Bulletin of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs (Dec 2024)
Civil defendant representation in criminal proceedings
Abstract
The article determines that a representative of a civil defendant may be involved in criminal proceedings after a civil claim is filed, and if it is established that the defendant is proper, it becomes possible to exercise the right of a civil defendant to representation. At the same time, a number of legislative acts provide for the circumstances when civil liability is borne by another person, and this should be taken into account at the stage of assessment of a civil claim, and the study establishes that, as a general rule, the status of a civil defendant in criminal proceedings is acquired by an individual or legal entity which, by virtue of law, bears civil liability and which should be taken into account at the stage of assessment of a civil claim. The main areas of activity of a civil defendant’s representative are summarised as follows: 1) identifying other co-defendants if the damage was caused by the actions of more than one person; 2) checking whether the representative of the civil plaintiff has sufficient grounds to represent the interests of the state, a minor, incapacitated or partially incapacitated victim; 3) filing an objection to the claim, provided that there are sufficient grounds and the defendant is not properly identified; 4) recognising the claim in whole or in part based on a thorough study and analysis of the text of the civil claim; 5) assessing the nature and amount of claims, including material claims, set out in the claim, determining their objectivity and relevance to the circumstances of the case, the reliability and sufficiency of evidence provided in support of them in order to formulate an appropriate legal position; 6) finding out whether any person has previously compensated for the damage caused; 7) verifying the validity of actions taken by the prosecution to secure the claim, etc. Given these areas of activity of the civil defendant's representative, the author concludes that in general, this participant in criminal proceedings performs the following functions: informational, supportive and protective. Prospects for further research are to develop proposals for improving current legislation in terms of balancing the procedural statuses of a civil plaintiff and a civil defendant in criminal proceedings.
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