Rights and obligations of the victim in a criminal case
In the legal organization ANO legal education "Globus", a separate area of activity is devoted to the protection of the rights of victims in criminal cases. An integrated approach allows you to protect the interests of both individuals and legal entities, defend rights in criminal and civil proceedings, and achieve real restoration of social justice.
So, the rights of the victim (Part 2 of Article 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation):
- know about the charges brought against the accused;
- give evidence;
- refuse to testify against yourself, your spouse and other close relatives, the circle of whom is defined in paragraph 4 of Art. 5 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. If the victim agrees to testify, he must be warned that his testimony may be used as evidence in a criminal case, including in the event of his subsequent refusal of this testimony;
— present evidence;
— file petitions and challenges;
- give evidence in his native language or a language he speaks;
— use the help of a translator for free;
- have a representative;
— to participate, with the permission of the investigator or inquiry officer, in investigative actions carried out at his request or at the request of his representative;
- get acquainted with the protocols of investigative actions carried out with his participation and submit comments on them;
— get acquainted with the decision on the appointment of a forensic examination and the expert’s conclusion;
- to get acquainted at the end of the preliminary investigation, including in the event of termination of the criminal case, with all the materials of the criminal case, to write out any information from the criminal case and in any volume, to make copies of the materials of the criminal case, including using technical means. If several victims are involved in a criminal case, each of them has the right to get acquainted with those materials of the criminal case that relate to the harm caused to this victim;
- receive copies of decisions to initiate a criminal case, to recognize him as a victim, to refuse to select a preventive measure against the accused in the form of detention, to terminate a criminal case, to suspend proceedings in a criminal case, to send a criminal case to jurisdiction, to appoint preliminary hearing, court hearing, receive copies of the verdict of the court of first instance, decisions of the courts of appeal and cassation. Upon application, the victim has the right to receive copies of other procedural documents affecting his interests;
- to participate in the trial of a criminal case in the courts of the first, second, cassation and supervisory instances, to object to the passing of a sentence without a trial in the general manner, as well as in cases provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, to participate in a court hearing when the court considers issues related to the execution of the sentence ;
- speak in court debates;
- support the accusation;
— get acquainted with the protocol and audio recording of the court hearing and submit comments on them;
- bring complaints against the actions (inaction) and decisions of the inquiry officer, the head of the inquiry unit, the head of the inquiry body, the inquiry body, the investigator, the prosecutor and the court;
- appeal the verdict, ruling, court order;
- know about the complaints and submissions brought in the criminal case and file objections to them;
- apply for the application of security measures in accordance with Part 3 of Art. 11 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation;
- on the basis of a resolution, a court ruling, adopted at the request of the victim, his legal representative, representative, submitted before the end of the debate of the parties, to receive information about the arrival of a person sentenced to imprisonment at the place of serving the sentence, including when moving from one correctional institution to another, about travel of the convicted person outside the institution executing the sentence of imprisonment, about the time of release of the convicted person from places of imprisonment, as well as to be notified of the court's consideration of issues related to the execution of the sentence on the release of the convicted person from punishment, on the postponement of the execution of the sentence or on the replacement of the convicted person with the unserved part punishment with a more lenient type of punishment;
— exercise other powers provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.
The victim is provided with compensation for property damage caused by the crime, as well as expenses incurred in connection with his participation during the preliminary investigation and in court, including the costs of a representative, in accordance with the requirements of Art. 131 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation (Part 3 of Article 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, paragraph 34 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of June 29, 2010 N 17).
If a civil plaintiff is recognized as a victim, in addition to the rights provided for in Part 2 of Art. 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the court explains other rights that, in accordance with Part 4 of Art. 44 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, he is endowed as a civil plaintiff with the right to support a civil claim, give explanations and testimony on it, abandon the civil claim brought against him before the court retires to the deliberation room to render a verdict (clause 18 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated October 13, 2020 N 23 “On the practice of courts considering a civil claim in a criminal case”).
Upon a claim by a victim for monetary compensation for moral damage caused to him, the amount of compensation is determined by the court when considering a criminal case or in civil proceedings (Part 3 of Article 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation).
The legal representative of a victim under the age of sixteen, against whom a crime against the sexual integrity of a minor has been committed, must be explained by the court not only the right to file a petition for the participation of a lawyer as a representative of such a victim, but also the provision that the costs of remuneration for such the lawyer is compensated from the federal budget (clause 7 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of June 29, 2010 N 17).
Victim:
- is obliged to appear when summoned by the inquirer, investigator and to the court (if the victim fails to appear without good reason or evades appearing at the court hearing, if the participation of the victim in the consideration of the case is considered mandatory, the victim may be brought in in the manner prescribed by Article 113 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, and in the cases specified in Article 117 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation - monetary penalty (Part 6 of Article 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, paragraph 18 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of June 29, 2010 N 17));
- is obliged to give truthful testimony (for giving knowingly false testimony, the victim is liable in accordance with Article 307 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, for refusing to give testimony - in accordance with Article 308 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (Part 7 of Article 42 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation));
- does not have the right to disclose the data of the preliminary investigation if he was warned about this in advance in the manner established by Art. 161 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation; For the disclosure of preliminary investigation data, the victim is responsible in accordance with Art. 310 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Part 7 of Article 42 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation);
- does not have the right to avoid undergoing an examination, from conducting a forensic examination in cases where his consent is not required, or from providing handwriting and other samples for comparative research. For evasion from undergoing an examination, from conducting a forensic examination in cases where his consent is not required, or from providing samples of handwriting and other samples for comparative research, the victim is liable in accordance with Art. 308 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Part 7 of Article 42 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation).
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Procedure for assigning status
Russian legislation determines the right of the victim himself to initiate the assignment of such status to him. This can also be done by law enforcement agencies conducting proceedings in the case.
A refusal to grant victim status can be appealed on the basis of Resolution of the Plenum of the RF Armed Forces No. 17.
Recognition as a victim in a criminal case is possible only if the following circumstances exist:
- The fact of causing damage to this person has been proven. Damages may include theft or damage to tangible property, defamation, damage to reputation, or personal injury.
- The relationship between criminal acts and damage has been proven.
If these circumstances exist, a decision is made to recognize the victim as a victim. When serving the decision, the victim is explained his rights and obligations in this status.
How to submit an application?
To be recognized as a victim, a citizen must contact the investigative authorities with a statement. The legislation provides for a free form of such an application, but its text must contain the following information:
- Details of the competent authority to which the application is submitted and the employee who will consider it.
- Full name, address and contact details of the applicant.
- A detailed description of the reasons why the applicant may qualify for victim status. In this part of the application, it is important to describe all the circumstances of the crime and prove that the offender caused harm to the applicant through his actions.
- When describing violations of the law, it is important to refer to its norms. In some cases, to draw up an application, it is worth contacting a lawyer who will help to correctly substantiate the facts in the application in accordance with the law.
The application for recognition as a victim must be drawn up in two copies. One is submitted to the investigative authorities or court, and the second is marked as accepting the application and returned to the victim.
Stages of granting victim status
In a situation where recognition of a citizen as a victim is initiated by the investigative body itself, this process includes several actions:
- Summoning a citizen to investigative authorities. His personal presence is a mandatory requirement of the law.
- Checking his identity. The citizen must present a passport.
- If there are facts proving that he suffered in this crime, an appropriate resolution is drawn up.
- Familiarization with the contents of the decision of the victim himself or his representative if he cannot appear before the investigative authorities. The representative must have a notarized power of attorney from the victim.
- Clarification of the rights and responsibilities of the victim.
In some cases, the victim will be summoned for questioning or other investigative actions necessary to clarify the circumstances of the incident.
Resolution
According to Article 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, a resolution on recognition as a victim is drawn up in a strict form and contains an introduction, a descriptive part and a resolution.
The introduction indicates the details of the body and the authorized person who adopted the resolution.
The narrative contains detailed information about the crime and the harm that was caused to the victim.
All circumstances of the incident must be indicated based on legal norms. In particular, the resolution indicates specific articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the norms of which were violated by the criminal.
The resolution indicates the decision to recognize a person or organization as a victim and its data. If an organization has suffered from criminal attacks, indicate its legal address and name, as well as the details of its representative.
It is important that the decision on recognition as a victim includes a note explaining to him all the rights and obligations.
