Constitutional presumption of innocence and the institution of release from criminal liability: correlation issues

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to determine, taking into account the results of the analysis of the current legislation of Ukraine and the provisions of the doctrine of criminal law, the issues of correlation and ensuring the compliance of the institution of release from criminal liability with the constitutional presumption of innocence. The methodological basis of the presented article includes a complex of general and special legal methods including analysis and synthesis, the method of description and observation, comparative- and formal-legal methods. Results and conclusions. The article, taking into account the results of the analysis of the current legislation of Ukraine and the provisions of the doctrine of criminal law, identifies the problems of the relationship between the institution of release from criminal liability and the constitutional presumption of innocence. It is established that the release from criminal liability does not refute the admission of guilt of a person, if you give him the value of official confirmation (statement) of the fact that he committed a criminal offense. It is determined that the release from criminal liability also concerns the problems of ensuring the rule of law in the activities of public authorities, compliance of criminal law with the principles and norms of international law, systemic coherence of various branches of the national legal system. It is determined that the presumption of innocence is recognized as one of the fundamental principles of criminal justice in a state governed by the rule of law. At the same time, it is an important element of the right to a fair trial guaranteed by Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which is part of national law by virtue of Article 9 of the Constitution as an international treaty. However, despite its fixation in the most important international legal acts that enshrine universal standards of fundamental human rights, and the enshrinement of the Constitution of Ukraine states that in practice the presumption of innocence is often violated, as evidenced by a number of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights concerning Ukraine.