The Purpose of the Criminal Process as a Typology Tool

Introduction. The study of the type of criminal process is impossible without identifying its distinctive features, on the basis of which its original essence and content are determined. The scientific literature has repeatedly raised the issue of defining criteria that adequately characterize the criminal proceedings of a particular state in terms of its belonging to a particular type of process. The scientists who have repeatedly investigated this issue have not come to an unambiguous understanding of what criteria should underlie the typological characteristics of criminal proceedings. Purpose. The author's aim is to analyze the category of “purpose” and its possible use as a tool for determining the type of Russian criminal proceedings. Methodology. For the purposes of this study, the universal method of cognition, as well as methods characteristic of empiricism, are used. Results. The conducted research has shown that the majority of domestic processualists identify the purpose referred to by the domestic legislator as the purpose of criminal proceedings as the main distinguishing feature characterizing the type of criminal process. Moreover, the criminal procedure legislation of the Soviet period generally abandoned this term, using, however, the concept of “tasks”. This approach largely concretized criminal procedural activities and corresponded to the “spirit” of the continental legal system. The domestic legislator, without taking into account not only Russian traditions, mentality and social needs, but also global trends, changed the approach to the goal-setting of Russian criminal proceedings, which as a result led to a number of negative consequences. Conclusion. The “target” category remains the main component of the entire criminal process. It reflects not only the desired (ideal) result of activity, but also expresses the ideology of the state in the field of criminal justice, sets the tone for the harmonious construction of institutions and principles, affects the functional content of the criminal process and, ultimately, contributes to the formation of a national type of criminal procedure adequate to the time. At the same time, with the liberal approach to goal-setting still existing today, the use of the designated category as a criterion for determining the type of criminal process seems ineffective.