Less than 1% of acquittals recorded in Russia in 2021

The head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin held a meeting with the participation of representatives of the Investigative Committee from other regions of Russia.  Bastrykin criticized those regions of the Russian Federation where the number of acquittals increased.

According to the website of the Investigative Committee, the total number of acquittals in criminal cases in Russia is less than 1%. In 2021, the courts received 73 thousand criminal cases involving 82 thousand accused. Bastrykin stressed out that most acquittals were imposed in cases of crimes against the person.

The Investigative Committee believes that acquittals are passed when insufficient investigative actions, incomplete inspections and protracted investigations take place.

Defendants are also often rehabilitated in the event of a jury trial. As a reminder, since 2018, the jury has been able to resolve the cases of grievous bodily harm and murder.

The situation is especially ‘alarming’ in terms of the high number of acquittals in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Khakassia, Tatarstan, the Kostroma and Kaluga regions.

Representatives of the Investigative Committee from all the regions mentioned reported to Bastrykin, naming the reasons for such trends.

As a result, the head of the Investigative Committee recommended that each acquittal and the grounds for it should be carefully checked and study such cases with investigators in order to appeal against unjust decisions in time.