The Adversarial System in Criminal Procedure: Norms and Implementation

Abstract

The research is devoted to the analysis of the essence and place of the adversarial system in modern criminal procedure regulation. The existing acute debatability regarding the procedural status of the adversarial system in the criminal procedure law of the Russian Federation necessitates the appeal of scholars to this category. The purpose of identifying the true procedural nature of the adversarial system and the boundaries of its implementation is directly related to the determination of the correct place of this procedural category in the modern system of criminal procedure regulation. The analysis of modern scientific views on the procedural status of the adversarial system indicates the presence of diametrical views on the compliance of the adversarial system with the characteristics of an independent industry-wide principle. A controversial opinion about the extension of the principle of adversarial practice to the pre-trial stages of Russian criminal proceedings is noted. According to the authors, the current law enforcement practice confirms the implementation of the "pure" adversarial system only in the judicial stages of the criminal process. Taking into account the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the work provides an argumentation of the authors’ position on the advisability of changing the status and, accordingly, the place of the adversarial system in the structure of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation from the "industry-wide principle" to the "general condition of the trial".