CONCILIATION PROCEDURES IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS: LEGAL REGULATION AND SPECIFIC FEATURES

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the criminal procedural aspects of implementing conciliation procedures in criminal proceedings. The author carries out a theoretical differentiation between the institute of a conciliation agreement (Art. 469 of the CPC) and exemption from criminal liability in connection with the reconciliation of the perpetrator with the victim (Art. 46 of the CC). Their legal nature, characteristic features, and the set of imperative conditions for the application of each mechanism are determined, emphasizing the common features of voluntary consent of the parties and the restitutive nature of damage compensation.
The author establishes key differences between these conciliation procedures based on the following criteria: legal nature and legal consequences for the individual (conviction and criminal record versus a court order to dismiss the proceedings); grounds and conditions for application; the procedural stage of application and initiative; and the role of the parties and the content of the agreements.
Special attention is paid to practical problems arising in the activities of investigators and inquiry officers upon receiving motions for reconciliation, particularly the dilemma between the duty of comprehensive evidentiary proof under Art. 91 of the CPC and the principle of procedural economy. The author substantiates the inexpediency of conducting forensic examinations and further investigative actions in proceedings where the parties have reached a conciliation consensus. The current judicial practice of the Supreme Court regarding the allocation of procedural costs is analyzed, which confirms the impossibility of recovering such costs from an individual in the event of dismissal of the proceedings, thereby reinforcing the need to optimize state budget expenditures at the pre-trial investigation stage.
The importance of introducing a clear procedural mechanism into the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine for cases where conciliation procedures are identified at the pre-trial investigation stage is emphasized. Such a mechanism would allow the investigator (inquiry officer) to refer criminal proceedings to the court upon the submission of a motion by the suspect and the victim for exemption from criminal liability due to reconciliation or a concluded conciliation agreement, without conducting a full-scale pre-trial investigation, in order to ensure the economy of the state’s criminal procedural resources in exercising criminal prosecution.