A victim is a person who has become a victim of a crime, as a result of which moral, physical, property damage has been inflicted on him. He also recognizes the organization in the event of damage to its reputation and material values ββby unlawful actions of another entity. Let us further consider the basic rights of the victim.
General information
Due to the fact that the presumption of innocence is fixed at the legislative level, only the court can recognize the act as criminal and the fact of causing harm to a specific subject. To do this, the case is examined on the merits and proved the fault of the attacker. It follows that the fact of damage to a specific subject before the entry into force of the relevant decision is considered an assumption. In this regard, the victim of the Criminal Code is considered as a party to the process that has certain legal capabilities and responsibilities. They are necessary for her effective participation in the proceedings. However, the victim in court is recognized as such only to ensure the protection of his interests during the proceedings.
Physical harm
What reasons are needed for a citizen to act as a victim? The Russian Federation is considered a legal democratic state. Accordingly, the country has rules that protect the interests of citizens, including those who are victims of crime. In order to recognize the subject as a victim, information is needed on the infliction of moral, property or physical harm to a person or damage to material values ββor the business reputation of the organization. In accordance with Art. 1058 of the Civil Code, in the event of injury or other damage to health, compensation is subject to income (earnings) lost by a citizen, which he definitely could have received or had. In addition, additional costs incurred by the victim are reimbursed. This, in particular, is the cost of food, treatment, the purchase of medications, outside care, prosthetics, the purchase of special technical equipment, retraining, if it is established that a citizen needs them and cannot get them for free.
Property damage
The victim is a citizen or organization that has suffered material damage. Such damage applies to the property sphere of life and activity. It arises as a result of depriving the subject of certain material values, money, goods, and so on, their damage, reduction, destruction. Property damage also includes expenses incurred by a citizen or organization to restore their interests, including income that was not received in connection with the commission of an infringement.
Moral injury
It includes physical or moral suffering that a person has suffered as a result of a crime encroaching on his intangible goods, which belong to him from birth. These include, in particular, health, life, dignity, honor, and reputation. Non-pecuniary damage may also arise in an encroachment on property and exclusive rights. As indicated above, the victim is not only a citizen, but also an organization. In case of encroachment on the enterprise, damage to its business reputation may be caused. It is expressed in undermining the authority of the economic entity as a participant in business relations, discredit. It is worth noting that the regime for protecting the reputation of a citizen acts by analogy with the norms provided for organizations.
Nuance
A legal fact that acts as the basis, in the presence of which the victim enters into the criminal procedural relations, is not harming him as such, but the adoption of a decision that gives the citizen or organization the appropriate status. It is drawn up by a decision of the prosecutor, investigator / inquiry officer. The relevant decision is also made by the court. The initiator can be both the victim himself and these entities.
Legal guarantees
In Art. 52 of the Constitution stipulates that the rights of the victim are protected by law. The state provides victims with access to an objective, comprehensive trial in authorized instances. A victim is a person who defends his interests in the process. In this regard, he does not act only as a source of evidence. First of all, the state seeks in this way to restore and protect the interests of the victim.
Opportunities
Legislation establishes the circle of subjects involved in criminal proceedings, their legal status. Norms determine the legal possibilities for them. Both the victim, and the witness, and the suspect, and other parties possess them. As for the injured participant, his legal capabilities are determined by Art. 42 in part two. According to the norm, the victim has the right:
- Be aware of the charge against the suspect, testify, provide evidence.
- Participate in investigative measures carried out at his request or at the request of a representative. To exercise this right, the permission of an authorized employee is required.
- To submit challenges and petitions.
- Get acquainted with the procedural materials and submit comments on them. These include protocols of investigative measures carried out with his participation, decisions on the appointment of examinations and their conclusion (if the procedure was carried out in respect of the victim or at the request sent to him).
- Upon completion of the preliminary investigation, get acquainted with the case file, make copies and write out data in any volume.
- Participate in proceedings in the first, second, supervisory instances.
- Receive copies of decisions recognizing him as a victim, initiating proceedings or refusing to do so, terminating proceedings, sentence, decisions.
- Speak in the debate.
- To get acquainted with the information of the minutes of the meeting, to submit comments on it.
- To challenge the inaction / actions of the court, the interrogating officer, the prosecutor, the investigator.
- Be aware of complaints, submissions brought in the case, file objections to them.
Security measures
Participation of the victim may result in a threat of harm to him or his relatives, which will significantly complicate the proceedings. Often, for this reason, many victims refuse to testify, evade the appearance of a conversation with the investigator. In this regard, the legislation provides a set of measures aimed at protecting the life and health of entities and their relatives. Among them:
- Keeping personal information about the victim secret.
- Record and control of negotiations.
- Carrying out identification while excluding the possibility of visual observation of the victim by the suspect.
- Holding closed hearings.
In addition, additional security measures are provided for by Federal Law No. 119. According to this normative act, in particular, the following can be provided:
- Protection of the home, property and the victim himself.
- Issuance of personal protective equipment, communication devices and hazard messages.
- Relocation to another place of residence.
- Change of documents.
- Change in appearance.
- Change of place of study / work / service.
Interrogation
The victim is a citizen, not only having the opportunity, but also obliged to participate in the trial. This is due to the fact that, among other things, it acts as a source of evidence. Therefore, he does not have the right to ignore the investigator's calls and not appear to testify. Otherwise, the victim will be subjected to drive. Interrogation of victims is carried out according to the rules provided for witnesses. Subjects cannot provide knowingly false information or refuse to communicate information known to them. For violation of these requirements provides for liability under Art. 307 and 308 of the Criminal Code. Before starting the procedure, the subject is explained his responsibilities and legal capabilities. In particular, the victim has the right not to testify against himself and loved ones. The range of the latter is determined by Article 5 (paragraph 4) of the CPC. If a citizen agrees to provide information known to him, he must be warned that the information can subsequently be used as evidence in the case, even if he refuses it.
Important point
The victim is a participant in the process with access to many materials of the proceedings. In this regard, he is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of information known to him. In case of disclosure of information, liability arises under article 310. The investigator, prosecutor or investigator must warn him of the need to maintain data confidentiality.
The role of the victim in the process
The victim is one of the key subjects of the proceedings. Its significance in the process is determined by participation in the proof. The increased role of the victim in public-private and public prosecution proceedings is also expressed in the possibility of influencing the decision on the form of proceedings. This is due to the requirement of the law to obtain the consent of the victim to the consideration of the case in a special manner.
Status specifics
It should be noted that the legal status of the victim is in many ways similar to the witness. This provision is confirmed by a number of norms of the current Code of Criminal Procedure. For example, in Art. 246 (p. 7) provides for the prosecutor to refuse the charge at the hearing. At the same time, the obligation to find out from the victim of his opinion about this is not indicated. The legislation does not provide the subject with the opportunity to participate in the process of formulating a charge, to express objections to its mitigation. According to experts, the discretionary powers that relate to the legal fate of the case should be provided to the victim at all stages, and not only in the process of direct investigation.
Compensation issue
It is of fundamental importance in the proceedings. The norms established the ability to demand compensation for harm caused by the infringement, as well as costs associated with participating in the investigation and court proceedings, including expenses for the representative. In this case, compensation for damage should be understood as financial assistance from the state to the affected entity, if it is not possible to get it from the violator. For this, special cash funds are formed. However, it should be recognized that this mechanism does not currently work. Previous legislation provided for a norm according to which the damage caused by a crime to the property owner was compensated at the expense of state funds with their subsequent collection from the perpetrators. Federal Law of 06.24.1994 suspended its operation. In the current Civil Code, this rule is missing. However, the Criminal Procedure Code provides for the possibility of victims to file a civil claim in criminal proceedings. It is established by article 44.