Discretion as a Result of the Formation of the Judge’s Moral Certainty

The paper is devoted to the possibility of using judicial discretion, criteria and objective limits of its action in the resolution of criminal cases. The ambiguous attitude of the professional community to discretion in the application of law is noted: from the justification of the necessity and inevitability of its existence in court proceedings to its denial as not conforming to the principle of legality. The author shares the position of scholars that the use of judicial discretion is inevitable in criminal proceedings, since it is dictated by the process of applying the rule of law to specific life situations, but its unjustified expansion is unacceptable.

It is concluded that the use of judicial discretion is inextricably linked with the formation of internal conviction. At the same time, the misconceptions about this connection found in scientific sources are critically evaluated. Proceeding from the fact that the criminal procedure law prescribes the court to be based on internal conviction when making decisions, and the use of discretion is the choice of a decision from the alternatives provided for by law, it means that the use of judicial discretion is the result of the formation of an internal conviction of the court. Regarding the question of what should limit the freedom of discretion, the author notes that the answer to it follows from the requirements of Part 4 of Article 7 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on the compliance of any decision in criminal proceedings with the requirement of legality, as well as from the content of Article 17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, prescribing to be guided in their decisions by internal conviction. The legislator names the law and the conscience of the decision-making subject as the criteria of the latter. Each of these categories reflects the sphere of due, therefore, they should also be factors limiting the freedom of discretion. Therefore, the criteria that ensure the fairness of the judge’s decision at discretion, and at the same time the limitations of its application are the law, internal conviction and conscience of the judge.

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