scholarly journals THE STATUS OF A VICTIM IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (84) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Rolands Siliņš

The article examines the status of the victim in criminal proceedings, identifying in this context the problems existing in the Criminal Procedure Law and making proposals for the improvement of the regulation specified in the Criminal Procedure Law. With the recognition of the Criminal Procedure Code as invalid and the entry into force of the Criminal Procedure Law, a fundamental guideline has changed: being victim is the right, not the obligation, that is, the victim himself decides on the use of his rights and the use of the necessary remedies. In order to consistently implement the aforementioned change of the status of a victim, it is worth considering to prescribe in the Criminal Procedure Law that the victim himself determines the successor of the rights or, on the contrary, informs that he does not want his interests to be represented in criminal proceedings in the event of the eventual death of the victim. In case if an informed victim has refrained from providing clear instructions regarding the transfer of the victim’s rights, it is assumed that the victim agrees that, in case of his eventual death, one of the successors determined in the Criminal Procedure Law may become his successor of rights.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-105
Author(s):  
D. Puchko

Problematic issues of forensic structural engineering as a source of evidence while criminal proceedings in the aspect of evaluating its results have been analyzed. Taking into account the relevance of this type of forensic examination both for the investigation of criminal proceedings and for other types of court proceedings, main provisions concerning evaluation of a forensic report in the field of forensic structural engineering are considered. Relevant norms of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and of some foreign countries have been studied. It is concluded that, in fact, the approaches to the preparation of forensic report content are similar to the corresponding norms of the Ukrainian criminal procedure law. Certain discrepancies relate to the content of the report examination part – in some countries it does not contain a detailed description of the research course. In addition, according to Art. 242 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, a defense can independently engage a forensic expert, therefore, Art. 102 needs improvement. And since the defense party is not endowed with the right to warn a forensic expert about responsibility for a knowingly false report and refusal without valid reasons to fulfill duties assigned to him, then the indicated norm must be supplemented for such cases – in the aspect of the forensic expert awareness on such responsibility. It is specified that the body (person) that appoints the forensic structural engineering  examination does not always ask a forensic expert questions within the framework of the subject of proof. Admissibility of evidence is primarily determined by its receipt based on compliance with law. The grounds are provided that may serve as a reason for accepting the forensic report as inadmissible evidence in the field of forensic structural engineering.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-367
Author(s):  
N.V. Mashinskaya ◽  

The problem of legislative regulation of the procedure for reconciliation of the victim with the suspected, the accused until a certain time was only a subject of discussion in the scientific literature. At the same time the state’s need to find measures that can eliminate the consequences of crimes without the use of ordinary criminal procedures has actualized the work on introducing alternative methods of settling the criminal-legal conflict into criminal proceedings. Given the urgent need to apply this procedure in practice, the Interregional Public Center “Judicial and Legal Reform” has developed and posted on its website a draft federal law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation to Provide the Victim, Suspect, and Accused with the Possibility of Reconciliation.” To implement the procedure for reconciliation in criminal proceedings, the drafters of the bill propose to include a new chapter in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation). The author of the article critically evaluates the attempt due to the inconsistency of a number of novels, their uncertainty and inconsistency with the norms of the criminal procedure law. To eliminate the existing shortcomings, it is proposed to provide a separate article defining the procedural status of the conciliator and to include the specified rule in Ch. 8 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. As a guarantee of the right of the victim, suspect, accused to reconciliation, the introduction of an appropriate addition to the criminal procedure norms governing the legal status of the named participants in criminal proceedings is considered.


2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-160
Author(s):  
Andrіy Shulha ◽  
◽  
Tetyana Khailova ◽  

The article deals with the problem of specialist’s participation in the scene examination, which is carried out before entering information into the Unified Register of the pre-trial investigations. The essence of the problem is that the current criminal procedural law of Ukraine recognizes the specialist’s participation only in the pre-trial investigation, the litigation and the proceedings in the case of the commission of an unlawful act under the law of Ukraine on criminal liability. Part 1 of Article 71 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine states that a specialist in criminal proceedings is a person who has special knowledge and skills and can provide advice and conclusions during the pre-trial investigation and trial on issues that require appropriate special knowledge and skills. In other cases, the specialist has no procedural status. In addition, Part 1 of Article 237 of the CPC of Ukraine «Examination» states that the examination is conducted to identify and record information on the circumstances of the offense commitment. It is an act provided by the law of Ukraine on criminal liability. However, there are the cases in the investigation, when a report is received, for example, about a person's death, other events with formal signs of the offense, which must first be checked for signs of a crime, and only then the act can be considered as offense. In this case, a specialist takes part in the scene examination. However, the current criminal procedure law in accordance with Part 1, Article 71 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine determines the legal status of a specialist only as the participant in criminal proceedings. The paragraph 10, part 1 of Article 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine defines the criminal proceedings as pre-trial investigation and court proceedings or procedural actions in the case of the commission of an unlawful act. Therefore, when the inspection of the scene is based on the uncertain status of the event (there is no clear information that the event contains signs of an offense), the specialist’s participation is not regulated by law. The authors propose to consider the specialists as «experienced persons» in cases mentioned above and to include their advices to the protocol of the scene examination, as the advices of other scene examination participants.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-69
Author(s):  
Diah Ratri Oktavriana ◽  
Nasiri Nasiri

This research is a normative research. One of the fulfillment of human rights is justice in equalizing the position of every citizen before the law, as stated in Article 27 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. The right to equality before the law or what is commonly referred to as equality before the law is a principle that provides recognition and protection of human rights for every individual regardless of one's background. Therefore, it is true that Law Number 16 of 2011 concerning Legal Aid for People Who Are Less Capable to Guarantee Constitutional Rights of Citizens for Justice and Equality before the Law emerged. Legal aid is a legal service provided by advocates to the community seeking justice In the realm of criminal cases, the provision of legal assistance is described in Article 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code which explains that in the interests of defense, a suspect or defendant has the right to receive legal assistance from one or more legal advisers during the time and at each level of examination. The provision of legal assistance must be based on the principle of equality before the law as stated in the explanation of Law Number 8 of 1981 concerning Criminal Procedure Law. From the various analyzes that have been carried out, in the perspective of Islamic criminal law it can be concluded that the principle of equality before the law as described in Article 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code is equivalent to an order to provide legal aid which in Islamic criminal law is spelled out in Surah Al-Maidah verse 2 which states that as a fellow humans are ordered to help each other as a form of horizontal worship to fellow humans (habl minan-nas). In addition there are many more both in the Al Qur'an and the hadith of the prophet regarding the application of the principle of equality before the law.


Author(s):  
Polina O. Gertsen ◽  

The article deals with the problem of classifying interim decisions among those that are appealed in a shortened timeline, and determining the list of such decisions, as well as the closely related problem of determining the rules for calculating such a shortened timeline. Currently, the Criminal Procedure law provides for the possibility of appealing a number of interim decisions made at a pre-trial stage of criminal proceedings before the final decision Moreover, for appealing some interim decisions at a pre-trial stage of criminal proceedings, a general period of appeal is provided - 10 days from the date of the court decision, or the same period from the date of serving with a copy of the decision the person who is in custody, while for others a shortened timeline is 3 days from the date of the decision. Meanwhile, it follows from the literal interpretation of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation that within a shortened three-day period, court decisions on the election of preventive measures in the form of a ban on certain actions, bail, house arrest, detention, the refusal to apply them or extend their application can be appealed. At the same time, such a conclusion is not confirmed either in the positions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation or in judicial practice. Based on the analysis of the criminal procedure law, the position of the Supreme and Constitutional Courts of the Russian Federation, scientific literature and practice, several problems are highlighted. Thus, the author states the discrepancy between the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation and the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation when it comes to establishing the terms for appealing the court decision on a preventive measure in the form of bail. In addition, there is no single criterion for establishing shortened deadlines for appealing interim decisions, and there-fore, the list of such decisions requires analysis. In addition, the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation does not contain a norm that determines the rules for calculating daily terms. The author formulates several proposals for amendments. It is proposed to determine the criteria for a shortened appeal timeline as the restriction of the constitutional right to liberty and immunity of a person that requires the immediate judicial review of the lawfulness of such a decision. It is also necessary to correct the phrasing of Article 106 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, which defines the procedure for applying a preventive measure in the form of bail, and establish the rule that appeal against such an interim court decision is filed according to the rules of Chapter 45.1 of the Criminal Procedure Code within ten days. The list of court decisions which must be appealed in a shortened timeline must be expanded by a court decision on putting a suspect or an accused into a medical organization providing medical or psychiatric care in hospital settings for forensic examination, as well as the extension of a person’s stay in a medical organization. In addition, the author has analyzed the approaches to the calculation of daily terms and proposes to amend Part 1 of Article 128 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation by establishing a single procedure for calculating daily terms, which does not take into account the day that served as a starting point of the term.


Lex Russica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 70-79
Author(s):  
Yu. G. Torbin ◽  
A. A. Usachev ◽  
L. P. Plesneva

Despite the prolonged use of certain forms of interaction between the investigator and investigative agencies at the initial stage of pre-trial proceedings, the criminal procedure legislation still lacks some aspects of their implementation. This makes it necessary to study the current situation and substantiate the theoretical and practical provisions concerning interaction between an investigator and investigative agencies in the context of verification of the report of the crime in the light of the planned digitalization of domestic criminal proceedings. The author suggests that the forms of interaction, the application of which is expedient at the initial stage of pre-trial proceedings, include two procedural forms (giving written instructions to an investigative agency about carrying out operational search activities, obtaining explanations, obtaining assistance in carrying out investigative and other procedural actions) and two organizational forms (joint planning and formation of an investigative and task force). In order to increase the efficiency of criminal procedure at the initial stage of pre-trial proceedings, to ensure clarity of the language of criminal procedure law and its compliance with law enforcement, the auther proposes to amend Part 1 of Article 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure by supplementing it with the right of authorized officials and bodies to give to investigative agencies mandatory written instructions for obtaining explanations, and to receive assistance from the investigative agency in carrying out verification actions. At the same time, the paper demonstrates the author’s approch to excluding obtaining explanations from the general list of procedural actions specified in Part 1 of Article 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation and conducted by authorized subjects of verification of the report of the crime. Also, the paper analyzes the importance of introduction of electronic document circulation into criminal proceedings from the point of view of efficiency of interaction between the investigator and investigative authorities at the initial stage of pre-trial investigation.


Author(s):  
Olga Aivazova ◽  
Galina Vardanyan ◽  
Irina Smirnova

The article discusses some aspects of proving in cases of crimes against legal entities. The criminalistic description of the victim represented by a legal entity determines specific details of applying criminalistic and criminal procedure measures aimed at the identification, investigation, detection and prevention of such crimes. Under the current Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, one of the elements of ordering criminal proceedings is the protection of rights and legal interests of organizations that became victims of crimes. Part 1 of Art. 42 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation details this guideline for the first time by giving legal entities, viewed as independent subjects of criminal procedure legal relations, the right to be recognized as victims of criminal actions if the crime inflicted damage on their property or business reputation. Nevertheless, the imperfections in the regulation of legal entities’ participation in criminal proceeding, and the insufficient attention to the specifics of realizing their rights and legal interests in comparison with the physical persons of a similar procedural status give rise to numerous problems. The complex of such problems has a negative impact on the effectiveness of investigating this category of crimes and, as a consequence, on the ability of criminal proceedings to produce the intended result. The literal interpretation of Part 1, Art. 42 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation points out that the consequences of such crimes must include the infliction of two types of damage simultaneously — «to property and to business reputation», which can hardly be considered a good de­finition from the standpoint of juridical technique. Quite naturally, the investigation and court practice shows that law enforcers, while collecting proof on the character and size of damage inflicted on legal entities as a result of a crime, usually limit themselves to proving material damage, and even this damage is not proven in full (the common omission being losses of expected income). As for the damage inflicted on business reputation of a legal entity, its establishment during criminal proceedings is still problematic and, in practice, there is usually a gap in proving it. The authors point out that incomplete character of evidentiary information regarding the infliction of damage on the business reputation of legal entities is inadmissible and present their recommendations for resolving this problem, including the use of specialist knowledge and the improvements in the tactics of specific investigatory actions aimed at obtaining criminalistically relevant information on the case.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-16
Author(s):  
Oksana V. Kachalova ◽  
Sergey A. Vdovin

Introduction. The right of the accused to a defense in criminal proceedings is a prerequisite for the effective administration of justice, since it minimizes possible errors in the final decision in a case, which may result in the conviction of innocent persons, which contradicts the purpose of criminal proceedings and undermines citizens confidence in the judicial system. The purpose of the article is to identify systemic problems that impede the effective implementation of the right to defense at the stage of appeal, as well as to suggest ways to resolve them. Main results. The authors come to the conclusion that the structural and logical elements of ensuring the right of the accused to a defense at the stage of appeal proceedings in a criminal case are: subjects defending the accused; duties of a defense lawyer to exercise the right of the accused to defense at the stage of appeal proceedings in the case; subjects who, in accordance with the requirements of the criminal procedure law, are obliged to ensure the right of the accused to defense; the duties of the courts of first and appellate instances imposed on them by the criminal procedure law, corresponding to the rights of the accused, his defense lawyer and legal representative and forming in their totality a system of interim measures necessary for the realization of the accuseds right to defense; the powers of the accused, his defense counsel and legal representative, through which the constitutional right to defense is exercised; guarantees of the accuseds right to defense. The only ground for limiting the right to defense is abuse of the right by the defense. The fact of abuse of the right can only be established by the court, the abuse of the right cannot be evidenced exclusively by the external expression of the actions of participants in the process. The question of the presence or absence of abuse of the right to defense should be decided by the court on the basis of the totality of factual circumstances and procedural features of each individual situation. The system of powers that make up the content of the defendants right to defense at the stage of appeal proceedings in the case consists of two interrelated elements, including powers exercised at the stage of filing an appeal and before the start of the court session of the court of appeal, as well as the powers that the defense side has directly in consideration of a criminal case in a court session of the court of appeal. Conclusion. Thus, the effective provision of the right to defense at the stage of appeal proceedings requires a change in approaches on the part of legislator and law enforcement officers.


Author(s):  
V. V. Muryleva-Kazak

The article discusses the issue of the legal nature of the right to compensate harm, the effectiveness of usage of the criminal procedure mechanism for its protection and the reasonableness of the inclusion of relevant in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.Based on the analysis of judicial practice, it is concluded that the courts have difficulties in determining the appropriate way to protect the right to compensate harm caused in the course of criminal proceedings and the delineation of competence between arbitration courts and courts of general jurisdiction, which leads to a violation of the applicants’ right to access to justice and reduces the effectiveness of judicial protection.In addition, it is concluded that the criminal procedure form is not adapted to the consideration of civil disputes on compensation for harm, the author names the impossibility of collecting lost profits as one of the factors that reduce the effectiveness of the use of the criminal procedural mechanism for protecting property rights.Based on the interpretation of the criminal procedure rules provided in the article, the author concludes that legal entities have an opportunity to use criminal procedure remedies for violated property rights in more cases than individuals, which violates the principle of equality before the law and the court. The article provides ways to solve the identified problems.


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