On the functions of the prosecutor in criminal proceedings

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the functions of the prosecutor in the judicial stages of criminal proceedings, and provides an analysis of statistical data from the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation on the participation of prosecutors in criminal proceedings. The results obtained allow us to assert that the prosecutor performs two functions during criminal proceedings: the criminal procedural function of prosecution and the constitutional and legal function of supervision over compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the execution of laws. At the same time, at the stages of trial (in the court of first instance) and appeal proceedings, when the principle of adversarial parties is fully implemented, the prosecutor supports the state prosecution, thereby performing the procedural function of the prosecution. In the remaining stages of judicial proceedings, the prosecutor exercises the function of supervising compliance with the law. The conclusion is formulated that the proposed approach requires a rethinking of the role of the prosecutor in criminal proceedings from the position of the constitutional and legal status of the Russian prosecutor’s office, as well as amendments to the norms of criminal procedure law.