Classification of subjects of proving in criminal proceedings in the court of first instance

Abstract

In the article the author emphasizes the relative independence of criminal procedural proving in judicial proceedings, its specific structure and the circle of subjects who carry out such activities. It was established that at the doctrinal level there are many approaches to the interpretation of the concept of subjects of proving and their classification, which is due to the lack of clear instructions in the legislation. It is emphasized that the concepts of “participants of judicial proceedings” and “subjects of proving of criminal proceedings in the court of first instance” only partially overlap in scope and do not completely exhaust each other. Taking into account the author’s approach to the understanding of criminal procedural proving in criminal proceedings in the court of first instance, its subjects are proposed to be understood as state bodies and persons who have a certain material or procedural interest in judicial proceedings and carry out cognitive-practical and logical-intellectual actions regarding the formation, research and evaluation of evidence, as well as their further use for the purpose of establishing circumstances relevant to criminal proceedings, defending the legal positions of the participants in judicial proceedings and making legal, justified and motivated court decisions. Taking into account the role of subjects, their duty and function in proving, three groups of subjects of proving in judicial proceedings in the first instance are distinguished: 1) the subject who administers justice and is entrusted with the duty of correctly solving a criminal case, adoption of a legal, justified and motivated court decision (court); 2) subjects who are legally required to prove the circumstances of criminal proceedings (prosecutor, victim – private prosecutor); 3) subjects to whom the law has given the right to participate in the proving process (accused, defense counsel, legal representative, victim, civil plaintiff, civil defendant, their representatives, representative of the legal entity in respect of which proceedings are being conducted, a third party in respect of whose property is being decided issue of arrest).