MOSCOW, June 2 (RAPSI) — Draft amendments to the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure granting investigators the right to interview victims, specialists, experts and witnesses in criminal cases via videoconferencing means has been submitted to the lower house of the Russian parliament.

The proposed rule allows investigators to personally interview relevant persons while staying at their offices so there is no need to wait for such a person to arrive for interview, what helps to reduce the time frame for the investigation of a criminal case, the explanatory note to the bill says.

Taking into account the fact that at present not all investigative units have appropriate technical equipment, the document stipulates that interviewing via videolink will be possible only if there there available respective technical means.

The bill also answers the new challenges presented by the pandemic. Moreover, in view of the expansion of interaction in society through remote resources, it is necessary to take into account the need for such interaction in the criminal procedural sphere as an opportunity to reduce the time these procedures take and costs for performing procedural actions, parliamentarians believe.