Part One. General Provisions

Section I. Basic Provisions

Chapter 2. Principles of the Criminal Court Proceedings

Article 17. Freedom in the Assessment of Proof

1. The judge, the jurors, as well as the prosecutor, the investigator and the inquirer, shall assess the proof in accordance with their inner conviction, based on the aggregate of the proof presented in the given criminal case, and shall rely in doing this on the law and on their conscience.

2. No proof shall be regarded as possessing force established in advance .

Part One. General Provisions

Section III. Proof and Proving

Chapter 10. Proof in the Criminal Court Proceedings

Article 74. Proof

1. Seen as the proof on the criminal case shall be all the information, on the ground of which the court, the prosecutor, the investigator and the inquirer, in accordance with the procedure defined by the present Code, establish the existence or the absence of the circumstances, subject to proving in the course of the proceedings on the criminal case, as well as of the other circumstances of importance for the criminal case.

2. Admissible as the proof shall be:
• 1) the evidence given by the suspect and by the accused;
2) the evidence borne by the victim and by the witness;
3) the conclusion and the testimony of the expert; 3.1) the conclusion and testimony of a specialist;
4) demonstrative proof;
5) records of the investigative and the judicial actions;
6) other documents.


Article 75. Inadmissible Proof

1. The proof, obtained with a violation of the demands of the present Code, shall be qualified as inadmissible. Inadmissible proof are deprived of legal force and cannot serve as a basis for the accusation or be used for proving any one of the circumstances, listed in Article 73 of the present Code.

2. Referred as inadmissible proof shall be:
• 1) evidence given by the suspect and by the accused in the course of the pre-trial proceedings on the criminal case in the absence of the counsel for the defence, including the cases of the refusal from counsel for the defence, and not confirmed by the suspect and by the accused in the court;
2) the evidence of the victim and of the witness, based on a surmise, a supposition or hearsay, as well as the testimony of the witness, who cannot indicate the source of his knowledge;
3) the other proof, obtained with a violation of the demands of the present Code.


Article 76. Evidence of the Suspect

Seen as the evidence of the suspect shall be the information he has provided at the interrogation, conducted in the course of the pre-trial proceedings in conformity with the demands of Articles 187-190 of the present Code.


Article 77. Evidence of the Accused

1. Seen as the evidence of the accused shall be the information he has supplied at an interrogation, conducted in the course of the pre-trial proceedings on the criminal case or in the court in conformity with the demands of Articles 173, 174, 187-190 and 275 of the present Code.

2. Admission by the accused of his guilt in committing the crime can serve as the foundation for the charge only if his guilt is confirmed by the aggregate of the proof, existing on the criminal case.


Article 78. Evidence of the Victim

1. Seen as evidence of the victim shall be the information he has supplied at an interrogation, conducted in the course of the pre-trial proceedings on the criminal case or in court in conformity with the demands of Articles 187-191 and 277 of the present Code.

2. The victim may be interrogated about any kind of circumstances subject to being proved during the proceedings on the criminal case, including about his relationships with the suspect or with the accused.


Article 79. Evidence of the Witness

1. Seen as the evidence of the witness shall be the information he has supplied at an interrogation, conducted in the course of the pre-trial proceedings on the criminal case or in the court in conformity with the demands of Articles 187-191 and 278 of the present Code.

2. The witness may be interrogated about any kind of the circumstances that have a bearing on the criminal case, including about the personality of the accused and of the victim, as well as about his relationships with them and other witnesses.


Article 80. Conclusion and Evidence of the Expert and Specialist

1. Seen as the conclusion of the expert shall be the content of his investigation and his conclusions on the questions put to him by the person, conducting the proceedings on the criminal case, or by the parties, presented by him in writing.

2. Seen as the evidence of the expert shall be the information he has supplied at an interrogation, carried out after receiving his conclusion, for the clarification or the specification of the given conclusion in conformity with the demands of Articles 205 and 282 of the present Code.

3. The conclusion of a specialist - a written opinion in respect of the questions posed to specialists by the parties.

4. The evidence of a specialist - data imparted by him/her during an interrogation on circumstances which require special knowledge, as well as the clarification of his/her opinion in compliance with the requirements of Article 53, 168 and 271 of this Code.

Article 81. Demonstrative Proof

1. Recognized as demonstrative proof shall be any objects:
• 1) which have served as instruments of crime or have retained on themselves the prints of the crime;
2) at which the criminal actions were aimed;
2.1) property, money and other valuables gained as a result of criminal actions or acquired in a criminal way;
3) the other objects and documents which can serve as the means for the exposure of the crime and for the establishment of the circumstances of the criminal case.

2. The objects mentioned in the first part of the present Article, shall be examined, identified as demonstrative proof and enclosed to the criminal case, on which the corresponding resolution shall be passed. The procedure for the storage of demonstrative proof is established by the present Article and by Article 82 of this Code.

3. When passing the sentence, as well as the ruling or the resolution on the termination of the criminal case, the issue of demonstrative proof shall also be resolved. In doing this:
• 1) the instruments of the crime, belonging to the accused, shall be subject to confiscation, or shall be handed over to the corresponding institutions or shall be destroyed;
2) objects prohibited for the use shall be handed over to the corresponding institutions or destroyed;
3) objects of no value and not claimed back by the party, shall be destroyed and if the interested persons or institutions lodge an application. They may be handed over to them;
4) property, money and other valuables gained as a result of criminal actions or acquired in a criminal way shall be returnable on the basis of a sentence passed by a court of law to their rightful owner or appropriated by the State in the procedure established by the Government of the Russian Federation;
5) documents which are demonstrative proof shall be kept in the criminal case materials in the course of the entire term of the latter's storage, or shall be handed over to the interested persons upon their application;
6) the rest of the objects shall be handed over to their lawful owners, and if the latter are not identified, they shall be passed into the ownership of the state. Disputes on the ownership of demonstrative proof shall be resolved by the civil court proceedings.

4. Objects seized in the course of the pre-trial proceedings but not recognized as demonstrative proof, shall be returned to the persons, from whom they were seized .

Part One. General Provisions

Section III. Proof and Proving

Chapter 10. Proof in the Criminal Court Proceedings

Article 83. Reports on the Investigative Actions and Protocols of the Court Session

The reports on the investigative actions and the protocols of the court sessions shall be seen as admissible as proof, if they satisfy the demands, established by the present Code.

Article 84. Other Documents

1. Other documents shall be admitted as proof if the information supplied in them is of importance for the establishment of the circumstances, pointed out in Article 73 of the present Code.

2. The documents may contain information, reflected both in writing and in another form. Here may belong the materials of photography and cinema shooting, the audio and video recordings and the other carriers of information, obtained, demanded or presented in the order established by
Article 86 of the present Code.

3. The documents shall be enclosed to the criminal case materials and shall be kept over the entire term of its storage. Upon the application of their lawful owner, the documents, seized and enclosed to the criminal case, or their copies may be handed over to him.

4. The documents, bearing the signs, mentioned in the first part of Article 81 of the present Code, shall be recognized as demonstrative proof .

Part One. General Provisions

Section III. Proof and Proving

Chapter 11. Proving

Article 85. Proving

The proving shall consist of the collection, verification and estimation of proof for the purpose of establishing the circumstances, envisaged in Article 73 of the present Code.


Article 86. Collection of Proof

1. Proof shall be collected in the course of the criminal court proceedings by the inquirer,
the investigator, the prosecutor and the court through the performance of the investigative
and of the other procedural actions, stipulated by the present Code.

2. The suspect or the accused, as well as the victim, the civil claimant, the civil defendant and their representatives shall have the right to collect and submit the written documents and the objects for enclosing them to the criminal case as proof.

3. The counsel for the defence shall have the right to collect proof by way of:
1) obtaining the objects, documents and other information;
2) questioning the persons with their consent;
3) demanding the reference notes, characteristics and other documents from the state power bodies, from the local self-government bodies and from the public associations and organizations, which are obliged to supply the requested documents or the copies thereof.


Article 87. Checking the Proof

The proof shall be checked by the inquirer, by the investigator, by the prosecutor and by the court by comparing them with the other proof kept in the criminal case, as well as by establishing their sources and by obtaining other proof, confirming or repudiating the proof under the check-up.


Article 88. Rules for the Assessment of Proof

1. Every proof shall be assessed from the point of view of its referability, admissibility and authenticity, and all collected proof in the aggregate - of their sufficiency for the resolution of the criminal case.

2. In the cases, mentioned in the second part of Article 75 of the present Code, the court, the prosecutor, the investigator and the inquirer shall recognize the proof as inadmissible.

3. The prosecutor, the investigator and the inquirer shall have the right to recognize a proof to be inadmissible upon the application from the suspect or the accused, or at their own initiative. The proof recognized as inadmissible shall not be included into the conclusion of guilt or into the bill of indictment.

4. The court shall have the right to recognize a proof as inadmissible upon the parties' application or at its own initiative in accordance with the procedure, established by Articles 234 and 235 of the present Code.


Article 89. Using Results of the Operational-Search Activity in Proving

It shall be prohibited in the course of proving to make use of the results of the operational-search activity, if they do not satisfy the demands, made on the proof by the present Code.


Article 90. Prejudice

The circumstances, established by the sentence which has come into legal force, shall be recognized by the court, by the prosecutor, by the investigator and by the inquirer without an additional verification, unless these circumstances raise the court's doubts. Such sentence, however, cannot prejudge the guilt of the persons, who have not taken part in the criminal case under consideration earlier .