Signs of immunity from prosecution and its types
Authors: Stel'mah Vladimir 
Published: March 2022

Abstract: Relevance of the research topic. In the Russian Federation, the equality of all persons before the law and the courts is enshrined at the constitutional level. At the same time, it is well known that there are several types of immunity available in criminal proceedings according to the law (in particular, immunity from criminal prosecution, immunity from the application of a number of measures of criminal procedure compulsion, witness immunity). Immunity from prosecution occupies a special place among procedural immunities since it requires additional procedures to address the key and the most universal issue of bringing a person to justice. As an exception to the general rules of the uniform criminal procedure, the law establishes specific criminal proceedings for some categories of persons performing certain types of public legal activities (see chapter 52 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). At the same time, the features of those persons are not universal. Therefore, there is a need to examine the concept of immunity from prosecution and to classify its types.

Problem setting. Chapter 52 of the Code of Criminal Procedure defines the specifics of judicial proceedings in relation to a very wide range of persons. In respect to some persons, the initiation of a criminal case may be carried out only by the senior investigative authorities. The question arises whether this feature can be considered immunity from criminal prosecution, and if not, what are the essential features of this immunity. Furthermore, immunity from criminal prosecution should be classified, since the court proceedings vary markedly depending on the type of immunity. In the science of criminal procedure, these aspects have not received due attention. Commonly, any complications in the course of the criminal procedure described in chapter 52 of the Code of Criminal Procedure are declared immunity from criminal prosecution, which does not correspond to the legal position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

Research objectives and methods. The purpose of the study is to define the essential signs of immunity

from criminal prosecution and to classify its types.

The objectives of the study are to explore the legal nature of immunity from criminal prosecution and distinguish the types of immunity according to different grounds.

The methodological basis of the study is the universal dialectical-materialistic method, as well as the general scientific methods of theoretic inquiry: analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, formal-legal method.

Results and key findings. Immunity from criminal prosecution entails a decision to prosecute the person with immunity only with the permission of the competent public authority, usually within the legislative or judicial branch of power. Immunity guarantees a certain procedure for obtaining such consent, that grants significant rights to the person in question. Due to the mentioned circumstances, the complication of proceedings limited solely to the initiation of criminal proceedings by the superior authority of the investigative agency cannot be considered immunity from criminal prosecution. This immunity is granted to persons expressly specified in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Its provision to other persons is fundamentally permissible accounting for the restrictions contained in the legal position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.