STRATEGIES OF THE PARTIES TO CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS FROM THE POSITION OF GAME THEORY

Abstract

The article includes the analysis of the principles of criminal proceedings under Article 22 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine"Adversarial parties and freedom to present their evidence to the court and prove their persuasiveness before the court" from the standpoint of game theory as methods of mathematical analysis and evaluation of criminal proceedings and optimal solutions in the conditions of formal procedural confrontation. The works of domestic and foreign scientists considering the problems of the criminal process and those scientists studying the theory of games in criminal proceedings are analyzed. The functions of the parties to the criminal proceedings, such as the functions of the prosecution and the defense, are considered as well as the equality of their powers is investigated. The application of strategies of the parties to criminal proceedings by analogy with players in game theory is substantiated, grounding on the fact that the strategies of the parties to the criminal proceedings can be deciphered in the appropriate matrix of actions of all parties in each stage of the criminal proceedings. The concept of strategy, antagonistic and matrix games is defined. An example of the maximum and minimum strategy of the parties to criminal proceedings in the activities of the prosecution and the defense is provided. The asymmetry of powers of the parties at the stage of pre-trial investigation is considered and the formal equality of the parties to the criminal proceedings in their interaction with the court is noted. It is concluded that the choice of the appropriate strategy by one of the parties to the criminal proceedings affects the strategy of all parties as a whole.