Influence of Trial Participants on Judge’s Belief

A judge’s belief is a result of a multifaceted cognitive process influenced by a combination of factors. It sprouts from a comprehensive and complete examination of evidence and allows the judge to make a fair, legitimate, and informed decision. As trial participants exercise their procedural rights to make the judge decide in their favor, they use various methods to shape the judge’s belief. The article describes the influence of trial participants on the judge’s belief, as well as the actions that can affect it. It touches upon the legal foundations of judge’s belief in shaping the final decision, the circle of stakeholders, the role of the lawyer, the assessment of the influence of trial participants, and its positive and negative consequences. Other issues include the limits of participants’ influence on the judge’s belief, as well as the possibility and expediency of additional restrictions on this influence in the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. The author argues for the shortcomings of the civil procedure legislation in terms of providing opportunities for trial participants to influence the judge’s belief. A set of cases made it possible to develop a general assessment of the legislation and practice in the sphere of judge’s belief, as well as to develop a number of measures to eliminate the existing regulatory deficiencies.