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The right to protection of minors suspects and accused persons in the criminal procedure legislation of the Russian Federation
The relevance of the study is due to the problem of the alienation of criminal procedural regulation from the social and legal realities that determine the specifics of the realization of the right to defense of a minor who is being prosecuted. The right to defense, as the norm and principle and legal priority for the defense, permeates all criminal proceedings. In this regard, this article is aimed at determining the content of the right to defense of a minor suspect or accused, identifying some significant shortcomings of criminal procedural regulation from the standpoint of their elimination and proposing corrective measures of normative nature. The leading approach to the study of this problem is the analysis of scientific, legal and empirical materials that make it possible to comprehensively consider the normative and law enforcement potential of criminal procedural legislation in terms of comprehensive, full regulation of the right to defense of minors in criminal proceedings. The article contains the author's definitions of the right to defense, describes the procedural model for the protection of minor suspects and accused, reveals the main procedural differences in the provision and implementation of the right to the defense of minors; defines the procedure for clarifying the rights of minors granted by law, justifies the purpose of the criminal proceedings against minors. The materials of the article are of practical value for the establishment and application of the norms of the criminal procedural legislation in the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of criminally prosecuted persons of a minor age, regardless of their status. The present paper is part of the dissertation research devoted to the substantiation of new, socially-oriented provisions and the corresponding practical recommendations for improving the effectiveness of the Russian criminal procedure law for persons aged 14 to 18 as the most vulnerable category of suspects and accused in criminal cases to ensure their right to defense. The obtained results represent new theoretical and practical provisions describing the main distinctive features of the right to defend a minor suspect or accused in the criminal procedure of the Russian Federation.