Role of the prosecutor in the trial stages of the criminal process

This article is devoted to the study of the functions and powers of the prosecutor associated with his participation in the judicial stages of criminal proceedings. The subject of the study are the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation in terms of implementation on behalf of the state criminal prosecution in criminal proceedings, as well as the provisions of the Law “On Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation” in terms of oversight of the procedural activities of bodies of inquiry and preliminary investigation. The purpose of the study is to examine the legal position of the prosecutor in the judicial stages of criminal proceedings. General scientific methods of scientific knowledge, such as dialectical (analysis and synthesis) and logical, as well as private methods - comparative-legal, statistical, formal-legal were used in the research. The practice of Chelyabinsk regional court was used as empirical material. The work gives a characteristic of the prosecutor’s activity on maintenance of public prosecution in court. The clarifying changes of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation concerning the moment from which the prosecutor becomes the public prosecutor in the procedural sense are formulated. The authors pay special attention to the power of the prosecutor to appeal against court decisions. Emphasis is placed on the prosecutor’s legal protective function, which is closely linked to the supervision of compliance with the law. The authors conclude that by exercising the power of appeal against court decisions, the prosecutor represents not his private interest, but the protection of the interests of the state and society.