Some aspects of collecting evidence in the court of appeal

Introduction. The issues connected with the collection of evidence during hearing of a criminal trial in the court of appeal are burning and given a great deal of consideration both in the academic community and by law enforcement officials. Currently the court of appeal possesses the same range of ways for collection of evidence as the court of the first instance, but considering some peculiarities as provided for by chapter 45.1 of the Russian Federation Code of Criminal Procedure. In this respect the author of the work sets a purpose to study and analyze some of the aspects of collection of evidence in the court of appeal. Methods. Methodological foundation of this research consists of a system of procedures of scientific knowledge. The centerpiece includes methods of consistency, analysis, synthesis and a comparative-legal method. Results. The position of the author justified in the work is based on the legislation in power and interpretations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. In accordance with the analysis of regulations given in chapter 45.1 of the Russian Federation Code of Criminal Procedure, peculiarities of evidence collection at the stage of appeal proceedings are considered. It is pointed out that implementation of capabilities for collecting evidence provided by the law for parties depends on the discretion of the court. Conclusions. As a result of the research the author makes suggestion to codify a detailed procedure of hearing a trial carried out by the court of appeal which would allow to improve the institution of collection of evidence at the stage of appeal proceedings and would help avoid judicial errors during hearing of criminal trials in court of the first instance.