Poliisin ja syyttäjän yhteistyön kehittäminen esitutkinnan johtamisen ja laadun näkökulmasta

Abstract

Poliisin ja syyttäjän yhteistyö rikosprosessissa alkaa tutkinnanjohtajan johdolla suoritettavassa esitutkinnassa. Syyttäjälle on säädetty oikeus huolehtia esitutkinnan riittävyydestä oman toimintansa ja rikosprosessin jatkumisen varmistamiseksi.

Yhteistyön nykytilaan ovat vaikuttaneet erityisesti tehdyt muutokset lainsäädännössä ja organisaatiorakenteissa. Poliisien ja syyttäjien yhteinen nimismiesorganisaatio lopetettiin ja tilalle perustettiin laajempina organisaatioina kihlakunnanvirastot. Kihlakunnanvirastojen tilalle ovat rakentuneet poliisilaitokset ja syyttäjänvirastot, joiden toiminta-alueet ovat vieläkin laajemmat. Oman lisänsä yhteistyön luonteeseen on antanut se, että julkishallinnon virastojen tulosjohtaminen ja yhteisen prosessin johtaminen ei ole ongelmatonta.

Julkishallinnon toiminnan laadun ja vaikuttavuuden arvioiminen ja mittaaminen on yleisellä tasolla todettu vaikeaksi. Poliisin ja syyttäjän yhteistyö on eri ministeriöiden taholta tulosjohdettua, joten sen arvioiminen ja mittaaminen on erityisen vaikeaa. Yhteisten ja sopusointuisten tavoitteiden kehittämistä edistää avoin ja toisten roolit tiedostava vuorovaikutus.

Tutkimus tuo esille yhteistyön kehittymisessä ilmenneitä yksityiskohtia. Tutkimuksen avulla vahvistuu muun muassa olettamus, että lopputuloksen laatua kehittävät konkreettinen yhteistyö paikallistasolla sekä esimiesvirastojen aktiivinen ja yhdenmukainen toiminta. Näiden kehittämiselle on eduksi mahdollisimman yhdenmukaiset strategiset linjaukset. Esitutkinnan laadulla on myös oma merkityksensä rikosprosessin laatuun ja osaltaan myös sen nopeuteen.

This is a study in the field of administrative sciences, the research object being co-operation between the police and the public prosecutor in the first stage of the criminal proceedings ´ the pre-trial investigation. The research problem emerges from the conditions under which the pre-trial investigation is conducted, in which the person in charge of the investigation is required to take care of the pre-trial investigation pertaining to police work and the prosecutor is simultaneously entitled and required to take care of the prosecution. The person in charge of the investigation has a significant task from both perspectives as in order to ensure the productivity of the police it is also necessary in the pre-trial stage to ensure good points of departure in achieving the objectives of the criminal proceedings.

Performance management in public administration is frequently only realized by monitoring quantitative measures. The most common measures in criminal investigation are the number of crimes and the percentage of crimes solved. Other quantitative measures include drugs confiscated, proceeds of crime recovered, latent crime exposed and the number of individuals registered as suspects. The pre-trial investigation is in need of qualitative measures reflecting quality of performance which can be constructed on parameters, but so far no such qualitative measures are used.

The task of the prosecutor is to focus the pre-trial investigation process, if necessary, so as to yield optimal pre-trial investigation material for the consideration of mounting a prosecution and possible steps and a trial. The activity of the prosecutor in the pre-trial investigation has a positive meaning for the progress of the issue with regard to both quality and speed. Practice has shown that the more significant a crime is in question, and the more problematic its characteristics, the more important is co-operation in the pre-trial investigation. It is also desirable that a public organization employing performance management by two instances and the operations shared between them should share an understanding of their objectives.

Making co-operation modern demands of the police and of the prosecutors open interaction with due appreciation for each other´s roles, because co-operation between the police and the prosecutors is also a means of ensuring an objective pre-trial investigation of high quality. Factors driving the operations of the police and the prosecutors have recently developed due to the new practices occasioned by international legislation.

The study seeks answers to the question of how co-operation between the police and the prosecutors functions in Finland from the perspective of the conducting of the pre-trial investigation and the quality of the criminal process. The answer emerges through sub-questions, which, briefly, concern how co-operation functions, how management functions, how these matters affect the quality of the pre-trial investigation and what constitutes good quality.

Content analysis of the performance management of the police and the prosecutors and of the final report of the development group for co-operation in pre-trial investigations shows that on the managerial level there is awareness in both organizations of a development object so that the police and prosecutors could function better. The findings of the study also show that the commitment of the senior management of the police and the prosecutors to the improvement of everyday routines in co-operation has a positive effect on both management and quality.

The study brings to the fore the development areas in co-operation from the perspectives of both leading the pre-trial investigation and its quality. The major development areas are the arrangements for the expansion of the organizations? fields of operation and taking advantage of the prosecutors? expertise in the improvement of the quality of the pre-trial investigation. Improving the quality of the pre-trial investigation in particular demands leadership of the co-operation and more effective utilization in that investigation of the qualitative feedback obtained from the prosecutors.