Plea Bargaining Implementation and Acceptance in Modern Russia

Abstract

This study examines the scope, results, citizen attitudes, and practices of consensual justice reform in Russia. The Russian Federation adopted a new Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) in December of 2001, which included a procedure closely resembling plea bargaining and termed ‘‘special court order proceedings.’’ The 2001 CPC reforms were intended to move further away from the accusatorial legacy of the Soviet judicial system and closer to a western adversarial model. Criminal cases (N = 316) over a 4-year period (2004—2007) from one district and one regional courts were examined to determine the application and judicial practices associated with plea bargaining. A national representative citizen survey (N = 1,588) was conducted to measure attitudes related to plea bargaining knowledge and acceptance. The study found that 6 years after the introduction of the special court order proceeding, over one third of cases were settled through the special court order proceedings. The use of the special court order proceeding has grown steadily during the period from 2004 to 2008. The majority of citizens reported the special court order proceeding was unfair and less than 20% perceived the reform as fair. Few citizens were knowledgeable about the plea bargaining reform. The introduction of the special court order proceeding has been moderately successful in the judicial system; however, there are systemic hindrances to increased use and citizen acceptance.