In the broad sense, all actors involved in the process act as participants in criminal proceedings. First of all, we are talking about officials who carry out criminal procedural activities as part of their official duties. Among them are judges, state prosecutors, prosecutors, investigators, investigators, etc.
Among the participants in the proceedings are also the suspect, accused, victim, their representatives (including counsel), civil defendant and plaintiff. These entities are considered key figures in the criminal process.
In addition to these persons, experts and experts, witnesses and witnesses, translators, meeting secretaries, psychologists and teachers, guarantors, extras, etc. can be involved in the case.
All these entities, entering into production, acquire the corresponding procedural status. This means that individuals receive certain rights and obligations governed by procedural legislation.
Relevance of the issue
The problem of determining the legal and procedural status is relevant due to the need to coordinate the interests of different participants in production.
Officials (prosecutor, interrogators, investigator, etc.) are vested with certain authority. Their procedural status allows them to carry out procedural actions, make decisions binding on other participants in the proceedings, and apply coercive measures that restrict the interests and rights of other entities. However, these persons are responsible for the legality and effectiveness of their activities. They have an obligation to ensure the realization of the freedoms and rights of other participants in the process.
The key figures, as mentioned above, are the suspect, accused, victim. It was the conflict between them that became the basis for the opening of production. For these participants, criminal procedural statuses are a kind of characteristic of their position in a criminal case. Representatives of these persons are vested with the same duties and rights as their representatives.
The most important role is played by specialists, experts, translators, witnesses, witnesses and others who, to one degree or another, contribute to the administration of justice. Their procedural statuses in criminal proceedings are determined mainly by the volume and nature of their functions. It acts as a means of ensuring the effective fulfillment of the duties entrusted to them - testifying, providing opinions, certifying or drawing up protocols, etc.
Giving the subjects one or another procedural status, the legislator strives first and foremost to protect their rights and interests. Some participants in the production need this because they have become victims of abuse, others because they are threatened with coercive measures and punishment.
Key elements
The concept of procedural status covers:
- rights;
- responsibilities;
- responsibility;
- guarantees.
Due to the fact that everyone is equal before the court and the law, participants in criminal proceedings are given equal legal opportunities to guarantee their protection.
Procedural status characterizes a person as a subject of procedural legal relations.
Common rights
The procedural status of a person includes a certain list of opportunities, the implementation of which is guaranteed by law. It includes rights:
- respect for dignity and honor;
- freedom and integrity;
- secret of negotiations, correspondence;
- personal security;
- give explanations and evidence;
- Do not testify against loved ones and yourself;
- make statements;
- file complaints in the language the subject speaks;
- use the services of a translator free of charge;
- receive protection and qualified legal assistance;
- appeal the procedural decisions and actions of the prosecutor, investigator, court;
- demand compensation for harm caused by unlawful actions and decisions of officials.
Subjects participating in the process both on the prosecution and defense side have equal rights to carry out evidence. They can collect and provide supporting documents and other materials, participate in their study and analysis, apply for investigative actions. At the same time, the procedural status as a set of legal opportunities provides each entity with the protection of its specific interests.
Key procedural safeguards
Among the most significant guarantees, of course, it is necessary to include the legislatively enshrined principles of criminal proceedings, as well as the responsibilities of the court, prosecutor, interrogator and investigator. It is they who together ensure the exercise of the procedural rights of the accused, suspect and victim. So, for example, the obligation to open criminal proceedings, if there is a reason, is a guarantee of the realization of the victim's right to access to justice and compensation for the damage suffered by him.
In accordance with the applicable procedural principles, each participant in the process is protected from infringement of his dignity and honor, violence and other illegal actions by officials. The legislation provides for the possibility of claiming compensation for costs incurred by entities in connection with their participation in the preliminary investigation and court hearings. This is, in particular, the cost of travel to the venue of the hearing or investigative actions, the reimbursement of the unearned salary or other income. All these costs must be documented. In this case, by decision of the court, they will be recovered from the perpetrators or reimbursed from the budget.
Important points
Giving officials wide powers to carry out procedural actions and make decisions, the law also establishes a number of important requirements for them. In particular, we are talking about the grounds, motive and procedure for initiating proceedings. The requirements established for them act as a guarantee of protecting the subject from unlawful restriction of his rights and freedoms. The initiation of a case without reason, without observing the procedure established by law, as well as the refusal to initiate a case if there are grounds, contradicts the tasks of justice and impedes the legal resolution of the issue of applying criminal liability measures.
Violation of the defendant’s rights to defense not only infringes on his interests, but also hinders the issuance of a reasonable and lawful sentence or entails the annulment of a court decision. As a result, the interests of the victim remain without proper legal protection, and the harm done to him without proper compensation.
The guarantees of criminal procedure are aimed at preventing violations of the rights of participants, ensuring the possibility of their unhindered implementation, and in case of violation, their effective restoration or the provision of adequate compensation.
The prosecutor, investigator, court, investigator must explain to the victim, suspect, accused, civil defendant and plaintiff, witnesses, translators, specialists and other participants in the proceedings their procedural status. The duties of officials also include ensuring the implementation by subjects of their rights and monitoring the performance of duties.
Thus, the criminal procedure activity is characterized by a strictly formalized character. In this regard, the provision of procedural guarantees and rights to one or another of the participants in the proceedings is determined by their formal status. Consequently, the most important role in observing the interests of the individual is played by the order and grounds for the acquisition by the subject of specific duties and rights corresponding to his actual place in the case.
Suspect status
What is the essence of the status of this production participant? What rights does he have?
First you need to say that a citizen acquires the procedural status of a suspect at the time of detention. This is the initial stage of criminal prosecution.
The procedural status of the suspect means that the state (represented by law enforcement agencies) has a certain claim in relation to the subject, in particular, a suspicion of his involvement in an unlawful act. However, these claims do not yet have sufficient justification. In other words, suspicion is a form of persecution, which is carried out in the presence of information that gives reason to believe that the detained subject was involved in the crime, but due to insufficient evidence does not go to the prosecution.
It follows from the foregoing that the participation of the suspect in a criminal case is a temporary phenomenon. On the one hand, the subject is already in certain legal relations with the state and is experiencing the severity of persecution. However, he is not yet the defendant. Consequently, his legal relations with the state are not so strong.
Staying a citizen in the status of a suspect is an intermediate stage on the way of bringing him to criminal liability, the formation of a specific criminal legal claim against him for its subsequent resolution in court. In this regard, the subject acquires it exclusively in pre-trial proceedings. Subsequently, the citizen either becomes the accused, or is exempted from any claims, and the prosecution ceases.
Suspect's rights
To provide protection to the detained subject, he is endowed with a fairly wide list of procedural possibilities. In accordance with Part 4 of Art. 46 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the suspect is entitled to:
- know what exactly they suspect him of;
- to get acquainted with the procedural decisions made in relation to him, to receive copies of them;
- provide evidence;
- give explanations and testimonies or refuse to do so;
- use the services of a translator for free;
- challenge, petition, complaint;
- to use the assistance of a lawyer, to have a confidential meeting with him in private, including before the first interrogation;
- exercise their protection by all means not prohibited by law.
Victim participation
This subject has a special place in criminal proceedings. The procedural status of the victim, on the one hand, is determined by the role of the victim of the crime. On the other hand, he acts as a carrier of valuable information about the circumstances of the assault committed against him. Obtaining this information may require officials to apply certain coercive measures to the victim, limited, however, by guarantees of protection against unjustified infringement of his rights.
As established in Part 1 of Art. 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the victim is an individual who has suffered moral, property or physical harm from an offense committed against him, as well as a legal entity whose business reputation and property were harmed by the crime. The current edition of article 42 shows a fundamental difference from the provisions enshrined in the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR. The fact is that earlier a legal entity could participate in criminal proceedings exclusively as a civil plaintiff. Accordingly, it was necessary to draw up a claim for compensation for damage caused by the crime. The application in this case was considered in a civil proceeding.
The procedural status, in accordance with applicable law, is quite simple to obtain. This does not even require the will of the injured person. Upon ascertaining that a crime has been caused to a specific subject, the official conducting the proceedings shall issue a decision. In the document, he indicates specific unlawful actions, the specific damage caused by them, the type of damage (or several types at once), as well as an indication of the person who became a victim of these actions.
Formally, the subject acquires the status of the victim at the time of the decision. However, it should be borne in mind that this document only formalizes the procedural duties, rights and responsibilities of a person, but does not form them. The status of the victim is determined mainly in accordance with the actual situation of the subject as a victim of assault. Consequently, non-recognition of a person as a victim by issuing a decision is not recognized as an obstacle to the exercise of the rights established by law and the receipt of appropriate guarantees.
Nuances
In accordance with the law, the refusal of officials to recognize a subject as a victim, the inaction of law enforcement agencies (failure to make an appropriate decision), as well as the refusal to grant him procedural rights guaranteed by law, can be challenged in the established manner, including in court.
Even if violations have been established in the case submitted to the trial upon completion of the preliminary investigation, the court must issue a ruling on the recognition of a person as a victim. The subject must be notified of this fact. The definition should clarify his duties, rights and responsibilities, as well as an indication of the opportunity to familiarize himself with the production materials.
Ensuring the procedural capabilities of the accused
This person is considered the central figure in criminal proceedings. The accused is a possible subject of liability. In this regard, all the activities of officials involved in the process, on the one hand, are aimed at exposing the commission of the infringement, and on the other, at ensuring the realization of the rights and interests of the citizen.
The presumption of innocence is recognized as the basis of the procedural status of the accused. It means that the subject will be presumed innocent until proven guilty in the manner prescribed by law, and recorded in a sentence that has entered into force.
The presumption of innocence is the most important guarantee of the observance of the rights and freedoms of the individual, a tool to prevent illegal conviction. Investigative bodies, the prosecutor are obliged to prove the involvement of the subject in the crime. They need to provide a set of convincing facts confirming the guilt of the person, and refute the arguments of the defense.
The accused, in turn, should not prove his innocence in the assault, and all fatal doubts are interpreted in his favor. In this case, the conviction of the court cannot be based solely on assumptions and speculation. Given all of the above, we can conclude that unproven guilt can be equated with proven innocence.
Rules of Procedure
The moment of bringing the subject to production in the status of the accused is extremely important to ensure his interests and rights, which must be guaranteed by the strict procedure enshrined in the CPC. The official conducting the proceedings is required to bring charges against the subject within three days from the date of the relevant decision. The investigator informs the citizen about the day he was brought to trial as the accused and explains the possibility of independently inviting a lawyer or applying for the appointment of a public defender.
A person in custody shall be notified of the adopted procedural decisions through the administration of the institution in which he is located.
Expert
The basis for attracting this person to the case is the decision of the authority conducting the relevant criminal proceedings.
The procedural status of an expert has a number of features that distinguish him from the situation of other participants in the case. Firstly, the law establishes requirements for the entity, the failure of which leads to the challenge. This, in particular, is about the person’s incompetence, his official or other dependence on a party or its representative, as well as about the circumstances enshrined in Art. 61 Code of Criminal Procedure.
One of the key elements of the expert’s procedural status is his independence. This means that the subject cannot formulate conclusions on questions posed to him under the influence of someone else's opinion. He must be independent in his assessments, otherwise his conclusion cannot be recognized as competent.
Specialist
This subject is an independent participant in production. The procedural status of a specialist determines the nature of the person’s activities. At the same time, it influences the specifics of relations with other participants in production.
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The court, on behalf of the state, monitors compliance by the participants with the legal proceedings. The higher authorities verify the validity, legality, and justice of the decisions of the first instance, including sentences appealed by the defense.
In accordance with the current procedural legislation, the courts are empowered to make decisions not only on the merits of cases at meetings, but also during the preliminary investigation.
So, in the framework of the pre-trial stage, the court may:
- to select preventive measures in the form of house arrest or detention;
- extend the period of detention;
- make a decision on placing the suspect / accused in a psychiatric (or other medical) hospital for examination (examination);
- make a decision on the performance of inspection, search or seizure in the home in the absence of the consent of the persons living in it;
- make a decision on the seizure of documents and objects;
- seize correspondence, property, including funds of organizations and individuals.
Of course, this is not a complete list of the legal possibilities of the court.
Conclusion
In our article, we talked mainly about the status of participants in criminal proceedings. Meanwhile, a set of duties, rights and liability of persons is provided for in other types of legal proceedings. So, the administrative-procedural status of participants in cases of administrative offenses is regulated by the provisions of the Code of Administrative Offenses. For the parties to civil proceedings, the main normative act is the Code of Civil Procedure.