STATE ACCUSER’S WAIVER OF PROSECUTION

The current Russian criminal procedural law provides the possibility of the state accuser’s waiver to handle the prosecution, which entails a mandatory cessation of criminal proceedings. However, some procedural aspects of the refusal to hold the charge are not fully regulated, which causes difficulties in law enforcement practice. The paper briefly analyses the legality of introducing compromise principles into criminal proceedings since the refusal to prosecute is often interpreted as a particular case of compromise. The author argues that concord is suitable for activity based on dispositivity and particular principles (civil proceedings), though cannot be a driving force of criminal proceedings of the public legal nature aimed at achieving the truth about the circumstances of a crime committed. The paper considers the possibility, within the framework of the current legislation, to prevent an unreasonable decision of the refusal to hold the charge. The author analyzes the ability of a victim to refer to the superior public procurator as well as to implement the criminal prosecution independently. The paper states that the current law in terms of the regulation of waiver of prosecution does not fully correspond to the purpose and social orientation of criminal proceedings. In this regard, the author analyzes the by-laws of the General Procurator of the Russian Federation arranging this procedure and providing for the necessity for prior consent of a procurator who approved the indictment. The paper concludes that the law needs to be adjusted to optimize the regulation of the waiver of prosecution and formulates concrete proposals.