The opening of the criminal case: the settlement of requests received from the criminal prosecution phase

Abstract

At all stages of the criminal proceedings, the court has the role of a leader at each stage. Therefore, the court has the obligation to create equal conditions for all parties and participants for a full and multilateral investigation of the case before it. Thus, the trial of the case at first instance is divided into the following procedural stages: the opening of the criminal case - which also includes the pre-trial hearing - the judicial inquiry, the judicial debates, the defendant's last word, the deliberation and the adoption of the sentence. All these compartments comprise common but also distinct procedural activities which are required by the special procedural provisions. The trial of the criminal case, as a distinct phase of the criminal process, is a specific activity and occupies a central place in the process of achieving criminal justice [6, p. 523]. The above does not diminish the criminal prosecution phase, the judicial control of the pre-trial procedure or the enforcement phase.