The confrontation as a preliminary procedural guarantee of ensuring the right to a fair trial

Introduction: the author examines the nature and legal potential of the confrontation at the present stage of development of the Russian criminal procedure taking into account compliance with international standards for ensuring human rights and freedoms. Materials and methods: the regulatory framework of the study is formed by international legal acts in the field of ensuring the rights and freedoms of the individual, Constitution of the Russian Federation, criminal procedure legislation as well as decisions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, materials of the practice of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and the European Court of Human Rights.The methodological basis of the study is the general dialectical method of scientific cognition, which is universal in nature, as well as methods of logical deduction, induction, cognitive methods and methods of observation, comparison, analysis, synthesis, description; comparative legal and historical legal methods. Results: the author believes that today there is a need to change the understanding of the confrontation as an investigative action, which is carried out only for the purpose of checking and eliminating contradictions in the testimony of previously interrogated persons. Summary and conclusions: the author proposes to consider confrontation more broadly, for example, as a legal guarantee on the prior provision of the right to a fair trial.