The development of legislation on fast-track procedure in the Russian criminal procedure law

The author analyzes the development of legislation on the fast-track procedure in the Russian criminal procedure law. In the initial period of the birth of rights (the period of Russian Truth, Pskov Judicial Charter of 1397-1467) in the private claim process, the possibility of the simplified procedure was decided in court between the plaintiff (victim) and the defendant (the accused), and was of a contractual nature. The initiator of the fast-track procedure was the defendant. The law allowed it and released the defendant from punishment for certain crimes. Since the Sudebnik of1550, during the transition from the private claim form to the investigative process, the legislator focuses not only on the fact of the guilty plea, but also on the testimony of the defendant, the data in court. The question of punishment in this case was not specified and was made dependent on the defendant's personality. The Conciliar Code of January 29, 1649 and the Short Story of Processes or Trials of April 26, 1715 also drew attention to the position of the guilty plea and to the evidence given in the court in the fast-track procedure, while the legislator did not provide for any exemptions in punishment. The Code of Laws of the Russian Empire used the fast-track procedure when the accused agreed with the charges. The Charter of Criminal Proceedings of November 20, 1864 regulated the fast-track procedure for cases when the defendant agreed with the accusation and testified in court. Confession was considered as a circumstance mitigating punishment and entailed smaller punishment. Post-revolutionary legislation also consolidated the order of the fast-track procedure if the defendant pleaded guilty and testified in court. In sentencing the defendant, their attitude to the deed was not considered. The Code of Criminal Procedure of October 27, 1960 (as amended in 1993) provided for not only the examination of the defendant, but also the study of written evidence proving the guilt in the fast-track procedure. In the modern history of Russia since the adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation in 2001, the legislator set the course for the optimization and rationalization of criminal proceedings. The analysis of the historical-legal research of legislation on the fast-track procedure suggests that this is an institution peculiar for the national legal system, and it has a number of characteristics: it is associated with the accused pleading guilty of the alleged offense; consideration of the case in the fast-track procedure was decided in court; the defendant's interrogation was required; the court could examine evidence supporting the charges; smaller punishment was an incentive for the accused. The considered historical experience of the fast-track procedure can be used for a more detailed regulation of the criminal procedure law on this issue in cases under special circumstances, when the defendant agrees with the charges: the possibility of a motion of the verdict in a special order, not only when learning the materials of the case or at the preliminary hearing, but also during the trial; the need to interrogate the defendant on the circumstances recognized by the prosecution; the feasibility of compliance with the principle of the presumption of innocence and the possibility of studying in a special order of written materials of the case, confirming the position of the interrogated defendant; specifying the size of punishment, not connected with its maximum size or kind of sanctions of the incriminated article.

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