Standards of proof in the criminal procedure of the United States of America and Ukraine: A comparative research

The purpose of the paper is disclosure of the concept, features of the formation of the system and mechanism of application of the standards of proof in the criminal procedure of the common law and continental legal systems (on the example of the USA and Ukraine). In result of the research, the concept, features of the system and the mechanism of application of the standards of proof in the criminal procedure of the USA and Ukraine were compared, which revealed the similarities and differences between them. According to the results of the research of the concept of the standards of proof in the criminal procedure of the USA and Ukraine, their signs were distinguished, which made it possible to conclude that their concept is approximated in the criminal procedure doctrine of the mentioned countries. In the criminal procedure both the USA and Ukraine, the standards of proof reflect the requisite level of knowledge about the facts and circumstances of criminal proceedings that a decision- maker must reach to make it. The differences in the formation of the system of the standards of proof in the criminal procedure of the USA and Ukraine were established. In the criminal procedure of the USA, they were formed in the judicial practice and subsequently reflected in the Model Code of Criminal Procedure. In the criminal procedure of Ukraine, they first gained regulatory support in the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine from 2012, after which they found application in the judicial practice, which, at the same time, consistently takes into account the experience regarding their content, given in the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.