Problems of the institution of reconciliation in criminal proceedings and prospects for its development

In judicial practice there is no single approach to the conditions for the termination of a criminal case in connection with the reconciliation of the parties. In this regard, scientists propose to improve this institution by concluding conciliation agreements and introducing the figure of a judicial conciliator. Thus, the scientific community is widely discussing the bill “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation to Improve the Procedure for Release from Criminal Liability of Juvenile Suspects and Accuseds Who Reconciled with the Victim”, proposed by the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation. However, these proposals require detailed study. Materials and methods: the legal basis of the study is formed by the criminal procedure legislation of the Russian Federation, as well as clarifications of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. The works of Russian scientists on the issue of termination of a criminal case in connection with the reconciliation of the parties were studied. In the process of working on the article, the authors studied the investigative practice of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Samara Region and the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Samara Region, as well as the published judicial practice for the Samara Region. The methodological basis of the study included the use of the universal dialectical method of cognition of objective reality, as well as general scientific and special methods: analysis and synthesis, historical, concrete sociological, statistical analysis and the formal legal method. The Results of the study: the study showed that in judicial practice there are two approaches regarding the ratio of public and private in the institute of termination of a criminal case in connection with the reconciliation of the parties. Some judges consider reconciliation sufficient to terminate the criminal case. Others - for making such a decision, they establish not only the conditions provided for by law, but also additional circumstances not specified in it. The proposal on the possibility of refusing to initiate a criminal case in connection with reconciliation raises doubts due to the fact that the status of its participants is regulated unsatisfactorily, inaccuracies and errors in qualification are possible. It is also difficult to agree with the idea of the possibility of replacing the unserved part of the sentence with a milder one or his parole in connection with the reconciliation of the convicted person and the victim, since reconciliation is one of the many circumstances taken into account by the court when applying incentive institutions. Suspension of a criminal case for a conciliation procedure may lead to a violation of the principles of the criminal process. Findings and Conclusions: the authors concluded that the institution of reconciliation needs a reasonable reform. It is necessary to change the approach to resolving the issue of which criminal cases for which crimes reconciliation can be the basis for their termination, as well as to enshrine in the law an imperative requirement to terminate criminal cases if all the conditions for this are established by law, as well as recognition by the accused of his guilt in committing crime as a prerequisite for dismissal.