The number of criminal cases in the courts of first instance has sharply decreased in Russia
In 2024, the courts of first instance received a record low number of criminal cases, in ten years this indicator decreased by a third. The number of accused fell in proportion. Kommersant made such conclusions by analyzing the fresh statistics of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. The expert is sure that these figures indicate the “trend of humanization” in domestic justice: the investigating authorities “filter” cases initiated against the innocent. Lawyers continue to focus on the extremely low, in their opinion, share of acquittals.
The Judicial Department under the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation published data on the work of federal courts of general jurisdiction and magistrates for 2024. During this period, the courts of first instance received 651.3 thousand criminal cases – as “Kommersant” discovered, this is a record low. A year earlier there were 720.6 thousand, and in 2015 – as many as 966.4 thousand. Thus, in ten years the indicator fell by 32.6%.
Another important figure demonstrates a similar trend: the number of accused persons, of whom criminal cases have been transferred to the court of first instance. This indicator intersects with the previous one, but is not equal to it – for example, when several people go through one criminal case. In 2024, cases against 693.4 thousand people were transferred to the courts, 9.9% less than in 2023, and 34% less than 2015.
In 2024, the courts of general jurisdiction made decisions of 659.8 thousand criminal cases against 679.4 thousand people. A year earlier, 727.2 thousand cases were completed In relation to 750.7 thousand people, and ten years ago – 962.5 thousand cases in relation to 1.03 million people.
The convictions were issued 78.69% of the defendants (in 2015, this indicator amounted to 74.06%). Another 0.26% of the defendants – 1798 people – were justified (ten years ago there were 0.42%).
In 2024, the courts terminated the cases of 18.28% of the accused (in 2015-23.52%), 1.58% of the defendants were returned to the prosecutor’s office (0.83% in 2015). For 1.19% of the accused, the courts used compulsory measures of a medical nature (this indicator has almost not changed – in 2015 it was 1.17%).
The jury courts in 2024 considered 1219 cases and issued 290 acquittal verdicts (this is almost every fourth case). 189 of 290 acquittals and 63 out of 819 accusatory verdicts were canceled in the appeal.
The vice-president of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation Yevgeny Rubinstein sees in this statistics two multidirectional trends. The number of criminal cases is steadily reduced, he confirms: “Criminologists say that the crime rate is generally reduced. They associate this with a variety of factors. For example, the spread of information technology reduces the need for personal verbal communication, which leads to a decrease in conflicts. In parallel in society, the standard of living improves, and this reduces the number of potential criminals. ” On the other hand, statistics demonstrate the growth of the share of convicts from the total number of defendants. According to the lawyer Rubinstein, the percentage of acquittals “negligible but stable”.
Leonid Golovko is sure the head of the criminal process of the law faculty of the Moscow State University Law Faculty: the decrease in the number of criminal cases that have reached the court is associated with the “trend of humanization”, which is developing in domestic justice for many years. “We have a lot of refusals to initiate cases. That is, the filters that exist in the criminal process work quite actively, the expert explained. “As a result, both the prison population and the number of people who are sent to the court decrease.” According to the scientist, this process also affects the growth of convictions. “The fewer criminal cases at all, the more serious and thoroughly they are investigated, this happens in any legal system. If we drop the case into the courts without a thorough analysis, then the number of acquittals will be more, ”says Mr. Golovko.
The lawyer Irina Biryukova believes that the statistics were affected by a new opportunity for suspects in criminal offenses – even before the court to conclude a contract with the army to go to the zone of his. Such a law, recall, was adopted by the State Duma in March 2024. “If contracts are concluded at the investigation, then the investigation is temporarily suspended. Such cases do not go to court and are not displayed in the mentioned statistics, ”the defender explains. However, Mr. Golovko is sure that this practice cannot “radically” affect the situation. “The tendency to the fall of the number of criminal cases entered the courts has existed for many years. I don’t think that the 2024 law played such a decisive role here, ”the lawyer is sure.
