Observance of fair trial standards under Article 6 of the ECHR during criminal proceedings in the absence of the accused (in absentia)

Abstract

The article examines the issue of normative regulation of the principles of the court's consideration of criminal proceedings in the absence of the accused (in absentia) in order to comply with the standards of a fair trial, which is guaranteed by Article 6 of the ECHR. The guarantees of the right to a fair trial, which are enshrined in the national criminal procedure law and international standards, guarantee of such rights, are compared. Attention is drawn to the absence in the provisions of Part 3 of Article 323 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine of a procedural algorithm for establishing a special purpose of hiding the accused from the investigation authorities and the court in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, on the territory of the state recognized by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as an aggressor state – evasion of criminal liability as an important component for proving the fact that a person deliberately does not intend to participate in criminal proceedings against him. The issues of approaches in the practice of the ECHR, which are applicable for the court to be convinced that the accused deliberately does not want to participate in the trial of criminal proceedings, are investigated and attention is focused on the need to apply such decisions of the ECHR during the consideration of criminal proceedings in the absence of the accused (in absentia). Particular attention is paid to the presentation of the reasoning part of the court verdict, which was adopted in criminal proceedings in the absence of the accused (in absentia) in order to comply with the standards of a fair trial provided for in Article 6 of the ECHR, in particular the right to appear in court and the right to defense. It is proved that in order to comply with the standards of a fair trial provided for by Article 6 of the ECHR, during special court proceedings, additional guarantees of the rights of the accused, which are a mandatory feature of criminal proceedings in the absence of the accused (in absentia) and must be set out in detail by the court in the motivational part of the court verdict, should be established. Key words: in absentia, court proceedings, ECHR practice, fair trial standards.