Correlation of revision and prohibition for submission of new cassation complaints

Federal Law No. 73-FZ of April 17, 2017, introduced the following changes to the existing procedure of the cassation courts: the CCP of the Russian Federation eliminated the prohibition on filing new cassation appeals (complaints pointing to new cassation grounds) for those who had already appealed the verdict of the court of first instance. This change was left without attention at present in the criminal procedural literature, which is not quite deserved. The next change in the approach of the legislator to the possibility of filing new cassation complaints should be assessed from the standpoint of the revision effect in the verification activity of the cassation court. Obviously, the revision (or its absence) is directly connected with the possibility of the parties concerned to bring new cassation complaints. In the event when cassation complaints are checked only within the limits of the reasons stated in them, the parties concerned should be given the right to bring new cassation complaints if they find any cassation grounds, which they did not earlier state in their cassation complaints. On the other hand, if there is a revision in the cassation court procedure, the right of the parties concerned to bring new cassation complaints is no longer necessary, since their initial complaint entails a full investigation of the criminal case. The legislation, scholarly literature and judicial practice of the cassation courts made it possible to conclude that the revision function operates in modern proceedings in the cassation court both at the stage of examining the cassation complaint by the judge alone and at the stage of the cassation court session. However, the powers of the cassation court on revision of all materials of the criminal case do not correspond to the removal of prohibition on filing new cassation complaints from the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, because filing of new cassation complaints under the current revision will only lead to abuse of right to appeal by cassation. Moreover, the possibility of filing new cassation appeals may lead to the refusal of the cassation courts from the revision of all materials of the criminal case due to the increased number of cassation complaints. Therefore, now it is necessary to make changes in Article 401.17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation and restore the prohibition on filing new cassation complaints.

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