Law Journal of the National Academy of Internal Affairs

The purpose of the article is to study the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, international treaties and case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Human Rights Committee with regard to application of the provisions of such international treaties in order to determine the international criminal procedural safeguards for the rights of a suspect and accused in the trial in absentia and define the contents thereof. Methodology. The methodological tool was chosen taking into account the aim, specificity of the object and subject of the research. The scientific methods of the system analysis and generalization are decisive. The scientific novelty of this publication consists in systematic study of such criminal procedural safeguards for the rights of a suspect and accused in the trial in absentia as international law ones, set out in international treaties, case law of international organizations and positions of the authorities of the Council of Europe, and targeted at ensuring the no-impunity principle and protection of the rights and legitimate interests of the participants of criminal proceeding. Based on the results of the conducted research, the following conclusions have been drawn: 1) the trial in absentia of a suspect and accused for the purpose of observing the rights and interests of the participants of the criminal proceeding shall be conducted subject to observance of the safeguards stipulated by international treaties; 2) when introducing the trial in absentia of a suspect and accused in the national legal system, it is necessary to comply with the international legal safeguards in order to reach a compromise between the sanctions imposed by the legislator with regard to a person who failed to appear before a court and his/her procedural rights thus ensuring the fairness of the trial; 3) the basic international legal safeguards for the rights of a suspect and accused in the trial in absentia may include: the «in absentia» procedure shall be applied mainly for the crimes of minor gravity; the case of an accused shall not be considered in his/her absentia, except for the cases of explicit person`s waiver of the right to participate in the case; it shall be the responsibility of the national authorities to duly notify an accused of the charges and the date of the trial; a suspect and accused in the trial in absentia shall be entitled to protect himself/herself personally and seek legal assistance of a lawyer; each accused in the trial in absentia shall have the opportunity to appeal against the court judgement.