Obtaining Samples for a Comparative Study: Theoretical, Normative and Law Enforcement Problems

Abstract

The article analyzes the debatable aspects of the normative regulation of obtaining samples for a comparative study according to the current Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. Attention is paid to the key problems in the regulation of this action, and to the difficulties that law enforcement employees face due to them. The author examines the questions of defining the legal nature of obtaining samples for a comparative study, and the possibility of using the operative search potential instead of the procedural method to obtain comparative samples. While analyzing the problems of setting the limits of compulsion for this action, the author stresses the incorrectness of some wording in the law (Art. 202 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation). In the light of ensuring the right of criminally prosecuted persons to defense, the author also presents a critical assessment of the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation reflected in the Definition of July 23, 2020 № 1856-0, in the part where obtaining samples for a comparative study is recognized as an action of urgent nature.