Russian Model of the Cooperation Agreement with the Accused

The article analyzes the institution of pretrial agreement about cooperation within the Russian criminal procedural law which is in use since 2009. It establishes the contractual nature of this institution and traces the similarities and differences of the Russian varieties of cooperation agreements with foreign counterparts, especially with the US system of “Plea Bargaining”.When it comes to pre-trial cooperation agreement the Russian is identical to foreign counterparts in the following e. g.: the procedure can be applied to almost all categories of criminal cases, the accused must assist the investigators and prosecutors in the detection and investigation of crimes committed both by himself and other defendants or persons, the criminal case is not examined on its merits in court, if the results of cooperation are recognized by the prosecutor and the court, the consent of the victim to conclude a pre-trial agreement between the prosecutor and the defense is not required, the subject of the agreement may be an obligation of the state to take measures to ensure the security of the person who has entered into a pre-trial agreement for cooperation and the exclusive role of the prosecutor in signing the pre-trial cooperation agreement with the defendant underlines the primacy of prosecutor’s authorities in the pre-trial investigation. The analysis is conducted in the context of the latest clarifications provided by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia on the understanding and application of the rules governing the formation of the pre trial cooperation agreement.