14/05/2024, Tatyana Tsepkina attended a meeting of the Working Group on Criminal Procedure under the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs in Moscow.
Traditionally, the meeting was attended by representatives of the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of Russia, the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office, relevant ministries and departments, as well as representatives of the legal community and Pro Bono experts.
The participants of the meeting discussed the problems of criminal procedure legislation, which are revealed in law enforcement practice.
Thus, the applicant’s legal position on the crime is much less in terms of rights in comparison with the procedural status of the victim, which does not allow the person who was harmed by the crime to properly protect his interests at the stage of initiating a criminal case. The proposal to grant the applicant the status of a participant in criminal proceedings with the provision of a number of rights and obligations caused a lively discussion. In turn, representatives of law enforcement agencies believe that granting additional rights to the applicant about the crime will lead to organizational difficulties that investigators and courts will have in connection with ensuring these rights. The direct effect of Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation is not to testify against oneself, and the right to appeal against the refusal to initiate criminal proceedings in accordance with Article 125 of the CPC is sufficient at the stage of pre-investigation proceedings.
Given that the issue of the applicant’s legal status has already been considered by legislators, the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, the meeting participants agreed on the need for additional study of this issue.
