The Right of the Victim and Private Prosecutor to Reconciliation with the Person Who is Being Criminally Prosecuted

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the legal regulation of the rights of the victim and private prosecutor to reconciliation with the person against whom criminal prosecution is being carried out . It is concluded that the criminal procedure law in general rules does not establish the right of the victim and private prosecutor to reconciliation with the accused . At the same time, such rights are directly or indirectly regulated in special norms .Arguments are given for and against directly establishing the right of the victim to reconciliation with the accused in Art . 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation . The author comes to the conclusion that in cases of public prosecution, the absence of an obligation to terminate the criminal case in connection with the reconciliation of the parties means the impossibility of directly securing the victim’s right to reconciliation . It is proposed to formulate this right as the right of the victim “to file a petition to terminate the criminal case in connection with the reconciliation of the parties”, which corresponds to the discretionary nature of Art . 25 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation . At the same time, it is concluded that this right must be explained to the victim, regardless of the presence of other conditions for exemption from criminal liability in accordance with Art . 76 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation .In cases where the case is not dismissed, it is proposed to regard the reconciliation of the parties as a circumstance mitigating punishment .