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VasylZEMLIANOI, 

Chief Researcher of the National School of Judges of Ukraine,

retired judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine,

Honored Lawyer of Ukraine

DOSED JUSTICE, OR WHAT INTERFERES WITH THE JUDGES TO COMPLY WITH THE CONTINUITY OF THE TRIAL IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Continuation of the article, beginning in № 3 magazine

The article specifies reasons for non-compliance with reasonable terms of consideration of criminal proceedings by the court. It is pointed out that while the procedural economy is envisaged by the Criminal procedural code of Ukraine, society expects quick, intelligible, objective and, above all, fair justice with the consideration of indictment in one court session from the court. However, the courts hear criminal proceedings over the years, even in criminal proceedings which are simple in essence and proof. The absence of legally established terms of consideration in criminal proceeding caused the phenomenon of so-called dosed justice, when prosecution tenders evidence to the court portionwise, with long intervals. In many cases, having a corresponding instruction from the head of the prosecutor’s office, prosecutor orients the court to adopt illegitimate decisions, doesn’t attend the hearing without justifiable reasons, and the judge, doesn’t reacting to this behavior of the prosecutor, repeatedly postpone the hearing and participates in the proceedings of other cases. Violation of the requirements of Art.322 of the Criminal procedural code of Ukraine concerning the continuity of court proceeding is one of the main causes of long-term criminal proceedings and rendering illegitimate court decisions. The article presents the idea that the courts should consider the criminal proceedings in one session of the court till the relevant court decision is delivered. Using examples of judicial practice in the Odessa region the consequences of ignoring of requirements of the law about the continuity of court proceeding by the judges, are shown in the article. It is proposed to amend Articles 322 and 412 of the Criminal procedural code of Ukraine that the non-compliance with principle of continuity of criminal proceedings is a fundamental breach of the criminal process, which entails the rescission of a court decision.

Key words: reasonable terms, dosed justice, continuity of court proceeding.