COUNTERING THE VIOLATION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF ADVERSARIAL PARTIES IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS
Authors:   Moscow bar Association ", ILIN DANILA ,   Unity of Solidarity",   , Moscow, Russia
Published: October 2022

The article presents the results of a study of the problem of overcoming violations of the principle of adversarial parties, in particular, the right of the defense party to present evidence and attach them to the case materials and its provision with criminal procedural means. The right of the defense party to participate in the process of proving equally with the prosecution is ensured by the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, criminal procedure and criminal legislation, regardless of the stage of procedural activity, as well as the attitude to the proceedings. The right to judicial protection is not only the right to appeal to the court, but also the possibility of obtaining real judicial protection by restoring violated rights and freedoms, which must be provided by the state in accordance with the criteria of efficiency and fairness. The constitutional principles of justice arising from Articles 19 (Parts 1 and 2), 46 (Parts 1 and 2), 47 (Part 1) and 123 (Part 3) of the Constitution of the Russian Federation presuppose both strict adherence to the procedure of criminal proceedings, and the timeliness and effectiveness of protecting the rights and legitimate interests of not only the accused, but also persons suspected of committing a crime. Unfortunately, investigators and interrogators often deny the defense the right to present evidence and attach it to a criminal case, while taking advantage of loopholes in legislation and vague (sometimes too broad) interpretations in the governing acts of judicial interpretation. This leads to the fact that there is no alternative to the prosecution's version and, of course, to a significant violation of the rights of the accused as participants in criminal proceedings. The negative consequences of this may be cases of unjustified accusation and conviction of innocent persons, the occurrence of other grave consequences (for example, the illness of an illegally accused /convicted person, causing property damage during the confiscation of property based on a false accusation, the application of other property sanctions, discrediting and defamation of such a person, etc.). In addition, of course, this practice it causes serious damage to the authority of the court, law enforcement agencies, and the formation of negative public opinion about them. The article analyzes in detail the cases of refusals to submit and attach evidence, examines the "argumentation" given by the staff of the preliminary investigation bodies, judges, and clearly proves its fallacy, using the example of cases that have a great public resonance and the author's personal experience as a lawyer in such cases. Criminal procedural means of countering such violations are being investigated. In conclusion, based on the conducted research, the author formulates a conclusion aimed at overcoming the accusatory bias and violations of the rights of participants in court proceedings in cases with public resonance, improving and increasing the effectiveness of preventing violations of the constitutional right to defense and adversarial parties.