The article is dedicated to the issues of legal regulation of the form and content of a decision to refuse initiation of criminal proceedings; the "form-content-meaning" triunity of this procedural act is examined; the author notes the need for legal regulation of the form and content of the final procedural act in the form of a decision to refuse initiation of criminal proceedings that would become one of the guarantees of the individual's right to defense at the stage of initiation of criminal proceedings, regardless of the role in criminal proceedings.