Witness immunity, that is, the right of persons expressly referred to in the criminal procedure law to refuse to testify about circumstances, is considered in the special literature as one of the ...criminal procedure institutions, relating to the procedural status of the witness or the rules for his or her interrogation. Purpose: to demonstrate that the list of persons having witness immunity and the legal characteristics of the circumstances to which they are entitled not to testify, and the general rules for interrogating such persons, and exceptions to these general rules are indicators of the level of development of the national criminal procedure and legal system of a particular State. Methods: the author uses the methods of structural-system analysis and synthesis, comparative jurisprudence. The author's comparative analysis of Russian and German criminal procedure law clearly demonstrates the social and economic conditionality of the methods of securing witness immunity and the possibility of international exchange of law enforcement experience. The main conclusion from the study is the following: the legal significance of the criminal procedural institution of witness immunity goes far beyond the actual criminal procedure, and this institution has significant dynamics, reflecting changes in the socio-economic and political life of society.
Ensuring competitiveness in the procedures for the use of expertise in criminal proceedings is one of the most discussed problems in modern criminal procedure literature. Many difficulties here seem ...insurmountable, and the means to address them are ineffective. Purpose: to determine the most complete list of petitions of participants in criminal procedure who do not have authority, first of all defense lawyers, to group petitions according to the purpose of the application, to identify the reasons for the lack of effectiveness and ways to improve it. Methods: structural-system analysis and synthesis, specific legal, concrete-sociological method, method of included observation. Results: the main conclusion of the research is that the arsenal of means available to defense lawyers and representatives involved in criminal proceedings to ensure the adversarial nature of procedures for using expertise in proving in criminal cases is implemented in practice, as a rule, not completely and without taking into account systemic connections both within this arsenal and in the general system of criminal procedure regulation. Practical recommendations are made to improve the efficiency of advocacy related to the appointment and production of forensic examinations.
The generalization of judicial practice is a necessary condition for its unity throughout the country, a mandatory basis for training future legal practitioners and improving the professional skills ...of representatives of all legal communities related to judicial activity, a necessary element of any scientific research. Purpose: to show that the role of the generalization of judicial practice in ensuring its unity is determined by the balance between the two undesirable extremes of imposing an external legal position on judges and the judges' complete disregard for the need for unity of judicial practice within the entire national legal system. Methods: structural-system analysis and synthesis, concrete sociological, comparative legal. Conclusion: the generalization of judicial practice makes it possible to bridge the gap between theory and practice in jurisprudence, to ensure the best development of both.
Membership of the professional community whose representatives carry out criminal procedure activities invariably influences the procedural behavior of specific participants in the proceedings and ...the decisions taken by them in criminal procedure. In this context, the author identifies and analyses certain stereotypes of corporate thinking and legal awareness of officials involved in criminal proceedings. Purpose: using the example of the implementation of specific criminal procedure institutions – a special sentencing procedure with the consent of the accused to the charge against him, reviewing criminal cases due to newly discovered or new circumstances, checking reports of crimes, maintaining public prosecution – to show how corporate affiliation of officials affects law enforcement. Methods: the author applies structural and system analysis and synthesis, historical analysis, specifically sociological, as well as the method of integrated observation. The main conclusion of the study is that the requirements of the criminal procedure law and legally significant circumstances of criminal cases, as the main objective factors determining the moment of adoption, the form and content of the criminal procedure decision, in practice often cease to be the main ones, since the decisions are taken largely on the basis of rules of professional conduct adopted by a particular state body.
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