The system of principles of the criminal process and their classification

At each stage of the conduct of the criminal process, all the norms and legislative principles related to each other must be strictly observed. Together they form a judicial system. If one of the principles is violated, then this leads to a violation of the legality of the entire process of conducting a criminal case. What the system of principles of the criminal process includes and what is their classification - more on this later.

criminal process

First, a few words about what criminal proceedings are. This is a type of activity that is regulated by criminal procedural legislation and is associated with the investigation, disclosure and, as a result, consideration of a case in court. This also includes relations between entities in terms of law that are involved in the process.

Criminal proceedings are assigned to:

• Protecting the rights and interests provided by law, civilians and organizations that are injured parties as a result of criminal acts.
• Protection of human rights from unfounded charges related to restriction of freedom of rights and conviction.

We highlight the main functions of criminal proceedings:

• Resolution of the case. As a result, a decision is made on the guilt or innocence of the accused.
• Protection. Criminal procedural activities aimed at protecting the individual and refuting the charge.
• The charge. It is carried out by the prosecution to expose the suspect accused of a criminal act.

We examined what criminal process means, a concept. The meaning and system of principles of the criminal process will be discussed later.

Principles of the Code of Criminal Procedure

Translated from Latin, “principle” means “basic rule” or “guideline”. It follows from this that the governing provisions of all stages, forms and institutes of legal proceedings that ensure the implementation of its purpose fall here. The principles are enshrined in law and addressed to participants in criminal proceedings. They regulate criminal procedure activity at all stages. And all practical actions in the conduct of a criminal case should be consistent with the procedural principles.

The distinguishing features of the principles are as follows:

• Constancy and stability.
• Scope of the principle.
• Normativeness of the principle.
• The form.
• Purpose.

Each principle is individual, but cannot be implemented without communication with others. The concept and system of principles of the criminal process are one, and their connection is obvious. Next, we will consider the distinguishing features characteristic of criminal proceedings.

Signs for characterizing principles

There are enough different prescriptions in the law, but the principles of legal proceedings have their own distinctive features. These include:

• The principles are normative and legal in nature and are binding, as they are enshrined in the constitution of the country and in the criminal procedure law.
• The principles guarantee the legitimacy of the activities of all persons participating in criminal proceedings and carrying out the integrity of legal proceedings.
• All stages of the case must be conducted in compliance with the above principles of legal proceedings.
• The principles of justice are widely disclosed at the trial stage.
• When deviating from the norms of principles, the decision should be canceled. Indeed, otherwise it is considered a violation of the criminal process, because it clearly demonstrates a violation of the law.

The system of principles of the criminal process is considered in accordance with a certain qualification.About it further.

Grouping Principles

The system and classification of the principles of the criminal process can be considered taking into account their division into the following groups:

• Constitutional - enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
• Unconstitutional - enshrined in the norms of industry legislation.
• Intersectoral - are used immediately in several areas of legal activity.
• Sectoral - are applied in a separate branch of law.
• Judicial - provide the organization of a system of bodies that conduct criminal proceedings.
• Legal proceedings - determine the actions of the parties to the criminal process.
• Wanted.
• Publicly competitive.

It is shown above that the system of principles of the criminal process is divided depending on the source and prevalence of the action. It also takes into account the nature of the impact on the organization and functioning of the judiciary, which carry out the criminal process.

The system of principles of the criminal process

It operates within a framework where the implementation of one principle is a guarantee for the execution of others. All are connected to each other. Since the system is indivisible, it retains its integrity even if a principle is violated. It has a system of principles of criminal procedure of 2 groups:

1. The principles that determine the legal freedom of each person.
2. Determine the procedure for conducting a criminal case.

All principles of criminal liability are stipulated in the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation (Chapter 2). Each of them characterizes a separate side of the criminal process. The binary system of principles of the criminal process significantly affects the creation of general conditions for criminal prosecution as an integral part of the procedural activity.

Rights and freedoms of citizens

The first group includes:

• Protection of freedom and rights of a citizen.
• Presumption of innocence.
• The right to defense for the accused and suspect.
• Immunity.
• Preservation of honor and dignity.
• Privacy.
• The inviolability of the home.

All principles are confirmed by the Constitution and the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Criminal proceedings

The second group guarantees:

• Doing justice only by court.
• Legality in criminal proceedings.
• Competition of the parties.
• Language of conduct of criminal proceedings.
• The freedom to evaluate evidence.
• The right to appeal all decisions made.

We considered the system of principles of the criminal process. The characteristics of individual principles will be presented below.

Presumption of innocence

This principle applies not only to the accused or suspect, but also to any person. The accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved in court, and the verdict comes into force. Only the court has the right to say that a person is the culprit of a particular offense. The most important thing is that the suspect is considered guilty only if the court verdict comes into force. And this usually happens 10 days after the judgment.

There are several provisions from the principle of innocence:

• An innocent person cannot serve a sentence and be sentenced to responsibility.
• You can not attract him as an accused, unless there are legal grounds.
• The prosecution is required to prove guilt.
• The accused must not prove that he is not guilty of the crime.
• If there is confirmation of the guilty plea of ​​the accused, then it can become the basis for the conviction.
• The accused is found guilty only when guilt is proven in the course of the trial.
• The presence of fatal doubts is interpreted in favor of the accused.
• If there is insufficient evidence and it is not possible to collect additional materials, the case is dismissed.

It should be noted that blaming a person and convicting him only on the basis of suspicions and assumptions is against the law.The accused is called innocent in Art. 6, 73, 220, 83. The principles of the criminal process, the concept of the system and characteristics Criminal proceedings are united by the fact that only human life, rights and freedoms are the highest value. This is discussed in the next section.

Securing the right to defense

The Constitution of our country enshrines the right of every citizen to receive legal assistance from a competent specialist if it becomes necessary to protect their rights and freedom. The conclusion is that any person has the right to protection. This is reflected in Art. 48, 49, 50, and 51.

The system of principles of the criminal process in this case includes several components:

• The suspect has a number of rights that give him the opportunity to protect his interests (Articles 46, 47 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
• The defendant's defender has the right to carry out his criminal procedural activities (Articles 49, 53, 248, 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
• The defense attorney has the right to defend the accused (Articles 426, 48, 42, 437 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
• The competent authorities are obliged to provide the suspect with the opportunity to defend himself by lawful means and methods (Articles 49-51 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
• They are obliged to protect the property and personal rights of the suspect or the accused (Article 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

This principle shows that the law is not limited to providing the defense of the accused.

What language is the legal process in?

The principle is as follows:

• Legal proceedings are conducted in the native language of the state, which is part of the RFR.
• Participants in the lawsuit who do not know the language well are allowed to give explanations and testimonies in their native language. You can use the free translation services.
• Documents that are passed on to the accused or suspect, as well as to the participants in the criminal process for consideration, should be provided only in their native language, therefore translation is required.

This principle is a guarantee of the sovereignty of the state and national equality of a person in any of the fields of activity, as well as fluency in national languages.

Right to appeal decisions

The principle of appeal against court decisions is as follows:

• The actions or omissions of the participants in the process, as well as the decision of the court, may be appealed.
• The convicted person has the right to submit a review of the sentence.

Some principles are not fixed in the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, but are reflected in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. This may include the principle of publicity - conducting an open trial, as well as subordinating judges only to the law.

Legality in criminal proceedings

The legal regime must be respected by all parties to the proceedings. This principle is as follows:

• It is forbidden to apply a law that contradicts the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the prosecutor, investigator, court, body of inquiry and the interrogating officer.
• The Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation always prevails over other federal laws.
• Evidence obtained in violation of the norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation is not allowed.
• Prosecutorial supervision and judicial control are required.
• Decisions made by all participants in the trial must comply with the law. They must be reasonable and motivated.
• The case must be instituted if there is a reason and reason under Art. 140 Code of Criminal Procedure.

This principle requires compliance with all rules of procedural law, the exact implementation of all substantive and criminal laws.

Mechanisms of action

The regulatory impact mechanism of the system of principles of the criminal process includes:

• Impact through legal awareness.
• Impact through the rule of law.

When acting through legal awareness, the principles and ideas of process participants influence their behavior. The idea is behavior. But in different situations, the same idea can be interpreted in different ways. In the second case, the impact is through the rule of law. The principles are stated in law.

Through the rule of law, principles have a regulatory effect in three ways:

• The law indicates the name of the principle.
• The law discloses the content of the principle.
• The idea of ​​the principle in the norms that govern criminal procedure is carried out.

What includes the meaning and system of principles of the criminal process, read on.

Principles and their meaning

Denote the meaning of the principles:

• Strengthen and develop the rule of law, guarantee the rights and interests of all participants in the criminal process.
• Improve and develop criminal procedure legislation.
• They are the basis for criminal procedure activities.
• They guarantee the implementation of the goals of justice and create the conditions for their successful solution.
• Reflect the basis of the process and its features.

Violation of the principles in criminal proceedings may cause the decision to be canceled. Having examined the concepts and systems of principles of the criminal process, we can conclude the importance of compliance with the law and the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The duty of the state is to recognize, respect and protect the rights and freedoms of a citizen. All this is enshrined in law.