Legal composition of the court in the first instance in the criminal proceedings of Ukraine

Abstract

The legal composition of the court is part of the concept of «right to a fair trial». Requirements for the legal composition of the court relate to the number of judges, and in some cases also compliance with additional (special) requirements for judges (proceedings against minors; proceedings containing information constituting a state secret; proceedings in the High Anti-Corruption Court). Violation of the requirements of the criminal procedure law regarding the consideration of criminal proceedings in the court of first instance by the legal composition of the court entails the revocation of the court decision. This study pays attention to the presence of some gaps and inconsistencies in the regulation of certain issues related to determining the composition of the court in the court of first instance, and suggests ways to overcome the identified shortcomings of the law. So, according to Article 512 of the CPC of Ukraine consideration of the application of coercive measures of a medical nature is carried out by a judge alone. But there are certain cases when such proceedings are carried out by a collegial court, including a jury trial. Therefore, it is proposed to amend Article 500 of the CPC of Ukraine, noting that the proceedings on the application of coercive measures of a medical nature are carried out by a court composed of a judge alone, except cases provided by the CPC of Ukraine. The CPC of Ukraine does not specify the composition of the court in considering a request for the application of coercive measures of an educational nature (for persons who committed a socially dangerous act that falls under the signs of an act under the Special Part of the Criminal Code before reaching the age of criminal responsibility). In our view, the CPC should clearly define the composition of the court in this case. Key words: court of the first instance, composition of the court, improvement of criminal procedural legislation.