The system of pre-trial proceedings in the criminal proceedings of the Russian Federation: Factors of formation

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of historical prerequisites that predetermined the distinctive nature of the national system of Russian pre-trial proceedings as the initial stage of criminal procedure. By analyzing the peculiarities of domestic criminal procedure legislation, and the development of judicial and law enforcement agencies, in addition to drawing comparative parallels with foreign mechanisms for solving and investigating crimes, the author assumes that the gradual autonomy of the Soviet and then Russian system of pre-trial proceedings was a direct result of the well-known historical cataclysms associated with the Soviet power establishment in 1917 and its fall in 1991. It is noted that a rather unique model, based on the chaotic mixing and interweaving of various, including poorly compatible, elements inherent in various models of criminal procedure (French, German, Anglo-Saxon) of pre-trial proceedings has been formed in Russia at present. These elements are linked by means of specific domestic criminal procedure doctrine’s “inventions”, which are reflected in the relevant provisions of criminal procedure law and practical recommendations for law enforcement practice. The modern Russian model of pre-trial proceedings is expressed in the integration of the functions of the “police” and “justice”, in providing law enforcement agencies criminal procedural powers of a forensic nature to collect full-fledged evidence for the upcoming court hearing. According to the author, this explains many doctrinal and legislative problems of Russian pre-trial proceedings, which for many years have had a negative impact on judicial and investigative practice (problems related to the initiation of criminal proceedings; problems of practice in proving the results of operational-search activities; problems related to the legal regulation of the detention of a suspect, etc.). The research concludes that the legislator should stop the law-creating “throwing”, the policy of a chaotic mixing of various elements inherent in different types of criminal proceedings, and, finally, choose one single model that is the most suitable for modern Russia with its laws and realities of development.