Review by Courts of Cassation of General Jurisdiction of Decisions to Return a Criminal Case to the Prosecutor in the Order of Art. 237 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation

Abstract

Magistrates, district courts, regional, provincial and equal courts, when considering a criminal case, quite often make decisions on the return of the criminal case to the prosecutor in the manner prescribed by Art. 237 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation to eliminate violations that impede its consideration on the merits. Since October 2019, cassation submissions for such decisions have been considered by the judicial collegiums for criminal cases of general jurisdiction courts of cassation. It is necessary to analyze cassation rulings on the cancellation of decisions to return the criminal case to the prosecutor in accordance with Art. 237 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation according to the criteria – what grounds are most often referred to by the courts when making such decisions, their validity and motivation. This analysis made it possible to identify a number of problems in the interpretation and application of the criminal procedure law by the courts, which regulates the procedure and grounds for making a decision to return the criminal case to the prosecutor in the manner provided for in Art. 237 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.