Evidence and Establishment of Evidence Norms in CIS Countries Criminal Procedures: A Comparative Legal Analysis

The paper is devoted to a comparative legal analysis of some norms of the criminal procedure laws of the CIS countries concerning evidence and establishment of evidence in criminal procedures. The paper analyzes the legal definitions of the concept of "evidence" in the CIS countries codes. It is noted that the wording used in article 74 of the Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation is less specific than the content of the relevant norms in the legislation of other CIS countries. In particular, the replacement of the phrase "this data is established", which was used in the RSFSR Criminal Procedure Code, with the phrase "evidence is" in part 2 of article 74 of the Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation, which led to an illegal identification of the sources of evidence and the evidence itself, is critically evaluated.

Some features, advantages and disadvantages of the norms of criminal procedure laws of the CIS countries containing a list of sources of evidence are revealed. The conclusion is made about a clear advantage in this respect of the Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation, part 2 of article 74 of which contains a complete and universal list of sources of evidence. At the same time, the need to include in this list, along with the testimony of the suspect and the accused, such a source of evidence as the testimony of the defendant is argued.

The paper analyzes the legislative consolidation of the concept of "evidence" in the criminal procedure codes of the CIS countries, which allowed us to critically evaluate the definition given to this concept by the Russian legislator. According to the author, the absence of the purpose for the establishment of evidence in article 85 of the Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation, namely the purpose for establishing the circumstances listed in article 73 of the Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation, as a lawful, reasoned and just resolution of the case, is a significant shortcoming of the Russian criminal-procedural law that requires special legal address. 

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