tra­tive claim, or a civil-law remedy.

When to consult a lawyer

Consult a lawyer if the dead­line is close, you lack proof of filing, the body gave a formal re­sponse, venue may be wrong, or the sit­u­a­tion borders on a civil dispute. In these cases, it is im­por­tant to define the com­plaint prop­er­ly, not merely cite the Crim­i­nal Pro­ce­dure Code.

For Kyiv cases, a con­sul­ta­tion before filing can quickly verify the base date, 10-day dead­line, proof of filing, in­ves­ti­gat­ing judge, and re­quest­ed relief. This is es­pe­cial­ly im­por­tant for URPTI matters, where the initial 24 hours are often con­fused with the 10-day com­plaint dead­line.