About the right of a lawyer – representative of the victim to justify the measure of punishment

Abstract

The article deals with the issue of the right of a lawyer – a representative of the victim to justify before the court the proposed measure of punishment for the defendant. It is shown that in scientific literature the assertion that it is inadmissible for a lawyer representing the victim to enter into a discussion of the issue of the measure of punishment to be imposed on the defendant is quite traditional. This approach is justified, first of all, by references to the professional ethics of lawyers. In this regard, the article analyzes the historical, legal and moral origins of this approach. The authors state that in modern procedural realities, the right of a lawyer representing the victim to justify the proposed measure of punishment is an integral part of the implementation of the prosecution function and, as a result, the powers of the accuser. In support of this position, the authors analyzed the relevant legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law “On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation”, the Code of Professional Ethics of a lawyer.