Abbasova D. Legal support and implementation of ethical norms in the criminal process of Ukraine.

The work carried out a comprehensive study of the problems of legal support and implementation of ethical norms in the criminal process of Ukraine, in particular: scientific sources on the application of ethical norms in criminal proceedings are examined; ethics and its role in the regulation of criminal procedural legal relations are determined; international standards of legal support of ethical norms in the criminal process are systematized; problems related to the observance of ethical standards of criminal procedural activity during the application of preventive measures involving physical coercion are identified; the ethics of criminal procedural evidence are characterized; problematic aspects of the ethics of judicial proceedings are defined; disputed issues of compliance with the requirements of professional ethics by individual participants in criminal proceedings are clarified; scientifically based proposals are provided for improving legal support and the practice of applying ethical norms in the criminal process of Ukraine. In the first chapter of the work, attention is paid to the general theoretical aspects of the chosen problem. The fragmentary nature of the scientific understanding of the issues of legal support and the implementation of ethical norms in the criminal process is stated, which actualizes the conduct of a comprehensive study. Special attention is focused on the issue of structuring the categories “ethics”, “moral” and “morality” in the criminal procedural context. A definition of ethics is proposed as a philosophical category that includes: (a) moral norms objectified in such external forms as legislation, religious norms, customs and traditions (the objective component); (b) moral attitudes of the subject, which determine the choice of behavior in criminal procedural legal relations (the subjective component). It is proven that ethics, in a narrow sense, is equated with moral norms, and in a broad sense, it includes both moral norms and moral attitudes of subjects. Moral norms exist independently of human will. Ethicality is revealed only through the interaction of moral and morality. Taking this into account, it is argued that the legal provision of ethical norms in the criminal process belongs to the objective part of ethics, and their implementation in criminal procedural procedures belongs to the subjective part. The criteria related to the subject of legal support and the implementation of ethical norms in the criminal process of Ukraine are formulated. These are situations in which: (a) the criminal procedural norm contains a direct reference to ethical categories (honor, dignity, justice, freedom); (b) the criminal procedural norm does not contain a direct reference to ethical categories, but is filled with ethical content; (c) the criminal procedural norm determines the order of interaction of the subjects of criminal proceedings from the standpoint of ethical categories; (d) there is an alleged conflict between the criminal procedural norm and ethical categories; (e) the criminal procedural norm grants the subject of law enforcement the right to choose a variant of behavior in criminal procedural legal relations or does not regulate relations that may arise in law enforcement practice (paragraph “e” – see the works of Yu.M. Hroshevyi, V.T. Nora). International standards of legal enforcement of ethical norms in the criminal process of Ukraine are systematized. In particular: (a) the standard of professional behavior and ethical interaction of a judge, prosecutor, investigator, lawyer; (b) the standard against torture or inhuman or degrading treatment; (c) the standard of inadmissibility of groundless restriction of human rights and fundamental freedoms; (d) the standard of prohibition of deception in criminal procedural evidence. In the second chapter of the work, attention is focused on the issues of legal support and the implementation of ethical norms in criminal procedural procedures. It is established that forced feeding of persons subject to a preventive measure in the form of detention does not violate the right guaranteed by Art. 3 of the Convention, if it meets the criteria established by the practice of the ECHR. At the same time, the need to improve the procedure for forced feeding and the procedural order of consideration of requests for permission to use such measures is argued. It is proven that the issues of evacuation of prisoners during martial law are sensitive from the standpoint of ethics in the context of the conditions of transportation and the use of special means of coercion, which may be in conflict with the provisions of Art. 3 of the Convention. Based on the analysis of the practice of the ECHR, the criteria taken into account by the court when considering the relevant complaints are determined.