Criminal policy and criminal procedural legislation

The most urgent problem today is the problem of stable state criminal policy and, accordingly, of the stability of criminal and criminal procedural legislation. Let's consider some issues supporting the significance of this problem. The decision to deprive the prosecutor of coercive powers to supervise the legality of preliminary investigation was an erroneous one. The existence of four investigative branches (Investigative Committee, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Federal Security Bureau and Federal Punishments Service) in the absence of a single leader and coordinator (before 2007 it was a prosecutor in Russia) will lead in the nearest future to disintegration of investigative bodies and to diminution of the role of the Criminal Procedural Code and introduction of its own «CPC» based on some departmental instructions in each investigative office. The proposal of the Investigative Committee Headquarters to establish some operational services is a mistaken one. In this case the Investigative Committee will resemble the Ministry of Internal Affairs. There is practically no difference between the inquiry in cases where an investigation is unnecessary and a preliminary investigation. Evidently, that was the reason for Chapter 32.1 «A reduced enquiry» to be added to the Criminal Procedural Code in 2013. However, a reduced enquiry provided in the above Chapter is inconsistent with the essence of criminal proceedings and it changes the concept of the Law of Evidence and leads to simplification. There is great concern among scientists dealing with court procedure over the fact that Federal laws amending the Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation frequently contradict the Constitution of the Russian federation. In this regard, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation has to declare some articles of these laws inconsistent with the Constitution. The Constitutional Court, in its turn, frequently encroaches upon the legislative authority activity, changes current legislation and creates new norms of the criminal procedural one and by doing this it directly violates the Constitution of the Russian Federation and, in particular, its Article confirming that «state power in the Russian Federation shall be exercised on the basis of the separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial ones». It's worth noting, that to avoid the closedness and corporativity of the system it's necessary: to try criminal cases on grievous and extremely grievous crimes by professional judges and lay judges (people's assessors); - to elect Justices of the Peace and federal judges by the population; - to empower prosecutors to initiate the consideration of cases in the interests of the state, legal entities and individuals under cassational procedure; - to exercise the amalgamation of the highest judicial bodies in the country. There should be one Supreme Court of the country which alongside with other court panels shall have an arbitration (commercial) court panel and the constitutional panel having the powers of the Constitutional Court.

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