Abstract: The subject of the research is the process of establishing and developing the procedural status of the convict and suspect in Russian criminal proceedings. For this purpose, the author of the article focuses on key sources of criminal procedure law. The author describes four historical stages in the process of developing the procedural status of the aforesaid actors, the key stage being the period when The Statute of Criminal Procedure of 1864 and The Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of 1960 were issued which created the grounds for modern procedural position of the suspect and accused. In the course of his research Abazaliev mostly used the method of historical law analysis as well as general and special research methods. The main conclusion of the research is the author's statement that new priorities of the criminal procedure policy and development of the humanities that created the ground for adopting The Russian Federation Code of Criminal Procedure of 2001 extended the list and content of personal rights and responsibilities of the suspect and accused.