By the supplement of Part 4 of Art. 183 of the RA Criminal Procedure Code from January 01, 2018 the prosecutor was given the exclusive right in cases of private accusation to initiate criminal proceedings without the person's complaint regarding all those cases of domestic violence, when, in the opinion of the prosecutor, due to the fact that the person is in a helpless state or is dependant on the alleged rapist, he/she cannot protect his/her legitimate interests.

 

In the Department for Combating Crimes Against Human of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office was studied the state of implementation of the indicated power of the prosecutor in connection with the study of cases of private accusation of domestic violence. According to the results of the study, additional problems were identified, the resolution of which can significantly improve the effectiveness of the criminal-legal fight against domestic violence.

 

With a view to this, in the Department for Combating Crimes Against Human of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office were indicated the proposals for making amendments to the RA Criminal Procedure Code, which were submitted to the RA Government as part of the action plan of the national strategy for the protection of human rights for 2020-2022.

 

In particular, the prosecutor's office suggested to make such an amendment to Part 4 of Art. 183 of the RA Criminal Procedure Code, in case of which the possibility of exercising the indicated power of the prosecutor will be associated not only with the fact that the victim is in a helpless state or dependant on the alleged rapist, but also with the presence of a real immediate threat to life and health. This comes from the need to bring the criminal procedure legislation in line with the case law of the ECHR.

 

Besides, despite the fact that the prosecutor can verify the materials prepared regarding the case of domestic violence in order to establish the circumstance of  being in a helpless state or depending on the alleged rapist, it is not enough to get acquainted with the protocols, explanations or materials.

 

Despite the fact that regarding the application of Part 4 of Art. 183 of the RA Criminal Procedure Code, according to the guidelines put into circulation in the RA Prosecutor's Office, prosecutors are obliged to organize the reception of victims of violence in each case of domestic violence, in order to be convinced of the existence of circumstances that the person is in a helpless state or dependant on the alleged rapist, however, in many cases, because of reconciliation with the alleged rapist, victims of domestic violence refuse to come to the reception.

 

In this regard, it was proposed to establish more effective mechanisms for the implementation of the power established by Part 4 of Art of the RA Criminal Procedure Code with a view to ensure the uniformity of the rights, obligations and responsibilities of the prosecutor.

 

Under the conditions of these regulations, the situation is also problematic when, in case of not initiating a criminal case by the prosecutor under Part 4 of Art. 183 of the RA Code of Criminal Procedure, the victim reconciles with the accused, however there are data regarding the fact that the victim is in a helpless state or dependant on the alleged rapist or data of a real immediate threat to life and health.

 

In this regard, it was proposed that through the appropriate amendments to the RA Criminal Procedure Code a legal opportunity will be created for the prosecutor to initiate a criminal case also when, on the basis of the applicant's complaint, during the preliminary investigation of the criminal case initiated on the fact of a private case of domestic violence, a person refuses the complaint, but there is an immediate threat to life or health.

 

The practice in cases of domestic violence indicates that there are cases when a decision is made to initiate a criminal case under Part 4 of Art. 183 of the RA Code of Criminal Procedure, however, according to the evidence obtained during the preliminary investigation, it is denied that the victim is dependant on the alleged rapist, or in a helpless state, or during the preliminary investigation he ceases to be in such a state. According to the current legal norms, in such cases it is not possible to make a decision to refuse to carry out criminal prosecution on the basis of reconciliation. The prosecutor's office proposes to solve the specified problem by legislative changes.

 

Taking into account the great public importance of effective criminal-legal fight against domestic violence, the RA Prosecutor's Office is interested in a broader public and professional discussion of these proposals.

 

According to the data received in the RA Police, 246 cases of domestic violence were investigated for the first 6 months of 2020, which is more by 6 compared to the same period of 2019. A criminal case was initiated by 58 cases, which is more by 4 compared to the first half of last year. Moreover, for the first 6 months of 2020 criminal cases sent to court with indictment (13) by 62.5% more compared to the same period  of 2019. (8 criminal cases).

 

By 11 cases of private accusation of domestic violence, in the absence of a complaint, 11 criminal cases were initiated by the decision of the prosecutor. In fact, 20% of criminal cases on the fact of cases of domestic violence were initiated by the prosecutor as a result of exercising the power of Part 4 of Art. 183 of the RA Criminal Procedure Code.