Sklizkov, A.N. The principle of directness in the criminal judicial procedure: doctrine and legislation.

Abstract: In modern criminal proceedings, there is a lack of a clear concept regarding the principle of immediacy. On the one hand, this principle is not included in the list of principles of Chapter 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, and on the other hand, the rule set out in Article 240 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation on immediacy, as a general condition of judicial proceedings, is much broader in content than the method of examining evidence established by law only at this stage. Articles 276 and 281 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, although they retained the name similar to Articles 281, 286 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR, according to the norms contained in them, can hardly, as before, be interpreted by exceptions to the requirement of direct examination of evidence. However, it is in this sense that they are indicated in Article 240 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. Due to the fact that the content of the principle of immediacy has not been disclosed by the legislator (as it was done with respect to other principles of criminal proceedings in Chapter 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation), law enforcement practice has lost its orientation in the application of procedural norms…