Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (2001, as amended 2012) (excerpts related to Fair Trial (Right to a)) (English)
CRIMINAL-PROCEDURAL CODE
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
NO. 174-FZ OF DECEMBER 18, 2001
(excerpts)
Article 6.1. Reasonable Time for Criminal Court Proceedings
See Federal Law No. 68-FZ of April 30, 2010 on the Compensation for Violating the Right to
Judicial Proceedings Within a Reasonable Time Term or the Right to the Execution of a Court
Act Within a Reasonable Time Term
Criminal court proceedings shall be carried out within a reasonable time.
2. Criminal court proceedings shall be carried out within the time periods fixed by this
Code. It shall be permissible to extend these time periods in the instances and in the procedure
which are provided for by this Code but criminal prosecution, infliction of punishment and
termination of criminal prosecution shall be effected within a reasonable time.
3. When fixing a reasonable time of court proceedings which is a time period from the
start of criminal prosecution to the termination of criminal prosecution or passing the judgment
of conviction, shall be taken into account such circumstances as the legal and factual
complexity of a criminal case, behavior criminal court proceedings' participants, sufficiency and
effectiveness of actions of court, prosecutor, head of an investigatory body, investigator, head of
an inquiry subdivision, inquiry body and inquirer, which are made with the aim of carrying out
criminal prosecution or trying a criminal case in due time and the total duration of criminal
proceedings.
4. The circumstances connected with organisation of functioning of the bodies of inquiry,
investigation, prosecutor's office and court, as well as trying of a criminal case by various
instances, may not be deemed grounds for exceeding a reasonable time for criminal court
proceedings.
5. If after a criminal case's coming to a court it has not been tried for a long time and
criminal proceedings drag on, the persons concerned shall be entitled to file an application with
the chairman of the court for speeding up the case's consideration.
6. An application for speeding up consideration of a criminal case shall be examined by
the chairman of the court within at most 5 days from the date when the application comes to the
court. On the basis of the results of the application's consideration the chairman of the court
shall issue a reasoned decision which may fix the time of holding the court session on the case
and/or other procedural actions may be made for speeding up the case's consideration.
Article 7. Legality in the Criminal Court Procedure
According to Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation No. 13-P of
June 29, 2004, recognized the first and the second parts of Article 7 of the present Code as
not contradicting the Constitution of the Russian Federation, inasmuch as the provisions,
contained in them - in accordance with their legal constitutional meaning in the system of the
currently operating legal regulation - do not imply the resolution of possible collisions between
the present Code and any other federal constitutional laws, and are spread only upon the
cases, when the provisions of the other federal laws, directly regulating the order of the
procedure on criminal cases, contradict the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian
Federation
1. The court, the prosecutor, the investigator, the body of inquiry and the inquirer shall
have no right to apply a federal law contradicting the present Code.
2. The court having established the non-correspondence of a federal law or of another
legal normative act to the present Code in the course of the criminal case shall take the decision
in conformity with the present Code.
3. Violation of the norms of the present Code by the court, by the prosecutor, by the body
of inquiry or by the inquirer in the course of the criminal court proceedings shall entail
recognizing the proof obtained in this way as being inadmissible.
4. The rulings of the court, the resolutions of the judge, of the prosecutor, the
investigator and the inquirer shall be lawful, substantiated and motivated.
Article 8. Administration of Justice by the Court Alone
1. Justice on a criminal case in the Russian Federation shall be administered only by the
court.
2. Nobody shall be recognized as guilty of committing a crime and subjected to a criminal
punishment other than under the court sentence and in accordance with the procedure,
established by the present Code.
3. The man on trial cannot be deprived of the right to the consideration of his criminal
case in that court and by that judge, under whose jurisdiction it is referred by the present Code.
Article 9. Respect of the Person's Honour and Dignity
1. During the course of criminal court proceedings shall be prohibited the performance of
actions and the adoption of decisions, degrading the honour of the participant in the criminal
court proceedings, and treatment humiliating his human dignity or creating a threat to his life or
health.
2. No one of the participants in criminal court proceedings shall be subjected to violence
or torture or to other kinds of cruel or humiliating treatment, degrading his human dignity.
Article 10. Immunity of the Person
1. No one can be detained on the suspicion of committing a crime or put under arrest in
the absence of the legal grounds for this, envisaged in the present Code. Pending the court
decision, no one can be detained for a term of over 48 hours.
2. The court, the prosecutor, the body of inquiry and the inquirer are obliged to
immediately relieve any person, who has been illegally detained or illegally deprived of freedom,
or illegally placed into a medical or psychiatric stationary hospital, or has been held in custody
over a time term in excess of that stipulated by the present Code.
3. The person, with respect to whom was selected the measure of restriction in the form
of being taken into custody, as well as the person detained on suspicion of committing a crime,
shall be maintained under conditions precluding a threat to his life and health.
Article 11. Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of Man and Citizen in Criminal Court
Proceedings
1. The court, the prosecutor, the investigator or the inquirer are obliged to explain to the
suspect, the accused, the victim, the civil claimant and the civil defendant, as well as to the
other participants in the criminal court proceedings their rights, responsibilities and liability, and
to guarantee the possibility of exercising these rights.
2. If persons possessing witness immunity consent to give evidence, the inquirer, the
investigator, the prosecutor and the court shall be obliged to warn the said persons that their
testimony may be used as the proof in the course of the further proceedings in criminal case.
3. If there is sufficient data, testifying to the fact that the victim, the witness or other
participants in the criminal court proceedings, as well as their close relatives, relations or their
near persons are threatened with murder, violence, destruction or damage of their property, or
with other dangerous illegal acts, the court, the prosecutor, the head of an investigatory body,
the investigator, the body of inquiry and the inquirer shall take within the scope of their
competence with respect to the said persons measures of security, stipulated by the ninth part
of Article 166, by the second part of Article 186, by the eighth part of Article 193, by Item 4
of the second part of Article 241 and by the fifth part of Article 278 of the present Code and
also other measures of security envisaged by the legislation of the Russian Federation.
4. The damage inflicted upon the person as a result of a violation of his rights and
freedoms by the court or by the officials conducting the criminal prosecution, shall be subject to
recompense on the grounds and in accordance with the procedure, established by the present
Code.
Article 12. Inviolability of Living Quarters
1. An examination of the living quarters shall be carried out only with the consent of the
persons residing in them, or on the grounds of a court decision, with the exception of cases,
stipulated in the fifth part of Article 165 of the present Code.
2. The search and the seizure in the living quarters may be performed on the ground of a
court decision, with the exception of cases, envisaged in the fifth part of Article 165 of this Code.
Article 13. Privacy of Correspondence, Telephone and Other Talks, of Postal, Telegraph
and Other Communications
1. Restriction of the citizen's right to privacy of correspondence, of the telephone and
other talks, of postal, telegraph and other communications shall be admissible only on the
ground of a court decision.
2. Putting under arrest postal and telegraph messages and their seizure at post offices,
the monitoring and recording of the telephone and other talks, receiving information on
connections between users and/or users' apparatuses may be carried out only on the grounds
of a court decision.
Article 14. Presumption of Innocence
1. The accused shall be regarded as non-guilty until his being guilty of committing the
crime is proved in accordance with the procedure, stipulated by the present Code, and is
established by court sentence, which has entered into legal force.
2. The suspect or the accused is not obliged to prove his innocence. The burden of
proving the charge and of refuting the arguments cited in defence of the suspect or of the
accused, shall lie with the party of the prosecution.
3. All doubts concerning the guilt of the accused, which cannot be eliminated in
accordance with the procedure established by the present Code, shall be interpreted in favour
of the accused.
4. The verdict of guilty cannot be based on suppositions.
Article 15. Parties' Adversarial Nature
1. The criminal court procedure shall be conducted on the basis of the adversarial nature
of the parties.
According to Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation No. 13-P of
June 29, 2004, recognized the second part of Article 15 of the present Code as not
contradicting the Constitution of the Russian Federation, since in accordance with their legal
constitutional meaning in the system of norms of the criminal procedural legislation the
provisions, contained in it, as not presupposing a restriction of the operation of the
constitutional principle of competitiveness, do not relieve the official persons of the state
bodies, who are participants in a criminal court procedure on the side of the prosecution, from
the discharge of the constitutional duty, involved in protecting the rights and freedoms of man
and citizen, including from an illegal and an unsubstantiated accusation, conviction or another
restriction of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen in the investigation of crimes and in
the criminal court proceedings on criminal cases
2. The functions of the accusation, of the defence and of the resolution of a criminal case
are set apart from one another and cannot be imposed upon one and the same body or upon
one and the same person.
3. The court shall not be seen as a body of criminal prosecution, it shall not come out
either on the side of the prosecution or on the side of the defence. The court shall create the
necessary conditions for the parties to discharge their procedural duties and to exercise the
rights, granted to them.
4. The parties of the prosecution and of the defence shall enjoy equal rights before the
court.
Article 16. Guaranteeing the Right to the Defence for the Suspect and for the Accused
1. For the suspect and for the accused shall be guaranteed the right to defence, which
they may exercise themselves or with the assistance of a counsel for the defence and/or of their
legal representative.
2. The court, the prosecutor, the investigator and the inquirer shall explain to the suspect
and to the accused their rights, and shall guarantee to them the possibility to defend themselves
while resorting to all ways and means, not prohibited by the present Code.
3. In the cases stipulated by the present Code, obligatory participation of a counsel for
the defence and/or of the legal representative of the suspect and of the accused shall be
provided for by the officials, conducting the proceedings on the criminal case.
4. In cases stipulated by the present Code and by other federal laws, the suspect and the
accused may make use of the advice of a counsel for the defence free of charge.
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.
Article 18. Language of the Criminal Court Proceedings
1. The criminal court proceedings shall be conducted in the Russian language, as well as
in the state languages of the Republics - the members of the Russian Federation. The
proceedings on criminal cases in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and military
courts shall be conducted in the Russian language.
2. To participants in criminal court proceedings who have no command or just a poor
command of the language in which the proceedings on the criminal case are conducted, shall
be explained and guaranteed the right to make statements, to give explanations and testimony,
to lodge petitions and complaints, to get acquainted with the materials of the criminal case and
to take the floor in the court using their native tongue or another language, of which they have a
good command, and to make use free of charge of interpreter's services in accordance with the
procedure, established by the present Code.
3. If, in conformity with the present Code, the investigation and the trial documents are
subject to obligatory presentation to the suspect and to the accused, as well as to the other
participants in the criminal court proceedings, said documents shall be translated into the native
tongue of the corresponding participant in the criminal court proceedings or into the language of
which he has a good command.
Article 19. Right to File Appeals Against Procedural Actions and Decisions
1. The actions (the lack of action) and decisions of the court, of the prosecutor, of the
head of an investigatory body, of the investigator, of the body of inquiry and of the inquirer may
be appealed against in accordance with the procedure, established by the present Code.
Federal Law No. 433-FZ of December 29, 2010 amended part two of Article 19 of this
Code. The amendments shall enter into force from January 1, 2013
2. Every one convict shall have the right to the revision of the sentence by a higher
placed court in accordance with the procedure, established by Chapters 43-45, 48 and 49 of
the present Code.
[...]
Chapter 7. Participants in the Criminal Court Proceedings
on the Side of the Defence
Article 46. The Suspect
1. Seen as the suspect shall be the person,
1) with respect to whom a criminal case is instituted on the grounds and in accordance
with the procedure, established by Chapter 20 of the present Code;
2) who is detained in conformity with Articles 91 and 92 of the present Code;
3) with respect to whom a measure of restriction was applied before bringing the charge
in conformity with Article 100 of the present Code;
4) or who has been notified about being suspected of committing a crime in the
procedure established by Article 223.1 of this Code.
2. The suspect detained in the procedure established by Article 91 of this Code has to
be interrogated within 24 hours, as of the time of his actual detention.
3. In the case, stipulated by Item 2 of the first part of the present Article, the investigator
or the inquirer shall be obliged to notify to this effect the close relatives or the relations of the
suspect in conformity with Article 96 of the present Code.
4. The suspect shall have the right:
1) to know of what he is suspected, and to get a copy of the ruling on the institution of a
criminal case against him, or a copy of the custody report, or a copy of the ruling on the
application towards him the measure of restriction;
2) to give explanations and evidence concerning the suspicion moved against him or to
refuse giving the explanations and the evidence. If the suspect agrees to give evidence, he/she
has to be warned that his/her evidence may be used as proof in a criminal case, and likewise in
the event of his/her subsequent denial of this evidence, save for the instance provided for by
Item 1 of Part Two of Article 75 of this Code;
3) to avail himself of the advice of the counsel for the defence from the moment
stipulated by Items 2-3.1 of the third part of Article 49 of the present Code, and to have a
private and confidential visit from him before the suspect's first interrogation;
4) to furnish proof;
5) to enter petitions and to file recusations;
6) to give the evidence and the explanations in his native tongue or in the language, of
which he has a good command;
7) to make use of an interpreter's services free of charge;
8) to get acquainted with the protocols of investigative actions carried out with his
participation and to submit comments on them;
9) to take part with the permission of the investigator or of the inquirer, in the investigative
actions carried out at his own petition, at the petition of his counsel for the defence, or of his
legal representative;
10) to lodge complaints against the actions (the lack of action) and decisions of the court,
of the prosecutor, of the investigator or of the inquirer;
11) to defend himself using the other means and ways, not prohibited by the present
Code.
See the reference on changes of Article 46 of the Criminal-Procedural Code
Article 47. The Accused
1. Recognized as the accused shall be the person, with respect to whom:
1) a ruling is passed on bringing him to trial in the capacity of the accused;
2) a bill of indictment is passed;
2. The accused, on whose criminal case are appointed the court proceedings, is called
the defendant. The accused, with respect to whom a verdict of guilty is passed, is called the
convict. The accused, with respect to whom the verdict of not guilty is passed, shall be seen as
having been acquitted.
3. The accused shall have the right to defend his rights and lawful interests and to have
enough time, as well as an opportunity, to prepare for the defence.
4. The accused shall have the right:
1) to know with what he is charged;
2) to receive a copy of the ruling on bringing him to trial in the capacity of the defendant,
a copy of the ruling on applying towards him the measure of restriction, a copy of the conclusion
of guilt or of the bill of indictment;
3) to object to the accusation, to give evidence on the charge brought against him, or to
refuse to supply evidence. If the suspect agrees to give evidence, he/she has to be warned that
his evidence may be used as proof in a criminal case, and likewise in the event of his/her
subsequent denial of this evidence, save for the instance provided for by Item 1 of Part Two of
Article 75 of this Code;
4) to furnish proof;
5) to enter petitions and to file recusations;
6) to bear evidence and to express himself in his native tongue or in a language, of which
he has a good command;
7) to make use of an interpreter's services free of charge;
8) to resort to the assistance of the counsel for the defence, including free of charge in
the cases, stipulated by the present Code;
9) to have private and confidential visits from the counsel for the defence, including ones
prior to the first interrogation of the accused, without restriction of their number and duration;
10) to take part with the permission of the investigator in investigative actions, carried out
at his own petition or at the petition of his counsel for the defence or of his legal representative,
to get acquainted with the protocols of these actions and to submit comments on them;
11) to get acquainted with the ruling on the appointment of the court examination, to put
questions to the expert and to get acquainted with the expert's conclusion;
12) after the preliminary investigation is completed, to get acquainted with all materials of
the criminal case and to write out of the criminal case any information and in any volume;
13) to make copies of the criminal case materials at his own expense, including with the
use of technical devices;
14) to lodge complaints against the actions (the lack of action) and decisions of the
inquirer, of the investigator, of the prosecutor or of the court, and to take part in their
examination by the court;
15) to object to the termination of the criminal case on the grounds, stipulated by the
second part of Article 27 of the present Code;
Federal Law No. 433-FZ of December 29, 2010 amended Item 16 of part four of Article
47 of this Code. The amendments shall enter into force from January 1, 2013
16) to participate in the legal proceedings on the criminal case in the courts of the first,
the second and the appeals instance, as well as in the examination by the court of the issue of
selecting with respect to him a measure of restriction and in the other cases, mentioned in
Items from 1 to 3 and 10 of Part Two of Article 29 of this Code;
17) to get acquainted with the protocol of the court session and to submit comments on it;
18) to file an appeal against the sentence, the ruling or the resolution of the court and to
receive the copies of the decisions he appeals against;
19) to receive the copies of the complaints and the presentations, lodged on the criminal
case, and to file objections to these complaints and presentations;
20) to take part in the examination of the questions, involved in the execution of the
sentence;
21) to defend himself while resorting to the other means and ways, not prohibited by the
present Code.
5. Participation in the criminal case of the counsel for the defence or of the legal
representative of the accused shall not serve as a ground for restricting any one right of the
accused.
6. At the first interrogation of the accused, the inquirer shall explain to him his rights,
stipulated by the present Article. At the subsequent interrogations, to the accused shall be once
again explained his rights, stipulated by Items 3, 4, 7 and 8 of the fourth part of the present
Article, if the interrogation is conducted without the participation of the counsel for the defence.
Article 48. Legal Representatives of an Under age Suspect and Accused
In the criminal cases for crimes committed by the under age, their legal representatives
shall be involved into an obligatory participation in the criminal case in accordance with the
procedure established by Articles 426 and 428 of the present Code.
Article 49. The Counsel for the Defence
1. Seen as the counsel for the defence shall be the person, carrying out the defence of
the rights and the interests of the suspects and of the accused in conformity with the procedure,
established by the present Code, and rendering to them legal advice during the court
proceedings on the criminal case.
2. Admitted to coming out as counsels for the defence shall be lawyers. Under the ruling
or decision of the court, admitted in the capacity of the counsel for the defence may also be,
alongside the lawyer, one of the close relatives of the accused, or another person for whose
admittance the accused has applied. If the proceedings are carried out by a justice of the
peace, the said person may also be admitted instead of the lawyer.
3. The counsel for the defence takes part in the criminal case:
1) as from the moment when a ruling is passed on bringing the person to trial in the
capacity of the defendant, with the exception of the cases stipulated by Items 2-5 of the present
part;
2) from the time when a criminal case was opened in respect of a specific person;
3) as from the moment of the actual detention of the person suspected of committing a
crime, in the cases:
a) stipulated by Articles 91 and 92 of the present Code;
b) of application towards him, in accordance with Article 100 of the present Code, of the
measure of restriction in the form of taking into custody;
3.1) from the moment of serving a notification about being suspected of committing a
crime in the procedure established by Article 223.1 of this Code;
4) as from the moment of the announcement to the person, suspected of committing a
crime of the ruling on the appointment of the court-psychiatric examination;
5) as from the moment of the start of the other measures of the procedural coercion or of
other procedural actions, infringing upon the rights and freedoms of the person suspected of
committing a crime.
4. A lawyer shall be admitted to the participation in a criminal case in the capacity of the
counsel for the defence upon the presentation of the lawyer's identification card and of the
warrant.
5. If the counsel for the defence participates in the court proceedings on a criminal case,
in the materials of which is contained some information comprising a state secret, while having
no corresponding access to the said information, he shall be obliged to give a written
recognizance not to divulge it.
6. One and the same person cannot act as the counsel for the defence for two suspects
or accused, if the interests of one of them contradict the interests of the other.
7. The lawyer shall have no right to refuse from the assumed defence of the suspect and
of the accused.
Article 50. Invitation, Appointment and Replacement of the Counsel for the Defence, and
the Remuneration of His Labour
1. The counsel for the defence shall be invited by the suspect or by the accused, by his
legal representative, or by the other persons on the orders or with the consent of the suspect or
of the accused. The suspect or the accused shall have the right to invite several counsels for
the defence.
2. At the request of the suspect and of the accused, the participation of the counsel for
the defence shall be provided for by the inquirer, by the investigator or by the court.
3. If the invited counsel for the defence fails to appear in the course of five days from the
day of entering an application for inviting the counsel for the defence, the inquirer, the
investigator or the court shall have the right to suggest that the suspect or the accused shall
invite another counsel for the defence, and if he refuses to do so, to take measures for an
appointment of the counsel for the defence. If the counsel for the defence involved in the
criminal case, cannot take part in the proceedings on the concrete procedural action in the
course of five days, while the suspect or the accused does not invite another counsel for the
defence and does not lodge a petition on an appointment of such, the inquirer or the
investigator shall have the right to carry out the given procedural action without the participation
of the counsel for the defence, with the exception of the cases stipulated by Items 2-7 of the
first part of Article 51 of the present Code.
4. If in the course of 24 hours from the moment of detention of the suspect or of taking
the suspect or the accused into custody the counsel for the defence, invited by him, is unable to
come, the inquirer or the investigator shall take measures for an appointment of the counsel for
the defence. If the suspect or the accused rejects the appointed counsel for the defence, the
investigative actions with the participation of the suspect or of the accused can be carried out
without the participation of the counsel for the defence, with the exception of the cases,
stipulated by Items 2-7 of the first part of Article 51 of the present Code.
5. If the lawyer takes part in conducting the preliminary investigation or in the court
proceedings in accordance with the appointment by the inquirer or by the investigator, or by the
court, the outlays on the remuneration of his labour shall be compensated from the funds of the
federal budget.
Article 51. Obligatory Participation of the Counsel for the Defence
1. Participation of the counsel for the defence in the criminal court proceedings shall be
obligatory, if:
1) the suspect or the accused has not refused from the counsel for the defence in the
order established by Article 52 of the present Code;
2) the suspect or the accused is a minor;
3) the suspect or the accused cannot exercise his right to the defence on his own
because of his physical or psychological defects;
3.1) the hearing shall be conducted in the procedure envisaged by Part 5 of Article 247
of the present Code;
4) the suspect or the accused does not have a good command of the language in which
the proceedings on the criminal case are conducted;
5) the person is accused of committing a crime for which may be meted out a punishment
in the form of deprivation of freedom for a term of over fifteen years, of life imprisonment or of
capital punishment;
6) the criminal case is subject to consideration by a court with the participation of jurors;
7) the accused has entered a petition for the examination of the criminal case in
accordance with the procedure, established by Chapter 40 of the present Code.
2. In the cases stipulated by Items 1-5 of the first part of the present Article, the
participation of the counsel for the defence shall be provided for in the procedure, laid down by
the third part of Article 49 of the present Code, and in the cases stipulated by Items 6 and 7 of
the first part of the present Article - as from the moment of entering a petition for the
consideration of the criminal case by the court with the participation of jurors, or a petition for the
examination of the criminal case in accordance with the procedure, established by Chapter 40
of the present Code, if only by a single one of the accused.
3. If in the cases, stipulated by the first part of the present Article, the counsel for the
defence is not invited by the suspect or by the accused himself, or by his legal representative, or
by the other persons on the orders of or with the consent of the suspect or of the accused, the
inquirer, the investigator or the court shall provide for the participation of the counsel for the
defence in the criminal court proceedings.
Article 52. Refusal from the Counsel for the Defence
1. The suspect or the accused shall have the right to refuse from the services of the
counsel for the defence at any moment of the proceedings on the criminal case. Such refusal
shall be admissible only at the initiative of the suspect or of the accused. Refusal to have a
counsel for defence shall be made in writing. If a refusal to have a counsel for defence is
announced during an investigative action, an annotation to this effect shall be entered in the
minutes of such investigative action.
2. The waiver the counsel for the defence is not obligatory for the inquirer, the
investigator and for the court.
3. Refusal from the counsel for the defence shall not deprive the suspect or the accused
of the right subsequently to apply for the admittance of the counsel for the defence to the
participation in the proceedings on the criminal case. Admittance of the counsel for the defence
shall not entail a repetition of the procedural actions, which have already been carried out by
this moment.
Article 53. Powers of the Counsel for the Defence
1. Right from the moment of being admitted to the participation in the criminal case, the
counsel for the defence shall have the right:
1) to pay visits to the suspect or to the accused in conformity with Item 3 of the fourth
part of Article 46 and with Item 9 of the fourth part of Article 47 of the present Code;
2) to collect and to present the proof, necessary for rendering legal advice, in accordance
with the procedure, established by the third part of Article 86 of the present Code;
3) to involve a specialist in conformity with Article 58 of the present Code;
4) to be present when the accusation is brought;
5) to take part in the interrogation of the suspect or of the accused, as well as in the other
investigative actions, performed with the participation of the suspect or of the accused, or at the
latter's petition or at the petition of the counsel for the defence himself, in accordance with the
procedure established by the present Code;
6) to get acquainted with the report on the detention, with the ruling on the application of
a measure of restriction and with the protocols of investigative actions, carried out with the
participation of the suspect or of the accused, as well as with the other documents that have
been presented or should have been presented to the suspect or the accused;
7) after the completion of the preliminary investigation, to get acquainted with all the
materials of the criminal case, to write out from the criminal case any information in any volume
and to make the copies of the criminal case materials at his own expense, including with the use
of technical devices;
8) to enter petitions and to file recusations;
Federal Law No. 433-FZ of December 29, 2010 amended Item 9 of part one of Article
53 of this Code. The amendments shall enter into force from January 1, 2013
9) to take part in the judicial proceedings on the criminal case in the courts of the first and
the second instances and in the supervisory agency, as well in the examination of the issues,
involved in the execution of the sentence;
10) to lodge complaints against the actions (the lack of action) and decisions of the
inquirer, the investigator or the prosecutor, or of the court, and to take part in the consideration
thereof by the court;
11) to make use of other means and ways of defence not prohibited by the present Code.
2. The defence council participating in the commission of an investigative action shall be
entitled, within the framework of rendering legal aid to his/her defendant, to consult him briefly in
the presence of the investigator, to pose questions to persons under interrogation by authority
of the investigator, to make remarks in writing as to the correctness and completeness of entries
made in the record of a given investigative action. The investigator may reject the defence
counsel's questions but shall be obliged to enter rejected questions in the record.
3. The counsel for the defence shall have no right to divulge the data of the preliminary
investigation about which he has learned in connection with the performance of the defence, if
he was warned to this effect in advance in accordance with the procedure, established by
Article 161 of the present Code. The counsel for the defence shall be held responsible for the
divulgence of the data of the preliminary investigation in conformity with Article 310 of the
Criminal Code of theRussian Federation.
[...]