On the issue of the criminal procedural significance of voluntary admission of guilt, its stimulation and the principles of criminal procedural economy and encouragement

The problem of the special procedural and political significance of the voluntary admission of guilt by the accused is "eternal." In historical retrospect, the confession of guilt by the accused occupied a central place in various periods of the development of statehood, bore the title of "queen of evidence", or was overthrown from this "pedestal". The criminal procedural activity aimed at obtaining a confession of guilt by the accused not only solved the problem of obtaining evidentiary information, it was of a political nature. The author notes that recently there has been a noticeable increase in the interest of some researchers in this problem. Simplifying the procedure for reviewing a criminal case speeds up the process and reduces the cost of legal proceedings. In this regard, the problem of the importance of voluntary recognition and stimulation of voluntary admission of guilt, the introduction of principles of procedural economy and encouragement is considered. In the modern criminal procedure legislation of the Russian Federation, the admission of guilt by the accused is not a priority, and can only be used as the basis for an accusation if his guilt is confirmed by the totality of evidence available in a criminal case. Nevertheless, acceptance of the charges is an essential condition for the special procedures for making court decisions. For this reason, recently there have been more and more persistent voices for the introduction of the principle of procedural economy in the criminal process, the principle of encouragement. The article emphasizes that the admission of guilt by the accused is not a priority under the criminal procedure legislation of the Russian Federation. The author comes to the conclusion that the mere fact of the admission of guilt by the suspect, the accused and the defendant is not evidence. By its very nature, this is a legal fact of procedural importance. Encouraging voluntary admission of guilt, proposed by some researchers, carries a potential threat to the realization of the rights of suspects, accused and defendants. The principles of procedural economy and encouragement pose a threat to the fundamental principles of criminal justice, in particular, legality and the presumption of innocence.