03.06.2005 - Source: Council of Europe - Parliamentary Assembly

Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code allows witnesses to bring their own attorneys to interviews conducted by the police; duration of detention without access to counsel or family members limited ("Honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation [Doc. 10568]") [#32710],  [ID 11216]

"320. It is probably too early to assess whether the recent amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code have solved all problems relating to the right to a fair trial in criminal proceedings, especially as regards the role of the Prokuratura and the principle of equality of arms enshrined in Article 6 of the Convention.

321. We note however with satisfaction that in June 2003, the Criminal Procedure Code was again amended to permit "witnesses" to bring their own attorneys to interviews conducted by the police. This amendment was designed to address the police practice of interrogating suspects without the presence of counsel under the fiction that they were witnesses, and then after incriminating statements were obtained, declaring the suspects to be defendants. This is a welcome development.

322. Furthermore, the Criminal Procedure Code now limits the duration of detention without access to counsel or family members and renders statements given in the absence of a defence attorney unusable in court; however, there were reports that these reforms were being undermined by the police practice of obtaining "friendly" defence counsel for these interviews and the overall ignorance by defence counsel of these provisions. Despite the Code, courts remained reluctant to exclude evidence allegedly obtained through coercive means.

323. Judges generally freed suspects whose confessions were taken without lawyers present or who were held in excess of detention limits. The Supreme Court overturned a number of cases in which lower court judges granted permission to detain individuals on what the Supreme Court considered being inadequate grounds."

Document(s): Open document

01.06.2005 - Source: Legislation Online

Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (English version) ("Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (English version)") [ID 18096]

Document(s): Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (English version)

20.04.2005 - Source: Council of Europe - Commissioner for Human Rights

Legislation concerning arrest, police custody and the investigation procedure ("Report by Mr. Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner for Human Rights, on his visit to the Russian Federation, 15-30 July 2004 and 19-20 September 2004 [CommDH(2005) 2]") [#32581],  [ID 11136]

"101. Under current legislation, persons suspected of offences are arrested by law enforcement agencies, usually the police. They are taken to a police station or some other place of inquiry to establish the facts. This is the first stage in the proceedings. Under Article 92 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereafter the CCP) they must formally be taken into police custody, not more than three hours after the arrest, or released. Under Article 49.2 and 3 of the CCP, arrested persons are entitled to the assistance of a lawyer as soon as they are notified of their custody. If the individual concerned does not choose a defence lawyer within twenty-four hours, the investigating official is required to ask the court to appoint a lawyer ex officio.

102. If there is sufficient evidence to open a criminal inquiry and if the investigator considers that the individual concerned should be detained during the course of the inquiry, an application is lodged with the court, which orders the opening of an investigation and, if indeed necessary, the individual‘s remand in custody, as a precautionary measure. Once such an order is issued, the individual is remanded in an what is called, in Russian, an ‘investigative detention facility‘ or, more generally, a “SIZO“.

103. If on the other hand the circumstances call for more detailed investigation, and if the investigator thinks that more time is needed to confirm or disprove the evidence against the suspect, the latter is placed in police custody and held in a short-term detention facility known as the “IVS“. Police custody lasts forty-eight hours. The investigator must inform the prosecutor of a suspect‘s placement in the IVS, once twelve hours have elapsed.

104. After forty-eight hours, the investigator must release the individual or refer the case to a relevant court and ask for an investigation. The court may also extend police custody under Article 108.6.3 of the CCP for an additional seventy-two hour period, at the investigator‘s request. Such requests must be justified by the need to secure additional evidence. In certain cases laid down in Articles 97 and 99 of the CCP, police custody may continue for up to ten days. The relevant courts are responsible for ruling on such exceptional situations. At the end of police custody, if the judge opens an inquiry, the suspect is remanded in custody in a SIZO."

Document(s): Open document

20.04.2005 - Source: Council of Europe - Commissioner for Human Rights

Main stages of the criminal inquiry procedure, lenght of custody ("Report by Mr. Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner for Human Rights, on his visit to the Russian Federation, 15-30 July 2004 and 19-20 September 2004 [CommDH(2005) 2]") [#32581],  [ID 11137]

"107. Under Article 109.1 of the CCP, persons may not be remanded in custody for more than two months. However under paragraph 2, this period may be extended by a court to up to six months for the purposes of the inquiry and up to twelve months if the person is suspected of committing a very serious offence. However, under paragraph 3, in exceptional cases, a judge of a court of a subject of the Federation may extend remand in custody to up to 18 months, following a request from the investigator with the agreement of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. No further extensions are permitted under law unless the individual concerned expressly requests it in order to examine the documents in his or her file. During remand in custody, the investigator must dose the inquiry and forward the case file to the prosecutor, who then transmits it to the relevant court.

108. These are the main stages of the criminal inquiry procedure, the result of a recent reform drawn up with expert assistance from the Council of Europe. During the visit, however, we were able to observe ourselves substantial problems with the implementation of this reform. Those we spoke to also reported the continuation of bad practices, inadequate training for legal personnel and even, in certain cases, a certain reactionary resistance to change. The reform process must be continued, preferably by persuasion, but where unwillingness still persists, through imposed solutions. I was able to observe the commitment of many of those I spoke to, in Moscow and in the regions, and am confident of the eventual success of this enormous task that is already under way. It will take time and effort but there can be no letting up on a process that will benefit the entire Russian people."

Document(s): Open document

20.04.2005 - Source: Council of Europe - Commissioner for Human Rights

Remand in custody ("Report by Mr. Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner for Human Rights, on his visit to the Russian Federation, 15-30 July 2004 and 19-20 September 2004 [CommDH(2005) 2]") [#32581],  [ID 11138]

"137. Remand in custody corresponds to the period of imprisonment during the enquiry, and ends when the courts have passed final judgment. At this point, an accused may be released if acquitted or if any prison sentence passed is less than the time already spent in custody. Alternatively, he or she may be sentenced to a prison term and sent to a penal colony, or more simply a colony. Persons remanded in custody are placed in remand prisons, or SIZOs."

Document(s): Open document

28.12.2004 - Source: Legislation Online

Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (English version) ("Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (English version)") [ID 18093]

Document(s): Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (English version)

28.12.2004 - Source: Legislation Online

Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (in Russian) ("Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (in Russian)") [ID 18094]

Document(s): Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (in Russian)

28.05.2002 - Source: Amnesty International

Amnesty International: New Code of Criminal Procedure approved ("Annual Report 2002: Russia") [#7227],  [ID 11141]

"In November, the Duma (parliament) approved a new Code of Criminal Procedure which sanctioned the introduction of jury trials from January 2003 in all regional courts for trials involving serious offences such as murder and rape. A 1999 ruling by the Constitutional Court had banned the imposition of death sentences until the jury trial system had been introduced throughout the Federation; jury trials at the time were available in only nine of the Federation's 89 regions. Despite the President's outspoken opposition to the death penalty, the introduction of jury trials in regional courts raised questions of whether this moratorium on executions would continue."

Document(s): Open document
Open document

15.10.2001 - Source: UN Committee Against Torture

UN Committee against Torture: Introduction of a new Criminal Code and a new Code of Criminal Procedure ("Consideration of Reports submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention; Third periodic reports of States parties due in 1996; Addendum; Russian Federation [CAT/C/34/Add.15]") [#37537],  [ID 11140]

"3. The Committee notes the following positive developments:
(a) The ratification of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

(b) The introduction of a new Criminal Code and a new Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as the State party's assurances that all of the latter Code will enter into force on 1 July 2002. The Committee welcomes the introduction in the Code of Criminal Procedure, inter alia, jury trials, stricter limits on detention and interrogation, provisions for exclusion of evidence obtained in the absence of a defence lawyer, and the conferral authority of a judge rather than a procurator to order an arrest.

(c) Transfer of the penal correction system from the authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the authority of the Ministry of Justice;
[...]
(g) The setting up of a special working group within the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a mandate to bring national legislation into conformity with international refugee law
[...]
C. Factors and difficulties

4. The Committee appreciates the frank explanations provided by the delegation regarding the difficulties still faced by the State party in overcoming the inheritance of a system characterized by "arbitrariness and impunity" and in building and strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law. It notes that these challenges are compounded by "acts of terrorism" and threats to security. Nonetheless, the Committee reiterates that, in accordance with article 2 of the Convention, "no exceptional circumstance whatsoever ... may be invoked as a justification of torture".
[...]
6. The Committee also expresses its concern about the following:
(a) The failure to define torture in domestic law in conformity with article 1 of the Convention. The designation of torture as an aggravating circumstance for some enumerated crimes does not satisfy the requirements of articles 1 and 4 of the Convention"

Document(s): State report
Concluding observations of 6 June 2002 [CAT/C/CR/28/4]

24.05.1996 - Source:

Penal Code of the Russian Federation (in Russian) ("Ugolovnyi Kodeks Rossiiskoyi Federatsii") [ID 11139]

Document(s): Ugolovnyi Kodeks Rossiiskoyi Federatsii