Special procedure for the resolution of the criminal case when concluding the agreement on cooperation with the accused: is it possible to overcome the defects?

Both preliminary investigation and judicial proceedings in the course of a one-stage trial make it possible to establish the role of each of the accomplices more accurately and completely than in case of severance. When accomplices are severed, it can lead to conflicts and difficulties. Most of the interviewed practitioners do not see any sense in severing the defendant with whom the cooperation agreement has been concluded. More than 95% of respondents do not know or have never heard about threats, violence, etc. in respect of people with whom the cooperation agreements have been concluded. They also do not see any sense in storing any documents in the criminal case in a separate envelope, since all alleged accomplices in the crime and all persons who cooperate with the investigation authorities are well known to both their accomplices and their relatives. The most frequent reaction to the agreement is neither threats nor actions to nullify the cooperation agreement, but filing a similar petition by the "exposed person" with a request to conclude a cooperation agreement as well. The simplified form of criminal case resolution by a court with concluding agreements with co-defendants must be discarded in the form it exists in the current Code of Criminal Procedure. People who want to cooperate with the investigating authorities and give evidence against their accomplices should do it within the framework of the general, usual procedure for resolving a criminal case, without severance. To encourage such people, the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation should retain preferential punishments similar to those currently in effect for those who cooperate with the investigating authorities.

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