ЩОДО ПОНЯТТЯ ВИПРАВДАННЯ У КРИМІНАЛЬНОМУ ПРОЦЕСІ УКРАЇНИ.

The objective of criminal proceedings is to protect individuals, society, and the State from criminal offences, to safeguard the rights, freedoms, and legitimate interests of participants in criminal proceedings, and to ensure a prompt, comprehensive, and impartial investigation and trial. This ensures that every person who has committed a criminal offence is held accountable to the extent of their guilt, that no innocent person is accused or convicted, that no individual is subjected to unreasonable procedural coercion, and that each participant in criminal proceedings is treated with due diligence and fairness. In the context of this research, the legislative provision stipulating that «no innocent person shall be accused or convicted» holds particular significance. This provision mandates that, in any instance where a person’s innocence is established during a pre-trial investigation or court proceedings, due process of law must be observed, culminating in either the closure of criminal proceedings on rehabilitative grounds or an acquittal. The purpose of this article is to analyze the national legislation and doctrinal provisions of criminal procedure law concerning the concept of «acquittal» in criminal proceedings. Neither the current Criminal Procedural Code (CPC) of Ukraine nor any other legal act provides a definition of the concept of «acquittal». However, an analysis of the provisions of the CPC of Ukraine suggests that the legislator conceives of acquittal as (1) the result of the court’s determination of a person’s innocence, and (2) the formal recognition of that innocence in a court decision – an acquittal. Thus, «acquittal», in the legislative sense, is inextricably linked to a court’s acquittal decision and can only be rendered by a court. This article also examines various scholarly approaches to the understanding of «acquittal» in criminal proceedings. Based on the analysis of legislation and scholarly sources, the author formulates a definition of «acquittal» and posits that acquittal should be understood in a broader context, rather than being equated exclusively with a court’s acquittal decision. Since a person’s innocence can be established not only through an acquittal but also through other so-called «acquittal decisions», such as a decision to terminate criminal proceedings on rehabilitative grounds during the pre-trial investigation stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]