The problems of the institution of jurisdiction in the criminal process

Jurisdiction is defined in the study as one of the procedural institutions related to the enforcement of rights in criminal proceedings. The paper analyzes different views of legal researchers and authors’ opinion on this institution and proposes ways to improve the relevant provisions of the current criminal procedure laws. It investigates the related theoretical issues as well. Jurisdiction is considered by the authors as a set of features of criminal cases, requests, and complaints determining a particular court that will deal with the first or high instance proceeding and provide the pre-trial examination of requests and complaints. In view of the interpretation of the term ‘jurisdiction’, the title of Chapter 5 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation is to be changed from ‘Court’ to ‘Court and Jurisdiction’. In addition, the term ‘jurisdiction over criminal cases’ should be reasonably enshrined in law by introducing a new paragraph to Article 5 of the Criminal Procedure Code concerned with the basic concepts of the Code or by creating the new Article 29.1 entitled ‘Jurisdiction over Criminal Cases’. The units of this article should reflect the definition of jurisdiction and its main types (criteria).