CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES OF THE COURT OF APPEALS REGARDING RE-EXAMINATION OF EVIDENCE IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study approaches to the interpretation of the provisions of Art. 404 of the Criminal Procedure Code regarding the possibility of the appellate court to re-examine evidence without the request of a participant in criminal proceedings. Methods. The methodological basis of the research is general scientific and special legal methods, in particular dialectical, systemic analysis, theoretical generalization. Results. Based on the analysis of the current criminal procedural legislation, the study of doctrinal sources and the practice of the Criminal Court of Cassation as part of the Supreme Court: – doctrinal approaches to the interpretation of the prescriptions of Art. 404 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding the possibility of the appellate court to re-examine evidence without the request of a participant in criminal proceedings; – examples from judicial practice regarding different approaches to understanding the powers of the appellate court in terms of re-examination of evidence on its own initiative are given; – the issue of the appellate court's compliance with the principles of adversariality and immediacy of the examination of evidence when giving a different assessment to the evidence than the one given by the court of first instance was investigated. Conclusions. Both in practice and in the doctrine of the criminal process, there is no single approach to the interpretation of the prescriptions of Art. 404 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding the authority of the appellate court to re-examine the evidence in the absence of a request from the prosecutor, the victim or his representative, who raise questions about the deterioration of the accused's condition in the appeal. Taking into account the above, it is proposed to specify the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, which would eliminate contradictions on the above issue.