The Subject and Limits of the Judicial Review of Complaints against Rulings on Dismissal of or Refusal to Initiate a Criminal Case Subject to Article 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation

Abstract

This article is devoted to the topical issue of the institution of judicial control — the limits of the court’s consideration of complaints against decisions to terminate and refuse to initiate criminal proceedings. The legal positions set out in recent decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on this issue have come into conflict with the previously expressed positions of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the limits of the court’s consideration of the complaint. In the article the author cites the rules established by the Plenum of the Supreme Court, analyzes the legal positions set out in the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and concludes that the decisions on termination and refusal to initiate criminal case have a special place in the subject of judicial review. In verifying these decisions, the judge is obliged to assess all the facts of the case, the evidence available in the file, characterization of the offence, if it directly affected the appealed decision. The judge is also obliged to evaluate all other decisions of the criminal prosecution authorities that have been taken during the pre-trial proceedings if they are directly related to that decision on termination and refusal to initiate a criminal case.