Practice of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on the Protection of Personal Rights in Criminal Judicial Procedure

Abstract

The article deals with the analysis of the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in the sphere of protection of individual rights in criminal proceedings. It is substantiated that these rights are part of the system of fundamental constitutional values guaranteed by the Basic Law of Ukraine, the establishment and enforcement of which is the main duty of the state. These constitutional values are most threatened during a person’s investigation and trial, as well as in places of imprisonment. Understanding the content of these constitutional values, their fundamentality in the application of legislative provisions in criminal proceedings is the key to the effectiveness of the rule of law in this area and demonstrates the level of legal culture of society as a whole. The decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in the sphere of protection of individual rights in criminal proceedings have been analysed and it is determined that such decisions represent a significant share of decisions awarded by the Constitutional Court on protection of human rights and freedoms and address a wide range of criminal issues. Depending on the subject of consideration and the formulated legal positions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the following types of decisions of the national body of constitutional control in the sphere of protection of individual rights in criminal proceedings are identified: regarding the requirements for normative legal acts (type, content); on the right of a person to legal aid; on restricting a person’s right to liberty; on protection, including judicial, rights and freedoms of a person at various stages of criminal proceedings - from entering information about a criminal offense in the Unified Register of pre-trial investigations to sentencing in the case; on guaranteeing, affirming and ensuring by the state the right to life, health and dignity of a person in sentencing and imposition of punishment. It is concluded that the Constitutional Court of Ukraine protects the rights and freedoms of persons in criminal proceedings by making decisions, including on constitutional complaints, at the highest constitutional level. After the publication of the decisions of the Constitutional Court, the legal positions set out in them, being in normative unity with the provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine interpreted in the decisions, become direct regulators of public relations, including determining the content and scope of constitutional human and civil rights.