GUARANTEEING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACCESS TO JUSTICE PRINCIPLES FOR THE DEFENSE PARTY BY THE COURT

Abstract

The author has analyzed the issue of guaranteeing the implementation of the access to justice principle for the defense party by the court within the criminal proceedings of Ukraine. It has been indicated that this principle is a complex legal phenomenon, within the structure of which we should outline the organizational (some aspects of the judicial system’s functioning), procedural (creation of the appropriate procedures, simplifying the access to justice for individuals) and procedural and legal (the actual wording of the individual’s right) aspects, as well as the system of its guarantees. The right to access to justice for the defense party is one of the fundamental means of guaranteeing its rights, freedoms and legitimate interests within the criminal proceedings. It has been emphasized that international principles and standards in the sphere of criminal proceedings (in particular the principle of the access to justice) will make it possible to analyze the compliance of the domestic criminal procedural law with generally recognized norms and legal enforcement practices.

It has been noted that the institution of the access to justice requires a significant attention by national legislators, especially it concerns the specification and consolidation of the provisions for its content in the relevant norms (the Art. 21 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine) and taking steps to ensure individual’s procedural rights during criminal proceedings.

Special attention is paid to the fact that this right is closely associated with a number of other international standards in the sphere of criminal justice (the right to legal aid, reasonableness of the terms, etc.) and its proper guaranteeing by the court is an effective mean of protecting the rights and freedoms of a man and citizen.