International Standards of Trial Waiver Systems in Russian Criminal Procedure

Abstract

Trial is a central part of any criminal procedure regardless of the type of the procedure and the procedural traditions. It is at this stage when the evidence is examined during an adversarial procedure and the issues of the guilt or innocence of a person accused of committing a crime and the assignment of punishment are considered. In 2018, the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe paid attention to the fact that in many Member States of the Council of Europe and in the states Observers or having any other status in the Council of Europe or the Assembly, common criminal justice is gradually being replaced by various forms trial waiver. Based on Russian practices, the article examines trial waiver systems as a general concept that includes various national practices within individual states. It is characterized by various kinds of preferences exempted by the state for defendants who have pleaded guilty and waived their right to an adversarial trial; the study reviews positive and negative aspects of these practices as well as the minimum requirements they must comply with.