Remote interrogation and confrontation: problems of practice and prospects

The article, based on the results of an empirical study conducted by the author, states the absence in the Russian Federation of a wide practice of remote interrogation and confrontation. The objective factor in the form of insufficient technical equipment of the preliminary investigation bodies is analyzed as the reason for this. A separate reason is the incompleteness of legal regulation, which excludes the indication in the law of an investigator who is obliged to establish the identity of a remotely participating person when applying the norms of Article 189.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, as well as the absence of legally regulated features of the investigator’s exercise of the authority to present material evidence, a document during remote interrogation and confrontation. It is indicated that such circumstances create the risk of incomplete provision of the procedural rights of an uncontrolled subject of the process, including for a reasonable period of criminal proceedings, a full and comprehensive investigation of the circumstances of the criminal case. In this regard, the author notes the need to allocate budgetary funds for sufficient technical support for the preliminary investigation bodies. There is also a proposal to improve the norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation in the part under consideration.