Termination of criminal prosecution and termination of a criminal case: current state of law enforcement

Abstract

The release of a person from criminal liability by terminating his criminal prosecution is an alternative form of resolving a criminal law conflict, tested by Russian and foreign practice. In order to understand how effective this practice is in Russia, what is the current state of law enforcement in this aspect, we study scientific works, decisions and rulings of the highest courts of Russia, analyze the statistical data presented on the official websites of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court Russian Federation. The accomplished work allows us to conclude, including that the modern model of regulation of the institution of termination of criminal prosecution and termination of criminal case is imperfect, the legislator is in search of optimal ways to simplify and speed up criminal proceedings, but with a proper balance of private and public interests. The ratio of the number of terminated criminal cases between the bodies of preliminary investigation and the courts indicates the uneven application of the indicated legal institutions in pre-trial and judicial proceedings, the need for a systematic determination of the causes and conditions affecting these facts, both from the point of view of criminal law and criminal procedure, and criminological aspects, with the identification of their relationship and interpenetration, which would make it possible to establish and consolidate such an approach to determining the effectiveness of law enforcement in the designated issue, which would fully meet the state goals and objectives in the field of criminal policy and would become the foundation for building an optimal model of legal regulation of institutions exemption from criminal liability, termination of criminal prosecution, termination of criminal case.