In order to correctly resolve a criminal case, it is necessary to establish the facts and other kind of evidence included in the subject of evidence in this case. How does this happen? In the course of cognitive activity by subjects of evidence. It is considered one of the varieties of legal knowledge. But nevertheless, in its main essence, legal regulation, and content, it is criminal procedural knowledge. Here, as in any other cognitive human activity, the basis is materialistic dialectics. It is important to note that criminal procedural knowledge and criminal procedural evidence are inseparable.
In the article we will analyze the process of proof, its structure, stages. In particular, the final stage of the proof process. This is an assessment of evidence. Consider its characteristics, classification. We will also analyze circumstances that may be subject to proof.
Main concept
Let's start with the main thing. Evidence in court is an activity that is carried out in the manner prescribed by law. It is carried out by preliminary investigation bodies, prosecutors, courts with the participation of other subjects of legal proceedings. It comes down to the collection, verification and further evaluation of evidence in a particular criminal process. The goal is to establish the events of a crime, the innocence / guilt of a person and other circumstances that are important for proper resolution.
Evidence in criminal cases is distinguished by the following characteristic features:
- It has a retrospective character. It is aimed at eliminating the circumstances that took place in the past.
- It goes through an indirect path. The subject of proof makes indirectly both intermediate and key, final conclusions. The evidence gathered in the case is evaluated. That is, knowledge is derived from knowledge.
- It is a complex activity. It combines both mental and practical processes for the collection, consolidation, verification and final evaluation of evidence.
- Strict regulation of criminal procedure legislation. If you turn to Art. 85 of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure, there are only three stages of the evidence process in a criminal case. We already mentioned them. This is the collection, verification and evaluation of evidence.
- The subjects of the criminal procedure field act in order to administer justice. To do this, they collect, process, use evidence or evidence.
Important steps
We turn to Art. 85 Code of Criminal Procedure. There are three stages of the process of proof:
- Picking up.
- Verification
- Rating.
Let's consider each of them in more detail.
Picking up
The process of proof contains three stages - collecting, checking, evaluating. What about the first stage? We turn for clarification to Art. 86 Code of Criminal Procedure.
The collection of evidence takes place in the course of criminal proceedings; this activity is carried out by the investigator, prosecutor, interrogator, etc. Various kinds of procedural and investigative processes are carried out (provided for under the CPC).
For example, counsel has the right to collect evidence in the following ways:
- Obtaining documentation, items, other information.
- Interviewing certain individuals (only with their consent).
- The demand for characteristics, references, other documentation from the state authority, the structure of local self-government, organizations, public unions, which are required to provide both the requested documentation and its copies.
This norm defines the following:
- Subjects that have the right to collect evidence.
- Conditions allowing such collection.
- Ways to collect data.
- The general procedure for carrying out such activities.
The collection of evidence begins on the date the criminal proceedings are instituted. Some procedural actions are also committed at the continuation of other judicial stages when considering cases on the merits.
So, the collection of evidence is an integral element of judicial evidence, which is the criminal procedure of the authorized bodies, the responsible officials, and other participants in the process. In particular, it consists of identifying, retrieving, detecting, securing, subsequently seizing and preserving any facts and their sources. The purpose of this is to correctly find circumstances that are significant for the proper resolution of the case.
Check
What is necessary to avoid falsification of evidence? Their check. The process is described in Art. 87 Russian Code of Criminal Procedure. It can be carried out by a prosecutor, an inquiry officer, investigator, or court. This is a comparison of some evidence with others available in criminal cases. Establishment of their sources, discovery of some new evidence confirming or denying those found earlier.
What is collating evidence? This is the following:
- Examination of evidence for compliance with the CPC.
- Understanding the content of this evidence, comparing it with other identified evidence to determine the presence of both contradictions and their causes.
What is considered the establishment of sources of evidence? This is a clarification of the carriers of factual information, which acts as their (evidence) content. An important question must be answered: is the information on the necessary facts obtained from the proper person, is the source of awareness known? If it is a material object, then the procedural principle, the procedure for its removal, research and, finally, familiarization with the case must be observed.
What is obtaining any other kind of evidence? This is the implementation of additional investigative and other types of procedural actions to obtain new evidence that can confirm or refute the test. The Russian Criminal Procedure Code provides for those investigative actions, the purpose of which is to eliminate the contradictions, inaccuracies in the evidence already obtained. In particular, these are:
- Confrontation.
- Check at the place of testimony.
- Conducting investigative experiments.
Rating
The final step in the evidence process is the evaluation of evidence. We turn to part 2 of article 17 Code of Criminal Procedure: none of the evidence collected has the force previously established. What does it mean? Each of the evidence individually (or collectively as a whole) should be subject to both verification and evaluation.
We note once again that the final stage of the process of evidence is the assessment of evidence. So called mental (theoretical) and practical work, which is carried out in the special conditions of criminal proceedings, is carried out by the subjects of criminal procedure evidence. It is important to determine and form conclusions about the relevance, reliability, sufficiency, admissibility of the arguments in order to establish those circumstances that are significant for the correct resolution of a particular criminal case.
The basic rules for evaluating evidence in criminal proceedings are defined in Art. 17 Code of Criminal Procedure. There are only four of them:
- Assessment of evidence by subjects of their own conviction.
- Assessment is based on the law, as well as in accordance with one’s own conscience.
- Evaluation of all evidence in their entirety and evaluation of each of them individually.
- For decisions and conclusions in the case, the strength of any evidence is not established in advance.
Signs to evaluate
The final step in the proofing process is evaluation. It is characterized by such signs:
- The practical, mental work of the subjects of proof, proceeding in logical forms, consisting in the study of evidence, as well as the determination of their important properties, qualities, level of significance. Formation of conclusions about the presence or absence of such qualities.
- Assessment activity in the process of proving and proving is specific, because it is carried out in connection with the investigation and consideration of a criminal case, is strictly regulated by law, can only be carried out by authorized structures and officials, and only within their competence. Decisions made on the basis of such an assessment should be denounced in the necessary procedural form.
- Criteria for evaluating evidence - their admissibility, relevance, sufficiency, reliability. If you turn to part 1 of article 88 of the CPC, we will see that each evidence must be evaluated from the standpoint of its relevance, reliability, admissibility, etc. And all the arguments found together - their sufficiency to resolve the case.
- The purpose of the assessment of evidence is to formulate conclusions on their compliance with the previously given properties (from admissibility to sufficiency). The ultimate goal of this process is to establish circumstances that are significant for the correct resolution of certain criminal cases. As a result - the decision of a legal, fair and informed decision.
Varieties of assessment
The two main types of evidence assessment are as follows:
- Preliminary (or current). It is carried out directly during the collection of evidence.
- The final. She will accompany the adjudication of the case.
In most cases, evidence is assessed in the following areas:
- The relevance of the evidence collected. That is, their relationship directly to the subject of proof.
- Admissibility. The legality of acquiring such information.
- The reliability of the evidence found. Their correspondence to the truth, the absence of reasonable doubts about their fidelity.
- The sufficiency of the complex of evidence. That is, the ability of their totality to justify a decision, for the sake of which proof is carried out.
On the sides of this assessment, two categories are distinguished:
- Logical (internal). In the process of all evidence, the court and other entities involved in the process carry out various logical actions to analyze evidence, according to their relevance, admissibility, combine all available data into a single system of available evidence.
- Legal (external). Only facts obtained in the manner prescribed by law from evidence that are directly accepted by the court are subject to study. The purpose of such an assessment is not arbitrary, but dictated by law. Its results should always be objectively expressed in perfect legal (procedural) action.
How are advocate rights secured here? Depending on who makes this assessment, it can be divided into two categories:
- Recommender. Such an assessment is given by persons who participate in the case, representatives. In particular, it is available in speeches of persons participating in judicial debates. This condition ensures comprehensive assessment of evidence, taking into account the views of all interested parties. It acts as one of the expressions of the law of the defender. The court may consider such an opinion, but at the same time is not obliged to follow it.
- Imperious. This is an assessment of the evidence that the court gives. The decisions in which it is displayed are generally binding.
Depending on the level of knowledge, one can distinguish an assessment:
- Preliminary. It is handed down by the judge at the stage of examination of evidence. That is, before being removed to the deliberation room to make a decision on the case.
- The final one. Such an assessment can only be given by a court in a deliberation room. She acts as the basis for a judicial decision.
- Control Only higher courts can make such an assessment when reviewing a criminal case.
Assessment Methods
There are two main ways to evaluate the evidence collected for a criminal case:
- Formal. It is more characteristic of search processes. It is also partially used to assess the admissibility of selected evidence.
- Free. At its core is the principle of the process. The investigator, the court, the prosecutor, the inquirer evaluate the evidence provided on their own conviction, which is based on a complex of evidence already available in the case, guided by both their conscience and Russian law.
We will talk about the latter method in more detail.
Free estimate
In general, the evaluation of evidence in a criminal process is called mental activity, which consists in the analysis and synthesis of both specific content and the form of evidence. It concludes with a conclusion about its relevance, reliability and admissibility, as well as the sufficiency of the entire list of evidence collected.
As for mental activity, it cannot be regulated by criminal procedure legislation. It will proceed only in accordance with the laws of human logic, thinking and psychology. But at the same time, the CPC establishes the rules and principles by which the court and investigators should be guided in assessing evidence.
As for free assessment, historically it was preceded by a formal one. It was based on giving certain evidence to the force of law, determined the possibility of their use. But a formal assessment could not prevent the adoption of unfair decisions, often leaving criminals unpunished.
The subjects of modern free assessment of evidence in criminal cases are judges. They constitute an independent judiciary. But now the problem of a free assessment of the evidence presented is still not resolved. The essence of the freedom of internal conviction of the responsible person is the incoherence of his unilateral procedural function and the absence of an obligation to prove.
Both the investigator and the interrogator may be biased, biased, not internally free to evaluate the results of their own work. The same can be said of the prosecutor, under the supervision of which an investigation is being conducted. Even more unfree is the public prosecutor, who announces the prosecution at the hearing, which is agreed with a higher prosecutor. Indeed, without agreement with the latter, he cannot refuse the charges.
Important here is the importance of prejudice in the criminal process. This refers to the obligation for all courts considering a case to accept facts without verification of evidence that were established earlier by a decision in another case, in which the same persons participated.
It follows from the foregoing that the only subject to a completely free assessment of the evidence collected is only the court, which considers and subsequently resolves the case. In this case, his freedom shall be guaranteed by the following:
- Adversarial proceedings in criminal cases, which exempts judges from the obligation to prove.
- Lack of responsibility to make specific decisions
- The absence of rules approved in advance by which it is necessary to evaluate the evidence collected.
- Lack of predetermined strength of evidence.
- Freedom from various external coercion to make certain decisions.
Moreover, the law dictates that the internal conviction of judges should be based only on the totality of evidence gathered in the framework of the case. That is, it should be objective.
What is to be proved?
In conclusion, we turn to article 73 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. What is it talking about? The circumstances to be proved are listed:
- Event. The time, place, method and other important circumstances in which the crime was committed.
- Guilty person, his motives, as well as a form of guilt.
- Circumstances that may characterize the identity of the accused.
- The magnitude and nature of the harm that was caused due to the crime.
- Circumstances that exclude the punishability and criminality of this act.
- Circumstances that mitigate and aggravate punishments.
- Circumstances involving an exemption from punishment or criminal liability.
We briefly examined the processes of evidence in the criminal process, got acquainted with the circumstances that are subject to proof (under Article 73 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). We dwell in detail on the assessment of such evidence, its characteristics, methods, features, classifications.