Russian criminal trial in the era of coronavirus: challenges of time

The response to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on all areas of public life, including the criminal justice sector. Investigators, prosecutors, lawyers and judges found themselves in a situation when the usual regime of proceedings in criminal cases with the due procedural time limits and implementation of necessary procedural actions was impossible because of objective reasons. Law enforcers faced a legal conflict: on the one hand, in criminal proceedings, the principle of legality sets the priority of criminal procedure law over other federal laws or regulations, on the other hand, all measures imposed by by-laws of public authorities in each of the regions of the country to prevent the spread of infection make it difficult to carry out criminal proceedings as usual. The criminal justice authorities and the courts faced the serious task of ensuring the effectiveness of criminal proceedings and access to justice under the new conditions, on the one hand, and taking the necessary measures to ensure the safety of persons involved in criminal proceedings, including their own, from the threat of COVID-19 infection on the other. Several criminal-procedural and organizational issues that require resolving have been raised. The authors analyzed judicial, investigative and legal practices, decisions of the heads of law enforcement agencies and courts, and paid attention to the legal regulation the activities of law enforcement agencies and courts in foreign countries. The study concluded that it was necessary to create opportunities for rapid reformatting of criminal proceedings in emergencies. This applies to the timing of criminal proceedings, the effective use of judicial control mechanisms over the pre-trial criminal proceedings, the jointly coordinated actions of the criminal justice authorities, courts, the bar, and the bodies providing the detention of suspects and defendants (coordination of such actions could be carried out by the prosecutor's office). Restrictive measures taken during the pandemic which make it difficult or exclude the possibility of direct personal involvement of most participants in criminal proceedings have put on the agenda the question of the need to introduce information and digital technologies into the Russian criminal trial quickly, of its transition into electronic format, since such a regime allows to minimize significantly the unwanted restrictions of the rights of parties to a criminal trial and to ensure the protection of their legitimate interests without undue delay.

Keywords

Authors

References