The Attributes of the Waiver of the Right: An Overview from the Point of View of Russian Criminal Proceeding Doctrine

The participants of modern Russian criminal proceedings exercise a wide range of rights. Using them they are able not only to promote their interests but to influence the proceeding and the outcome of the case. The possibility to exercise or to waiver the right has no less important than the realization of the right itself. The choice is based on the will of the right holder, who can exercise as well as waiver the right. However, the right might not be realized according to the conditions independent of the right holder’s will (due to the lack of information about legal rights, absence or prohibition of using this right, etc.) This case cannot be regarded as a waiver of the right as an individual is deprived of the benefits provided by legal provisions. This can negatively influence not only the legal status of an individual, but the whole society and the State, which proclaims itself as law-based. This work is created to justify that the waiver of the right must have the following features: voluntariness, freedom of choice and awareness.