Reflections on the round table discussion “Principles of adversarial and accusatory proceedings in church jurisprudence: combining elements, trends, prospects” (St. Petersburg, June 23, 2023)

This article presents the author’s reflections on the round table discussion titled “Principles of Adversarial and Accusatory Proceedings in Church Jurisprudence: Combining Elements, Trends, Prospects”, which took place on June 23, 2023, at St. Petersburg Theological Academy. The author defines adversarialism as separation of prosecution and defense from the court (by analogy with criminal proceedings) and accusatorialism as the obligation of the individual to prove their innocence (by analogy with civil law). The conclusion made is that contemporary church jurisprudence lacks the adversarial principle and has the accusatorial principle (especially in diocesan courts). The discussion includes such topics as 1) possibility of remote participation in church court proceedings; 2) the potential inclusion of adversarial, independence and non-removability of judges, and presumption of innocence in the Regulations on Church Courts; 3) separation of prosecution and defense in church courts. Mechanisms of changing the principles of diocesan court formation in accordance with canons and modern church organization are proposed.