Some problematic issues of ensuring the conclusion of a plea agreement

Abstract

In the article, the author examines some problematic issues of tactical and forensic support of one of the compromise procedures provided for in the current Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine - the plea agreement.
 The most typical abuses of the procedural right by the prosecution during the conclusion of the specified agreement are considered, when using the presence of certain shortcomings in the regulation of the procedure for concluding a plea agreement (initiations, negotiations, the performance of certain actions, or the provision of certain guarantees by the parties to the agreement, etc.), the prosecutor and the investigator from a certain motivations and interests that do not always correspond to the content of the public interest, use situations that are characterized by an increased risk for the abuse of procedural law, as a result of which the rights, freedoms and interests of the parties or other persons may be grossly violated or limited.
 We are considering the situation of concluding such an agreement only in order not to examine all the evidence in court, because the pre-trial investigation made mistakes that cannot be corrected. The "artificial" creation of prejudice occurs when the prosecutor, contrary to the general rules of prejudice, uses a guilty verdict that approved a plea agreement to limit the rights of a person who is not a party to the criminal proceedings. As well as the prosecution's use of the uncertainty of the victim's status and powers in situations provided for in Part 4 of Article 469 of the Criminal Procedure Code, when the victim consents to the conclusion of a plea agreement in proceedings for the commission of particularly serious crimes, etc.
 It is substantiated that in addition to improving the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code and eliminating certain deficiencies in the regulation of the procedure for concluding a plea agreement, in forensic methods and recommendations for forensic support of pre-trial investigation and maintaining a public prosecution, it is necessary to provide for typical situations of abuse of procedural law by the prosecution, which can be used in the implementation evidence in court during the initiation and conclusion of a plea agreement.