ST.-PETERSBURG, October 16 - RAPSI. The Constitutional Court has obliged federal legislators to amend the Criminal Procedure Code to set the jurisdiction of crimes committed by Russian citizens against their compatriots abroad.

Criminal law and criminal procedure must be coordinated to ensure legal equality, according to the court. Although Article 12 of the Criminal Code guarantees state protection to the victims of crimes committed abroad, Article 32(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code fails to state which court should handle private prosecution outside the country’s borders. This runs counter to legal equality and restricts the constitutional right of citizens to justice and a fair trial, the court said.

“Thus, the provision in dispute fails the legal non-ambiguity test and creates conditions for its arbitrary application. Federal legislators must not only entitle the victims of crime abroad to go to court, but also allow them to exercise this right in full,” the court said.