Some Problems in Criminal Proceedings with Jury Participation: a Law Enforcer’s View

The main challenges in criminal proceedings are conflicts between individual norms of the Criminal Procedure Law, which effectively result in the substitution of constitutional provisions with separate federal law acts that violate fundamental citizens’ rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, particularly the right to equal access to justice for the protection of one’s rights and freedoms.
Research objectives – to study and analyze legal issues arising during court proceedings with jury participation when examining specific criminal cases where federal law norms contradicting constitutional provisions are applied or are to be applied, particularly in cases of legal conflicts regarding the equality of defendants’ rights to a lawful court, as well as in cases of conflicts between intrabranch and interbranch legal norms. In this regard, considering the ambiguity of understanding the concepts of the Jury Trial Institution in scientific and legal circles, the study addresses such basic concepts as “jury trial” and the distinction between the right to a jury trial and jurisdiction. Considering the binding nature of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation’s decisions for courts of general jurisdiction, an analysis of its positions regarding citizens’ complaints and court inquiries about the constitutionality of specific federal legislation acts has been conducted.
The study of these issues aims to find legal ways for the court to make final decisions that comply with constitutional provisions. The relevance of this research is also determined by the expansion of jury trial activities to district-level courts.
The conclusions presented in the study are not meant to be critical but are aimed at improving legislation regulating court proceedings with jury participation, considering proposals on specific legal issues.