Concerning certain features of evidence assessment in different legal systems and in the practice of the European Court of Human Rights

Abstract

The article examines certain features of the assessment of evidence in criminal proceedings in various legal systems and in the practice of the European Court of Human Rights. Different approaches to understanding the essence of the concept of "standard of criminal procedural evidence" are analyzed and the author's definition of it is proposed. It is illustrated that the rules of evaluation of evidence, which take place in Anglo-Saxon and continental jurisdictions, differ significantly. In the countries of the Anglo-Saxon legal family, objective criteria for the evaluation of evidence have been established - standards of evidence based on the idea of ​​assessing the probability of certain variants of the actual picture of the proceedings and have a guiding nature. Continental European countries, on the other hand, apply a subjective criterion for evaluating evidence, using the category of "internal conviction", which is based on the personal conviction of the subject of evidence in the truth of a certain fact. It was concluded that the effectiveness of evidentiary activity can be increased by introducing objective elements into the assessment rules, which leads to the development and normalization of standards of criminal procedural evidence in the domestic criminal process. This will contribute to the development of the same approach to making procedural decisions and the implementation of procedural actions by all subjects of evidence in various criminal proceedings and stages, who will understand the level of requirements for their adoption or conduct.
 When analyzing the practice of the European Court, it was determined that the rules for applying the standard of proof "beyond reasonable doubt" by the European Court and national courts (in particular, the Anglo-Saxon legal system) differ. In this regard, the opinion was expressed that domestic criminal proceedings should be guided by the practice of implementing this standard in the legal systems of common law countries.