Moral harm and its compensation in domestic criminal proceedings

Abstract

The purpose of criminal proceedings predetermines the need to form effective procedural mechanisms that ensure the protection of the rights of persons who have suffered from a crime or from illegal and / or unjustified criminal prosecution. However, the purpose of criminal proceedings in itself is only a vector that determines the direction of development of the criminal procedural law, and its (law) content is determined based on many factors, one of which, the most significant, is scientific developments. Compensation for moral harm in criminal proceedings seems to be a promising scientific direction, within the framework of which numerous positions are expressed, interesting concepts are formed, and non-standard solutions to many complex problems are proposed. The purpose of this study is the formation of a generalized concept of compensation for moral harm in criminal proceedings, corresponding to modern scientific achievements. Within its framework, the following tasks were solved: determination of the main features and the formation of a theoretical definition of moral harm in relation to the sphere of criminal proceedings; study of the legislative basis of the mechanism of compensation for moral harm and its problematic aspects; determination of the grounds for the emergence of the right to compensation for moral damage; study of the problem of unification and differentiation of judicial practice in terms of determining the amount of compensation for moral damage caused, etc. The main research methods were: dialectical, historical, logical, analysis and synthesis, generalization, comparative legal, formal legal, systemic and structural. The results are the following conclusions and proposals: - moral harm in criminal proceedings is a particularly controversial topic in the science of criminal procedure and a difficult problem in law enforcement. The resolution of the existing difficulties is possible solely on the basis of fundamental scientific developments, taking into account the basic needs of practice; - moral harm can be the result of not only a crime, but also illegal criminal prosecution of a person involved in its commission, which necessitates the legislative consolidation of an appropriate mechanism for its compensation; - the grounds for compensation for moral damage is a set of circumstances, the establishment of which is within the competence of the court, when considering and resolving a criminal case on the merits of the charge brought; - the subjects entitled to compensation for moral damage are both individuals and legal entities acting both in official procedural status and involved in criminal proceedings; - compensation is subject to damage caused by any category of crimes, including crimes against property.