Ruling of the Constitutional Court of 28 June 2012 № 1274-О on the complaint of the citizen A.A.Baikulov against the violation of his constitutional rights by paragraphs 2 and 3 of part 2 of Article 30 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation


Legal issue: whether there is a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed right of everyone to have his case heard in the court and by the judge within whose competence the case is placed by law, if a person is denied his right to jury trial on the ground that other persons accused within the same criminal case do not have the right to jury trial, so that with regard to them the case must be considered by a panel consisting of three professional judges of a federal court of general jurisdiction?

Ratio decidendi: the Court came to the conclusion that the present complaint does not require a final decision in the form of a judgment. As regards its subject matter, the Court pointed out that in the event when a just, full and objective solution of a criminal case may be impeded by detaching and considering within separate proceedings the cases of some accused who made a motion for jury trial, such criminal case must be heard with respect to all the accused by a panel of three judges of a federal court of general jurisdiction, which for these purposes shall constitute a lawful court for all the accused.


Dissenting opinion:
  • The right to jury trial is an individual, not a collective one, and the Constitution does not condition it upon other persons' rights and circumstances. The right to jury trial, when it is established by law, must not be lost merely for the sake of procedural economy or efficiency.

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Subject area:
Court Proceedings criminal procedure jury