Social aspects of Russian criminal proceedings

About the authors:

Natalia V. Sidorova, Cand. Sci. (Jur.), Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Academic Department of the School of Law and Management, University of Tyumen, Tyumen, Russia; n.v.sidorova@utmn.ru, https://orcid.org//0000-0002-4991-4036

Elena A. Khabarova, Cand. Sci. (Jur.), Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Academic Department of the School of Law and Management, University of Tyumen, Tyumen, Russia; e.a.khabarova@utmn.ru, https://orcid.org//0000-0002-6132-7352

Abstract:

In accordance with the constitutional provisions in the Russian Federation, there are five forms of legal proceedings: criminal, civil, administrative, constitutional, and arbitration. Any of them plays an important social role in general and is aimed at protecting the social rights of citizens, in particular. The peculiarity of Russian criminal justice is that it has always been predominantly public in nature, and Russian criminal procedure legislation, while regulating in detail the procedures for criminal prosecution, consideration, and resolution of criminal cases, practically did not contain norms aimed at ensuring social human rights. The present research is devoted to the study of the social facets of Russian criminal proceedings and attempts to prove that the Russian criminal process, having as its purpose the provision, first of all, of personal and some economic rights, does not lose its social purpose, which is expressed in the guarantees of social rights. The analysis of regulatory control in the field of criminal proceedings, as well as judicial practice on the application of criminal procedure legislation, reflected in the decisions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, allowed us to formulate conclusions that confirmed this hypothesis. These conclusions indicate that there are norms in Russian criminal procedure legislation that ensure the social rights of not only participants in criminal proceedings, but also other persons involved in the criminal proceedings. The legal norms that allow us to speak affirmatively about the implementation of the protection of social rights in criminal proceedings are contained in the criminal procedure institutions of rehabilitation, preventive measures, as well as in the institutions of special proceedings.

References:

Bekishieva, S. R. (2014). Evolution of the state’s social function. Herald of Dagestan State University. Series 3. Social Sciences, (2), 30–33. Retrieved November 10, 2025, from https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/evolyutsiya-sotsialnoy-funktsii-gosudarstva-1 [In Russian]

Zabralova, O. S. (2022). A social welfare state: A concept, essence and types. Actual Problems of Russian Law, 6(139). Retrieved November 10, 2025, from https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sotsialnoe-gosudarstvo-ponyatie-suschnost-i-vidy [In Russian]

Zamurueva, E. Yu. (2023). Economy of criminal procedural coercion in the choice of preventive measures. Scientific Bulletin of the Oryol Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia named after V. V. Lukyanov, 1(94), 144–152. [In Russian]

Lenin, V. I. (1968). Party organization and party literature. In V. I. Lenin, The Complete Works. Vol. 12 (pp. 99–105). Izd-vo politicheskoi literatury. [In Russian]

Meshcheryakova, A. F. (2021). The welfare state: Theoretical and legal aspects of formation and development. Science. Society. State, 3(35), 26–34. Retrieved November 10, 2025, from https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sotsialnoe-gosudarstvo-teoretiko-pravovye-aspekty-formirovaniya-i-razvitiya [In Russian]

Okhokhonin, E. M. (2009). Evolution of the state social function. Bulletin of South Ural State University. Series: Law, 28(161). Retrieved November 10, 2025, from https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/evolyutsiya-sotsialnoy-funktsii-gosudarstva [In Russian]

Petrov, D. M., Pirogova, E. N., & Shilikhin, A. S. (2024). Some features of the circumstances taken into account when choosing a preventive measure. Law and Management, (8), 233–236. [In Russian]

Rumyantseva, E. E. (2005). On the specification of the concepts of “Social sphere” and “Infrastructure industries”. Economic Analysis: Theory and Practice, (2), 8–11. Retrieved November 10, 2025, from https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/o-konkretizatsii-ponyatiy-sotsialnaya-sfera-i-infrastrukturnye-otrasli [In Russian]

Tolstikov, A. V. (2009). Social function of a modern state. Izvestia: Herzen University Journal of Humanities & Sciences, (97), 253–256. Retrieved November 10, 2025, from https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sotsialnaya-funktsiya-sovremennogo-gosudarstva [In Russian]