To what extent is the protection of rights possible in Russia victims of domestic violence by criminal procedural means

In the XXI century, the century of the development of science and technology, when nanotechnology and digitalization are being developed and widely implemented in practice, violence continues to be committed outside the walls of houses throughout the country. Women, children, elderly relatives become victims of domestic violence, the consequence of which is causing harm to health of varying severity, and even death. Therefore, the study of various issues related to the protection of the rights of victims of domestic violence, including through the application of criminal procedural procedures, is still important and relevant. In the middle of the twentieth century, a number of legal acts were adopted at the international legal level, initially aimed at protecting women’s rights from domestic violence, and later - to protect all family members from such violence. Some foreign countries have adopted the ideas of these international legal standards and implemented them into national legislation in various ways, including by adopting special laws regulating various aspects of protecting the rights of victims of domestic violence. There is no separate regulatory legal act regulating these issues in the Russian Federation. However, it cannot be said that the rights of victims of domestic violence are not protected in Russia. Certain norms of criminal law are applicable to situations where family members suffer from criminal encroachments of their relatives. In the field of criminal proceedings, such persons acquire the procedural status of a victim and are endowed with a significant amount of procedural rights. Moreover, in 2016, a draft law “On the prevention of domestic violence in the Russian Federation” was developed in Russia, which was submitted for discussion, but for various reasons has not yet been adopted. Therefore, research at the scientific level of issues of protection and ensuring the rights of victims of domestic criminal violence through the use of criminal procedural means seems necessary and relevant. The study identified the main problems that make it difficult for victims of domestic violence to exercise their procedural rights. In the Russian Federation, it is necessary to develop comprehensive measures to protect the rights of victims of domestic violence. One of the ways to solve the issue under consideration is to improve the criminal procedure legislation, including by classifying criminal cases where victims of domestic violence are victims to the category of cases of public prosecution, as well as improving the mechanism for the implementation of certain procedural rights.