Verification and Evaluation of Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: Content and Ratio

The interest of researchers for the interconnection of such elements of proof as the verification and evaluation of evidence is explained by certain difficulties of differentiating between them. The goal of this study is to specify the contents and correlation of these elements of proof. The authors use the theoretical, formal-legal and terminological methods of analyzing the evaluation and verification of evidence to state that their interconnection is manifested by the fact that each of these elements presupposes the ability to make judgements regarding the consistency/inconsistency of information obtained in the proceeding with the criteria presented in Part 1, Art. 88 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation; thus, the verification of evidence is a necessary initial stage of making the subject of proving convinced that they are in possession of evidence. Besides, the results of verifying evidence form the grounds for a further generalized evaluation of their cumulative significance for reaching the goals of proving, namely, the possibility of them being used as a basis to draw conclusions regarding the validity of the facts relating to the subject of proof. According to the authors, it is possible to differentiate between the interconnected elements of verifying and evaluating evidence with the purpose of justifying their independent content and significance based on the means used for their implementation, where the verification is a combination of practical (procedural) and mental activities, while the evaluation is a purely mental activity carried out through logical operations only. It is noted that, while determining the mutual consistency of evidence is a cumulative result of their verification and evaluation, establishing the correspondence of all obtained evidence to the criterion of sufficiency is the only one that is impossible to be reached through their verification. The comparative analysis of norms on proving in the legislation of the CIS countries allows the authors to present a critical assessment of the absence of the definition for the sufficiency of evidence in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. It is concluded that the correlation orientation defines the direction for both the verification and the evaluation of evidence with the purpose of establishing the correspondence of the obtain information with the requirements of relevance, admissibility and validity. However, the establishment of quantitative necessity and qualitative sufficiency is purely the task for evidence evaluation.