ENSURING THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF VICTIMS IN THE PROCEDURE FOR TERMINATION OF THE CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS WITH THE INFLICTION OF A PENALTY

Abstract

This article analyzes the problems associated with ensuring the victims right guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and international legal acts to judicial remedy and compensation for harm caused by the crime in the procedure provided by Chapter 51 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. The urgency of the problems considered in the article is caused by the lack and incompleteness of explanations given by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation regarding the application of this procedure, as a result of which the judicial practice is not uniform. In particular, the author concludes that the courts, deciding to terminate the criminal case with the infliction of a penalty, unreasonably fail to take into account the victims opinion on the issue of making amends of the harm caused by the crime in corpore, do not create conditions for the victims to participate in judicial session and to express their position on the merits, do not clarify the possibility of reconciliation with the accused. The authors conclusions are based on the analysis of the published judicial practice and illustrated by concrete examples. It is proposed for the purpose of creating guarantees to protect victims rights in the procedure for infliction of a penalty to supplement the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation № 19 as of June 27, 2013 with the following explanations: in the event of termination of the criminal case on the grounds provided for in the Article 76.2 of the Criminal Code, the way and extent of amends are defined by the victim; relief from criminal liability according to the Article 76.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is allowed if it is impossible to apply the grounds specified in the Article 76 of the Criminal Code of Russian Federation.