The fundamental principles of the criminal process in concluding a pre-trial cooperation agreement and transactions with justice on the example of the Russian Federation and the United States

The purpose of the study: The article examines one of the topical issues of criminal procedural activity—compliance with the fundamental principles of criminal procedure both when concluding a pre–trial cooperation agreement under the legislation of the Russian Federation and when concluding transactions with justice, plea bargaining under US law. This is necessary to determine their impact on improving the efficiency of the criminal process, or rather, the effectiveness of justice in general.

Results: The author identified groups of principles involved in the proceedings in cases with a concluded pre-trial cooperation agreement (on the example of the Russian Federation), as well as plea bargaining (on the example of the United States). The value of the principles lies in strict adherence to legal procedure. Attention is focused on the relationship between the implementation of the principles and the relevance of the analyzed procedures to simplified, alternative ways of considering criminal cases. The study made it possible to justify the permissible restriction of their use in criminal proceedings, as well as the impact on the effectiveness of justice in general. One of the conclusions is the achievement of not only quantitative, but also qualitative indicators of criminal procedural activity. For these purposes, it is proposed to strengthen the role of a lawyer when deciding on the conclusion of a pre-trial cooperation agreement.