Challenges to Territorial Jurisdiction Determination in Smuggling Cases

The paper examines the issue of determining the limits of the courts’ jurisdiction in the course of consideration of criminal cases related to smuggling, and the presence of procedural factors influencing the determination of territorial jurisdiction established by articles 32, 35 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. The paper considers the practice of the Trans-Baikal Territory courts, reveals the need for legislative resolution of controversial issues to determine the jurisdiction of cases of smuggling. The author makes proposals and gives judgments on the need for additional clarifications by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the rules for applying Art. 32 and 35 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. It is criminal cases related to smuggling that cause a certain difficulty in establishing territorial jurisdiction. It is due to the totality of the conditions established by these criminal procedural norms, given the various territorial places for crimes committed, establishing the completion of criminal acts by their severity. Difficulties in the correct definition of such circumstances affect the «wandering» of criminal cases of this category between the courts, along with the exercise of their rights by the participants in the process to appeal against the actions of the courts in connection with the resolution of disputed subjects to determine the proper jurisdiction. The presence of contentious issues in determining jurisdiction to one degree or another may affect the delay in the reasonable timeframes provided for in Article 6.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation when considering criminal cases even before the start of their trial by the court on the merits. In some cases, the impact on the expiration of the procedural deadlines for bringing the perpetrators is not ruled out to criminal liability and terms of detention of smugglers. The foregoing also applies to the issues of criminal law improvement in the field of combating smuggling.

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