The Appeal in the Russian Criminal Procedure: Purposes and Means of Their Implementation

This study focuses on the institution of appeal on criminal proceedings in the Russian Federation, its compliance with the international standards in this field, the mechanism of such institution, its objectives and existing gaps in it. The author's analysis of the development of appeals in criminal cases at different times helps to understand the current nature of the rules of law that regulate this process. This paper explores the impossibility of applying the institution of evocation in Russian criminal proceedings, which consists of a review of a case by an appeal court on the substance according to the first-instance court procedure. The author concludes that the impossibility of such institute in Russia is related to the two main reasons: 1) The institute of appeal in criminal cases in Russia is not aimed at a true review of the case, but at reviewing the legitimacy, validity and justice of the verdict or other court decision made by the first instance court, in which the appeal court stands as the controlling judicial institution; 2) assigning overloaded appeal courts the obligation to review the case according to the rules of the court of first instance would result in an inability to apply the international standards, which is unacceptable. The author concludes that despite the full accordance of the national rules of law to the international standards, their too broad interpretation in some cases, lack of specification or criteria to determine the existence of certain conditions, leads to the fact that the criminal procedure mechanism of realisation of purposes of appeal proceedings does not function properly and for this reason author suggests introducing relevant changes in the legislation.