The Right to a Fair Trial: Between Normative Doctrine and Practice in the Face of Global Challenges

Abstract

The article is devoted to studying the exercise of the right to a fair trial in the face of global challenges, namely, due to the impact of the situation related to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The main tendencies of implementing certain aspects of the right to a trial in criminal proceedings are analysed and determined, in particular, the access to justice, observance of reasonable terms of proceedings, independence and impartiality of the court, and quality of court decisions, their proper validity and legality. Based on the analysis of international acts, the legislation of Ukraine, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and the practice of the Supreme Court, the normative content, concepts and elements of the principle of the right to a fair trial are singled out. Also, the authors held a study of court statistics during the sample period (2017-2021) and analysed the state of justice according to specific indicators (the number of cases / materials and court decisions in criminal proceedings in local general courts, the number of pending criminal proceedings by local general courts, the number of applications challenging a judge, the reasons for the postponement of criminal proceedings and their percentage, the number of cases where court proceedings were carried out as a videoconference, the average number of cases and materials that were considered and had been considered per a judge, the average duration of trials in criminal proceedings (days), the number of court decisions on the consideration of issues on correction of typos, arithmetic errors in a court decision, clarification of the court decision, the number of persons in respect of whom the decision was canceled and changed due to the appeal procedure, the number of applications for review of court decisions based on newly discovered and exceptional circumstances).