REALIZATION OF THE RIGHT OF DEFENSE COUNSEL TO INTERVIEW PERSONS WITH THEIR CONSENT IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS: PROBLEMS AND WAYS OF IMPROVEMENT

Abstract

The article examines the right of defense counsel to interview persons with their consent in criminal proceedings in terms of analyzing the problems in the current legal regulation and the ways to overcome them. It is stated that in criminal proceedings, the achievement of its objectives is possible only with strict compliance with the requirements of the criminal procedural legislation of Ukraine and effective exercise of the relevant rights and powers by all participants to criminal proceedings, including defense counsel who is entrusted with the protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of a suspect or an accused person. By virtue of the mandatory requirements of the criminal procedural legislation of Ukraine, defense counsel, in order to ensure the observance of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of the suspect or accused and to clarify the necessary circumstances in criminal proceedings, is obliged to use all the remedies provided for, inter alia, by the Law of Ukraine “On the Bar and Practice of Law”. The right of the advocate to interview persons with their consent provided for by the Law of Ukraine “On the Bar and Practice of Law” is intended to act in criminal proceedings as a certain way of implementing such a general principle as ensuring the right to defense. The current CPC of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine “On the Bar and Practice of Law” do not define the procedure for the defense counsel to exercise the right to interview persons with their consent, as well as the form of recording the information obtained as a result of the interview, which indicates the formality of such a right. To overcome this problem, the author proposes to supplement the CPC of Ukraine with provisions on: 1) consolidation of the defense counsel’s right to interview persons with their consent, and also to record the course and results of such an interview using available technical means of video recording; 2) determination of the information provided orally or in writing during the interview by the defense counsel of persons with their consent as testimony; 3) introduction of the possibility to use as evidence in court the testimony obtained by the defense counsel by exercising the right to interview persons with their consent in criminal proceedings conducted under martial law.