Evidence, evaluation of evidence: concept, criteria

The basic principles for assessing evidence are laid down inArticle 69 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. The legal evaluation of evidence in a given trial is provided by the court. The very nature of the assessment of evidence is reflected in the law itself. Prosecutors will substantiate evidence of guilt, and lawyers - to question them and put forward counter-arguments that prove the innocence of the defendant.

How does the proof system work?

Assessment of the information provided in criminal,Administrative cases are based on various assumptions, conditioned by the concept of proof. In the criminal trials of modernity, any evidence base is based on the presumption of innocence. It is from this point of view that the court assesses the evidence presented. Evaluation of evidence is based on Part 3 of Art. 67. The main criterion for acceptance is the objectivity of the evidence: all arguments based on internal conviction will not be accepted by the court.

Thus, any proof in the legal plan must meet several requirements:

• it must be weighty - in order to be accepted by the court;
• it must be objective and not depend on the point of view of the prosecution or defense;
• it must be reliable and sufficient.

Based on the foregoing, it is possible to formthe practice of accepting defense or prosecution arguments as a specific legal algorithm that allows you to carry out research on evidence, evaluate evidence to obtain reliable information in substance.

What are the assessments of evidence

Depending on the level of reliability of the data provided, the assessment may be:

• preliminary;
• the final;
• control.

A preliminary assessment is made by the court in the consideration of the case. The final is contained in the judicial verdict. A control evaluation can be submitted by the appellate court.

Modern legal practice distinguishes three types of assessment of evidence and analyzes the information received according to the criteria below.

Formal assessment of evidence

Formal assessment of evidence puts the court inThe framework in which the provision of an argument automatically means making a specific decision. In this case, the strength of the evidence is already determined by law and can not be evaluated depending on other factors. A court session may resemble a mathematical problem, where the answer can be found by a given algorithm. For quite a long time such formal proof was the confession of guilt, after which the sentence was pronounced, often not supported by material evidence. So, in Russia, before the judicial reform, there were various methods for the formal evaluation of evidence: men believed more than women, certain privileges were granted to the people of the nobility. Now such a technique is used in a completely different way, and one of the examples of a formal assessment is given in part 7 of Art. 67 GIC.

The court will not consider copies of the samedocument, which are not identical to each other, in the absence of the original. At the same time, the court will not evaluate this or that copy in terms of reliability: incomplete identity means that both such documents can not be considered by the court.

Sometimes the copies can still be taken by the court as evidence. Evaluation of evidence in this case is based on other parameters.

Free assessment of evidence

In this case, all are considered equalevidence. Evaluation of evidence is based on criteria that are determined by the court. Especially this applies to indirect evidence and arguments. Indirect evidence does not have a pre-established procedure for review, they should be taken into account only in relation to other aspects of the case. A free assessment of evidence in European countries is the responsibility of the jury. They interpret the evidence and indirect evidence and justify the court's decision. By the way, the principles by which these or other evidence was selected or rejected, as well as their subjective opinion, are not obliged to disclose the jury.

Free with motives

The principles of assessing evidence on a freemethod with consideration of motives is the prerogative of a professional court. The court must disclose the outcome of the examination of the evidence submitted, the assessment of the final decision. The verdict is obliged to disclose the motives, according to which some evidence was accepted, and others - rejected. Often this requirement is not met, and the court makes its decision, based on unclear principles of selection and consideration of evidence.

Difficulties in assessing evidence

There is nothing more difficult to understand thanevaluation of evidence. At the everyday level, each of us can select acceptable arguments for ourselves and justify our own point of view. In litigation, everything is different: subjectivity should be kept to a minimum, and the evaluation of evidence must be unbiased and thorough. One of the examples of such complexity is the expert opinion. They are far from as unambiguous as it is commonly believed. Often, various expert commissions, assessing the integrity of the equipment, the safety of the workplace or the originality of the document, refer to various circumstances and make various conclusions. The case of the court is to assess the reliability of the evidence submitted in order to render an objective judicial decision.

Subjective factors in the evaluation of evidence

The adopted judicial system does not allowdecision-making without specifying motives, because such a position is, in fact, a denial of the right to a fair trial. On the other hand, most of the motives leading to the court lie in the field of subjective perception of the order of things, it is unreasonable not to reckon with them. Feeling of superiority or humiliation, hatred, love, self-interest - all this should be taken into account when assessing the evidence base. And not all these motives are equivalent in the eyes of the court. Love is a virtue, so the court often bases its decisions on testimonies of lovers. Hatred is a vice, therefore the court can fairly doubt the testimony of a witness possessed by hatred. But an equal attitude towards all witnesses who provide evidence is an indispensable attribute of any unprejudiced trial.

Collection and evaluation of evidence suggestsan excellent knowledge of human nature, the origins of regularities, the presence of causes and the evaluation of probabilities. These components are the essence of a good lawyer. He, using direct evidence and indirect, can make a reliable picture of events.

Principles of examining evidence

Evaluation of evidence in the civil processis based on epistemological principles. Consider the most basic of them, which will help understand the algorithms for selecting evidence. One of the main such principles is preset. This factor should not replace the free assessment and, according to modern principles of business, no evidence in the case has a pre-established force, they must all be accepted with reservations.

Presumption

Presumption is another basis for adoption.fair solution under equal probabilistic conditions. The presumption in jurisprudence is similar to the axiom in geometry: it is accepted "as is" and does not need proof, since it is based on all human experience. If in the criminal process all doubts are to be interpreted in favor of the accused, such a norm is absent in civil law. The presumption in this case is a brick, from which the position of one or another party is formed in the process.

Evaluation of evidence in the civil process is based on one or several presumptions, among which almost without proof:

• fault of the offender;
• the legality of children born in wedlock;
• discrepancy of the validity of the information discrediting advantage and honor and other.
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