On determining the place of the category "access to justice" in the criminal procedure law: principle, guarantee or purpose?

The article is devoted to the analysis of the category "access to justice" in the context of criminal procedural legal relations and the legislative consolidation of this category. The positions of scientists who define this category as a legal principle and guarantee are correlated. As a result of the study, it is proposed to strengthen access to justice as one of the goals of criminal proceedings, as well as to propose changes to certain principles of criminal procedure law in order to expand access to justice in criminal proceedings.