The victim's challenging the court decision on parole of the convict from serving the punishment: theory and practice

In accordance with amendments and additions in the Code of Criminal Procedure of 2013, the victim has become a potential participant in the court proceedings under Chapter 47 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, and the subject of the right to appeal against all decisions referring to the execution of the sentence, if they affect their interests. For the first time in the Russian criminal proceedings the courts have begun to take to the appellate proceedings complaints from victims who disagree with the parole of the convict in due to their partial compensation for damage caused by the crime. However, it is necessary to work out a position on the following question: "How legally important is the complaint of the victim about the parole of the convict, if the complaint is not related to ensuring their personal safety, protection of their family and friends from threats of the perpetrator of the crime or to the compensation for damage?" Assuming that the "inf1uence" of the victim on the parole of the convict is stripy limited to ensuring their personal safety, protection of their family and friends from threats of the perpetrator, real compensation for the damage caused by the crime, such a complaint has no judicial perspective. Then, how should the Court of Appeal react to it? Should it 1) refuse to accept the complaint for consideration and return it to the victim? 2) accept the complaint for consideration and terminate it then? 3) accept the complaint for consideration and deny its satisfaction? It is possible to predict that the judicial practice will take embrace all three options to respond to such complaints. Therefore, law enforcers can expect clarifications from the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. This is all more important because, in the long run, the rule set out in Chapter 2.1 of Article 399 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation can cover other cases (Paragraphs 6, 8, 81, 14, 171 of Article 397 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation), when the court can improve the position of the convict in comparison with what is given in the verdict.

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