Participation of a lawyer in the criminal procedure

The lawyer in the criminal procedure defends the rights and interests of a suspect, the accused; a victim, a civil plaintiff; a witness or a convicted person. But the lawyer becomes a defender in the criminal procedure only when s/he protects the rights and interests of the suspect or the accused. In this regard, it should be stated that the "defense" in the criminal procedure legislation of the Russian Federation is understood in a narrow sense: as defense against criminal prosecution. The need for defense arises from the initiation of criminal prosecution. No prosecution, no defense. The end of criminal prosecution (the judgment of conviction enters into force) means the end of defense. Criminal prosecution cannot exist as an abstraction, it is always carried out in relation to a specific person. There can be no criminal prosecution until a criminal procedure has a suspect or an accused. In the same way there can be no defense counsel in a criminal procedure until it involves a particular person as a suspect or an accused. Thus, one should not confuse "lawyer" as a person endowed with the status of a lawyer and "lawyer" ("defender") as a member of a criminal procedure: the criminal procedural status of the latter is not univocal and depends on whose interests the lawyer represents (defends) in criminal proceedings in a particular case. Unfortunately, the RF Code of Criminal Procedure uses the term "lawyer" and "defender" interchangeably in some cases. In the end, the authors come to the following conclusions:

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