Post-Soviet criminal justice: The persistence of distorted neo-inquisitorialism

Abstract

This article investigates the extent to which post-Soviet states have successfully reformed the system of criminal justice that they inherited from the USSR, and in particular reduced accusatorial bias and achieved procedural fairness. I argue that with the notable exception of Estonia, these countries have not eliminated the defining features of the Soviet criminal justice, what I call ‘distorted neo-inquisitorialism’—namely the excessive power of investigators and weakness of judges. The article examines in detail the reform of criminal justice in Russia, Estonia and Ukraine from 1992 to the present.