Ufa, Russian Federation
UDC 343.123.51
The article provides a comprehensive analysis of testimony as a type of evidence in a Russian criminal trial. Based on the study of modern scientific works, the evolution of the accused’s admission of guilt is investigated from the “queen of evidence” of the inquisition process to an element of the evidence system in the adversarial model. Particular attention is paid to the problem of ensuring the reliability and voluntariness of testimony obtained during the preliminary investigation, and the inadmissibility of abuse by law enforcement officers. The author considers critical proposals for reforming the institution of admission of guilt, including the idea of reclassifying testimony with a confession of guilt into information. Related institutions are analyzed, such as the deposition of evidence, the features of the interrogation of persons with cognitive characteristics, as well as the differentiation of the processes of collecting and examining evidence. The work proves that modern challenges, including digitalization and the need to protect individual rights, require further development of evidentiary law in the direction of strengthening guarantees of the reliability of testimony and procedural mechanisms for their verification.
testimony, evidence, confession of guilt, accused, witness, reliability, admissibility, adversarial, interrogation, deposition of evidence, lawyer investigation
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