Balance of content and form in criminal proceedings

Abstract

In the study, the author's attention is focused on the issues of content and form as important components of a balanced model of criminal proceedings. The balance of content and form ensures the performance of procedural functions, the use of rights and powers, the defense of legal positions and the application of norms based on the rule of law. It was determined that the content of criminal proceedings in a broad sense reflects its internal quality, determines the meaning of existence, teleological and axiological components. The form presents the external quality, is a kind of documentary-procedural "shell". The form of criminal proceedings objectifies, concretizes and broadcasts abstract content in law enforcement activities by implementing rules, procedures, requirements, orders, standards, etc. The article examines the multiplicity of approaches to determining content and form, which are used in legislation and discussed in scientific doctrine. Special attention is paid to the issue of unification and differentiation of the form of criminal proceedings. In addition, the author's thoughts on the concept of procedural "formalism" are presented in the study. It is proposed to distinguish standard formalism as an integral attribute of criminal proceedings in a democratic, legal state, aberrational formalism (from Latin aberratio – deviation, distortion) as a harmful phenomenon, and hybrid formalism (from Latin hybrida – mixing) as an objectively existing phenomenon in law enforcement practice. It was established that the key difference between aberrational formalism and violations of the procedural form is that such formalism does not go beyond the legal field, then the violation (substantial or insignificant, obvious or not obvious) is always outside the law. The conclusions emphasize that the content of criminal proceedings should correspond to the form, and the form should convey the content. Together, they build a complete system that transforms the principles of criminal proceedings from the state of abstract constructions to a real result in practice. Risks of imbalance in the dichotomy "content - form" in criminal proceedings arise due to inconsistency. This inconsistency can be determined by the shortcomings of the standard formalism, the existence of an aberrational formalism, and potentially increases with the hybrid formalism.