Article 73 of RF Criminal Procedure Code: limits and research of personality of the accused

In the article the urgent problems ofproving are considered. The personality of the accused as the basic element of the system of law in criminal procedure law is extremelyinadequately presented. In the article the works of researchers of the second half of the 20th century are actively used. The subject ofproving, that is the list of the facts and circumstances that are to be established in each criminal case, objectively necessary for legal andwell-grounded solution of the case, essentially represents itself as an initial information model of investigation of crimes. Owing to thefeatures of the process of proving the set of circumstances in a criminal case is broader than the subject of proving. In a criminal case itis lawful to learn facts that are indirect evidence; facts necessary for checking the versions; other facts that can help collect, check andestimate the proofs. Mandatory establishment of elements of the subject of proving psychologically predetermines the target orientationin the activity of the investigator. It follows that in the conditions of personnel turnover and insufficient professionalism the pinvestigator will try to be guided only by the information defining the content of the subject of proving, otherwise ignoring significant,but "nonessential" information. Thus, the wording of the subject of proving should have a concrete character, without common phrases,which may instruct to investigate a small amount of information significant for investigation. An example of careful wording ofinformation is Item 1, Art. 73 of the Russian Federation Criminal Procedure Code. It clearly lists significant circumstances thatcharacterise the criminal event - time, place, means and other elements of committing a crime. The establishment of the subject ofproving in law is to give the criminal procedure a purposeful character. That way, even the sequence of the list of the elements formingthe subject of proving is significant. The named sequence specifies the order of assessing the completeness and objectivity ofinvestigation of the circumstances of the case. It is no wonder that the legislator has defined a mandatory investigation of the personalityof the accused as Number Two or Three in the list of circumstances of the subject of proving. Thus, we believe that edition of Item 3,Art. 73 of the Russian Federation Criminal Procedure Code is an enormous step back, burying the results of researches of a number ofschools of thought. Abstract and non-specific character of this Item is caused by the necessity not to study the personality of theaccused, replacing its thorough analysis with a collection of certificates and references.

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