The Consent of the Accused to the Charge as a Condition for the Application of a Special Procedure for Judicial Proceedings

The procedure of criminal proceedings in the Russian Federation, being uniform, nevertheless provides for the existence of simplified forms of consideration of the case, one of which is a special procedure when the accused agrees to the charge. Despite the simplification of the review procedure, a special order should provide for all necessary mechanisms to ensure that a legitimate and informed decision is made. The condition for applying a special procedure is the consent of the accused to the charge, which is an important guarantee against self-incrimination. At the same time, the essence of consent to the accusation has not been disclosed in the law, and therefore this issue remains controversial in science. It is unclear whether agreeing to the charge implies an ad mission of guilt, or it is just an agreement to consider the case in a simplified manner. How this problem is solved depends on whether a special procedure will ensure the achievement of the truth in the case, or turn into a deal with justice, which from the beginning does not involve establishing the circumstances of the case and, consequently, making a legitimate and fair decision. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that the special procedure for considering a case with the consent of the accused to the charge presupposes the establishment of the actual circumstances of the commission of a crime, does not contradict the principle of presumption of innocence and, therefore, is not a deal with justice. The defendant’s agreement with the prosecution consists in the defendant’s admission of guilt. Otherwise, it is impossible to state a decrease in the level of public danger of a person, and, consequently, there are no grounds for applying a special procedure implying a mandatory reduction in the amount of punishment. If the accused refused to testify during the preliminary investigation, but upon familiarization with the case materials fi led a motion to consider the case in a special order, he is obliged to fi le a motion for his interrogation, during which he will describe in detail the course of the crime.