Creation of cassation courts of general jurisdiction and introduction of "total" cassation in the criminal procedure

Since January 1st, 2013, the cassation proceedings in the Russian criminal process have become exceptional verification proceedings aimed at solving independent problems. The exceptional nature of the cassation proceedings is determined because the subject of verification is the sentence in force. The tasks of cassation proceedings, which are allocated by most modern scientists, are 1) to identify and eliminate violations of laws; 2) to ensure the stability of sentences. However, during 2018, several important laws, which continued the reform of cassation proceedings, were passed, continuing the reform of cassation proceedings: cassation courts of general jurisdiction were created and "total" cassation in the criminal process was introduced. The present article analyses how these changes correspond to the objectives of modern cassation production. The research resulted in the conclusion that "total" cassation was contrary to the exclusivity of cassation proceedings and caused several problems for law enforcement practice. First, it is questionable whether the general cassation courts that are being established will cope with all the appeals that come to them. Second, "total" cassation does not correspond that there is no deadline for bringing cassation complaints. Third, the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation has eliminated the ban on bringing new cassation complaints to the same court of cassation, and this may lead to the fact that it will not be possible to refuse to transfer a new cassation complaint at the stage of sole examination of the appeal by the judge and the court of cassation will be forced to review the criminal case again when receiving each new complaint. The article further substantiates that in those countries where there is a "total" cassation, it does not conflict with ensuring the stability of the sentence in force, as in these countries the sentence is reviewed in cassation before it comes into force. Based on the above, the authors propose to eliminate the "total" cassation from the cassation courts of general jurisdiction, as inconsistent with the objectives of the modern cassation proceedings, and to preserve the current order of cassation review of sentences: the received appeal must be checked initially by a single judge for the grounds for reviewing of sentences and only then considered on the merits by the court of cassation. The second solution is to carry out a new reform of the cassation proceedings i.e. establishing the possibility of cassation verification of sentences only before they come into force, fixing the deadlines for filing cassation complaints and banning the bringing of new cassation complaints to the same court of cassation.

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