The dissertation is devoted to the analysis of the criminal procedural decisions of the court, adopted according to the results of preparatory proceedings. This is the first comprehensive study in Ukraine of criminal procedural decisions adopted according to the results of preparatory proceedings based on practical activities. Certain statements, recommendations, and conclusions that are characterized by scientific novelty are formed on the basis of scientific provisions, court practice, and practical experience. We have conducted the analysis of legislative provisions, as well as a number of criminal process literary sources on the topic of preparatory proceedings; as a result, we have concluded that the issues of criminal procedural decisions of the court at the stage of preparatory proceedings are not fully studied.
Taking into account the legal framework, scientific bases, results of generalization, analysis of court decisions, and practical experience, we have defined the notion of criminal procedural court decisions. We have also suggested the definition of certain features that are inherent in criminal procedural decisions in general and the court in particular, such as legality, validity, motivation, and fairness of procedural decision.
We have outlined the methodological aspects of the development of criminal procedural court decisions adopted according to the results of preparatory proceedings.
For the purpose of expanding the use of the institution of agreements in criminal proceedings, legislative changes have been suggested in the dissertation regarding the composition of mandatory participants of preparatory court
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proceedings. Our view is that it is currently limited and does not fully comply with the principles of criminal proceedings and public interests in general.
The work includes statements in favour of active use of video conferencing at all stages of criminal proceedings, which is stipulated by rapid informatization of the society. There has been outlined the necessity of recognizing the use of videoconferencing as a legislative measure.
Due to the lack of a clear legal procedure for the court to follow in case of refusal to approve the conciliation and guilty plea agreement, there have been suggested ways to solve this problem, including legislative changes. We have also expressed the opinion that if the court refuses to approve the conciliation or plea agreement, provided that there are no other grounds to return the indictment and neither party pleas for returning the indictment for further pre-trial investigation, the court must order the proceedings for trial on general terms.
Based on the results of comparing different scientific positions, as well as practical experience, we have suggested the mechanism for the court to review the content of the conciliation agreement and pleading guilty for compliance with the Criminal Procedures Code (CPC) of Ukraine. According to the current CPC, only an indictment with attachments and an agreement are presented to the court, whereas presenting other materials is prohibited; therefore, we have explored the possibility of presenting to the court of an indictment with an agreement, as well as all materials of the pre-trial investigation.
