Issues of Protection of the Rights of Citizens in Criminal Cases of Private Prosecution at the Stage of Initiation of Criminal Proceedings

The article is devoted to the implementation of the rights of citizens in criminal cases of private prosecution at the stage of initiation of a criminal case. Based on the analysis of the norms of Arti- cles 318, 319 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, attention is drawn to the problems that arise when initiating criminal cases of private prosecution. It is noted that the procedure for initiating a criminal case of private prosecution has been generally developed, but at the same time needs further improvement. The content of the application for the initiation of a criminal case, the procedure for filing it and determining jurisdiction are sufficiently regulated by the criminal procedure law of the Russian Federation, which refers to guarantees of personal rights both in relation to the victim (private prosecutor) and the person accused of committing a crime in a private prosecution case. The article contains an analysis of the procedural procedure for initiating a criminal case by the body of inquiry and the justice of the peace and the conclusion that the justice of the peace (judge of the district (city) court) is in any case obliged to accept the statement of the victim (private prosecutor) in the case of a private prosecution and verify it only in the form of a statement. It is from the moment when the judge makes a decision to accept the application for production that the criminal case of a private prosecution should be considered initiated, while the body of inquiry has the right to make a decision on the initiation of a criminal case, having assessed the sufficiency of the grounds. According to the author, all legal procedural mechanisms in cases of private prosecution have been created by the legislator and are currently being applied by magistrates (district (city) courts).