REVISION OF JUDGMENTS IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS ABOUT DRUG CRIMES

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The Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine guarantees every person the right to appeal against procedural decisions, actions or omissions of a court, investigating judge, prosecutor, investigator in the manner prescribed by this Code. Undoubtedly, the review of court decisions in the context of criminal proceedings is an important guarantee for ensuring the constitutional rights and freedoms of man and citizen, especially in criminal proceedings where a person is accused of committing serious or especially serious crimes, namely drug trafficking, psychotropic substances, their analogues or precursors. Given the above, it is important to respect both the rights of the accused and the provisions of criminal procedure law, which, among other things, determines the mandatory requirements for appropriate procedural actions, decisions made at the pre-trial investigation, as well as during the prosecution in court. Ignoring such requirements, non-compliance or violation of the procedure established by the criminal procedural legislation entails the revocation of court decisions and the recognition of a person not guilty of a drug crime. Important is the fact that the motivating basis for such a decision, in particular a verdict of acquittal, may not be the real innocence of the person whose accusation was refuted by the defense by using all means of proof, and mistakes made during the pre-trial investigation, which found the evidence inadmissible. as they were received with significant violations of the procedure established by the criminal procedural legislation. This article analyzes the case law and highlights the typical mistakes made by the prosecution during the state prosecution in court, based on the case law on the acquittal of those accused of drug crimes. In addition, the proposed ways to prevent such mistakes, certain preventive aspects that will help practitioners to avoid the inherent errors of judicial practice, which led to the acquittal in this category of criminal offenses.