On the need to develop a unified approach to the content of the criminal procedural definition of "close relatives" in the regulation of legal relations in the Russian Federation related to the investigation of domestic crimes

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of legal definition of the concepts of close relatives, close persons and family members of a citizen. Inconsistencies between the norms of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the norms of family legislation in relation to the criminal procedural category "close relatives", which ensures the provision of witness immunity in criminal proceedings. It discusses controversial issues about the circle of close relatives who have the right not to testify as witnesses. The essence of this socio-legal status is revealed, the circle of persons forming it is established, the positive and negative sides of the existing definitions and formulations of "close relatives" are considered.The scientific novelty lies, first of all, in the fact that in the presented article the norms of criminal procedure, civil and family law regulating relations of kinship, matrimony, as well as the procedure and problems of their application in criminal proceedings were considered. Paragraph 4 of Article 5 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation refers to spouses as close relatives, but Article 14 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation does not consider them as such. The analysis of family law allows us to conclude that kinship is possible only by "blood" (the exception is the institution of adoption). For this reason, spouses cannot be close relatives and they are in a marital relationship to each other. The proposals on amendments and additions to the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation are formulated, which will improve the domestic criminal procedure legislation within the framework of developing a unified approach to the content of the definition of "close relatives".