SIMPLIFIED COURT PROCEEDINGS IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS IN RUSSIA AND THE SPECIFICITY OF THEIR PROCEDURAL FORM

In the article the authors examine the concept of simplified court proceedings, the definition of which is built by identifying the specific features inherent in this "elementary" type of court proceedings in criminal cases. Features simplifying judicial proceedings are identified in comparison with the total order of procedure of the criminal proceedings and considered from the standpoint of how they form. In this case, the specific procedure of simplified court proceedings is examined from different points of view, bearing in mind the aspect of the criminal process: the system of procedural forms, the system of procedural safeguards or procedural relations. As a result, the authors formulate the definition of a simplified judicial process, which is understood as a more elementary, as compared to the general procedure of the criminal proceedings, judicial cycle of evidential activity, which is simplified, depending on the aspect of criminal justice: - by eliminating all unnecessary formalities in its procedure and by changing the form of procedural safeguards, including relating to the proof, when criminal justice is considered as a system of safeguards to achieve its objectives; - direct or indirect ways through the conversion of general or specialized rules of law, respectively, including attributable to the law of evidence, when criminal justice is considered as a system of rules of criminal procedure; - by eliminating certain elements of criminal procedural forms, also relating to the proof, by establishing shorter procedural terms, by entering additional elements in the system of criminal procedural forms that are adapted for a particular procedure, when criminal justice is understood as a system of procedural forms; - by changing elements of criminal procedural relations, including the relation in the sphere of proof, when criminal justice is considered as a system of criminal procedural relations. In addition, the authors of the article try to build the system of simplified court proceedings typical for the modern criminal trial in Russia, which includes a special order of proceedings, a special procedure for trial when concluding the pre-trial agreement on cooperation and criminal proceedings of private accusation.