Bail as Pre-trial Restriction in Criminal Procedure: Comparative Analysis of Practical Application in Russia and USA

Bail is ofte.n criticized by leg.islators a.nd law enfo.rcement. E.xisting in t.he Russian leg.al system fo.r a long t.ime, to date, t.he problems assoc.iated with it, do not d.ry up. Fro.m year to ye.ar, bail is used as a p.reventive me.asure less a.nd less. Acco.rding to t.he judicia.l statistics o.f the Supre.me Court of the Russ.ian Federat.ion, in the f.irst half o.f 2018, the Russ.ian courts rece.ived only 76 app.lications fo.r the use o.f such a p.reventive me.asure as b.ail, 70 of the.m were sat.isfied. In compariso.n, in the seco.nd half of 2017, t.here were 80 suc.h applicat.ions, and 64 we.re satisfied. Qu.ite contrad.ictory stat.istics: the nu.mber of app.lications is reduced, t.hat is, less a.nd less hopes a.re placed o.n the elect.ion of this p.reventive me.asure, but t.he number o.f satisfied ones has incre.ased. At t.he same ti.me, the ind.icator of me.asures of restra.int replaced by b.ail also decre.ased from 161 i.n 2017 to 1.35 in the f.irst half o.f 2018. Such data tod.ay clearly i.llustrates the insuf.ficiency o.f the changes i.n the Crim.inal procedu.re code of t.he Russian Fede.ration to i.mprove the e.ffectiveness o.f bail.