On Significant Violations of the Law that Influenced the Outcome of the Case

Abstract

The paper examines debatable issues of content when considering in cassation proceedings caused by incorrect application of significant violations of the criminal law and significant violations of the criminal procedural law that influenced the outcome of the case. The types of violations of criminal and criminal procedural laws that are recognized by the courts as significant and influencing the outcome of the criminal case are shown. It is substantiated that the grounds established in the law for the court of cassation for canceling and changing a sentence that has entered into legal force do not contain any uncertainty and are interpreted uniformly by courts of general jurisdiction. Identifying significant violations of the criminal and criminal procedural law that influenced the outcome of the case, the cassation court is obliged to check if lower courts comply with the requirements of the criminal procedural law on establishing the factual circumstances of the criminal case, the requirements of the procedural form, the correct application of the criminal law when qualifying the actions of the defendant, the requirements of the criminal the law on the fairness of the imposed punishment, the correctness of resolving issues of compensation for damage caused by a crime, the correctness of determining the type and amount of punishment, the type and regime of a correctional institution, fulfillment of the requirements for a court decision, etc. It is concluded that checking the legality of a sentence or other court decision involves checking its validity, motivation and fairness, without which it is impossible to determine the correct application of criminal and criminal procedural law by the courts.