On Criminal Prosecution against Deceased Persons

Abstract

The criminal proceedings against deceased persons are becoming increasingly relevant, however, the current criminal procedure law does not give a clear idea of the procedural status of such participants in criminal proceedings. The only mention is contained in paragraph 4 of part 1 of Article 24, as well as in part 8 of Article 42 and part 2 of Article 318 of Criminal Procedural Code (CPC) of the Russian Federation, and then only in connection with the death of the victim and private prosecutor. The structure of the corpus delicti developed in the criminal law dictates the coordination of the relevant elements in the structure of the subject of evidence provided for in Articles 73, 421, 434 of the Russian CPC. The article discusses the interaction between these elements within the legal framework of the crosssectoral mechanism of criminal law regulation, the summary of procedural succession of dead persons, opportunity of criminal proceeding regards dead accused, suspect persons, issues of court conviction of dead persons, issues of rehabilitation of deceased participants in criminal proceedings. The authors conclude that criminal prosecution against deceased persons is unacceptable. Furthermore, in any case criminal prosecution must concern crimes committed in the visible past. Historical matters must not become an object of a criminal proceeding.