in a criminal or civil trial, the factual data (information) on circumstances that are of significance for the correct resolution of a criminal or civil case. In a criminal trial, on the basis of the evidence, the following are established: whether a crime was committed, the guilt or innocence of the accused, the degree of responsibility of the guilty parties, and the character and extent of loss, as well as the causes and conditions that have facilitated the commission of the crime. In a civil trial, evidence is used to establish the presence or absence of circumstances that support the claims and objections of the parties and third parties and the presence or absence of other circumstances that are essential for the case.
Information that is of evidentiary significance is found in the testimony of witnesses, material evidence, conclusions of experts, records of investigative and judicial actions, and other documents. In a criminal trial, this information is also obtained from the testimony of the accused, suspects, and victims, and in a civil trial, from the pleadings of the parties and third parties. Information obtained by any other means (for example, rumors and anonymous letters) cannot be used as evidence. The necessity of using evidence in judicial proceedings is due to the fact that the circumstances which must be ascertained for correctly ruling on the case relate chiefly to past events. In order to establish these circumstances, it is essential to collect all the remaining information about the events, to confirm the information in the materials of the case, and to record the information to eliminate possible gaps, distortions, and inaccuracies.
In the USSR, for each type of evidence, the law establishes rules for its collection, recording, and verification, and these rules take into account to the greatest extent possible the particular features of the formation of the evidence and help to obtain complete and reliable information. The entire body of evidence is evaluated interdependently and on the basis of a complete, thorough, and objective examination. No evidence has a previously established force, and no evidence can be interpreted in advance as “better” or “poorer.” The confession of the accused is also ordinary evidence which should be fully verified and evaluated. Factual data (information) cannot be used as evidence if substantial violations of the legally established procedure have occurred. (For example, an object has been secured as material evidence and it is not known where this object has been acquired or by whom; in presenting the accused for identification, he was not shown to the witness in a group of other persons; or threats were used in the interrogation.) The artificial creation of accusatorial evidence, compelling the giving of testimony, and other criminal actions involving the falsification of evidence entail criminal punishment (Criminal Code of the RSFSR, arts. 176, 179-183, and others).
In a criminal trial, a distinction is made between accusatorial evidence (evidence establishing the fact that a crime has been committed, guilt, or aggravating circumstances) and evidence of justification (evidence refuting the designated events and circumstances and at the same time establishing extenuating circumstances). In a civil trial, correspondingly, there is evidence which establishes or repudiates the ground for the action, and so forth.
In terms of the circumstances being established in the case, the evidence is divided into direct evidence and circumstantial evidence. The direct evidence directly points to these circumstances, while the circumstantial evidence establishes intermediate or ancillary facts, the body of which makes it possible to reach a conclusion about the looked-for circumstance. (For example, the testimony of an eyewitness that the accused stabbed the victim with a knife is direct evidence of the fact that a crime has been committed and of guilt. The testimony of witnesses, one of whom was present during the altercation between the accused and the victim, a second of whom saw the accused with the knife that was used to murder the victim, while a third witness observed the accused fleeing from the site of the crime—this is circumstantial evidence, the totality of which establishes the same circumstances.) If there is a sufficient body of circumstantial evidence, it can be used to substantiate the fact that a crime was committed. Thus, although the use of circumstantial evidence is more complicated, it can produce reliable results.
A distinction is also made between primary and secondary evidence, depending on whether the corresponding factual data were established from a source which directly perceived the circumstance being proven or from a source removed from this circumstance by intermediate stages. For example, the information contained in the testimony of an eyewitness or the features fixed in a footprint discovered at the site of a crime are primary evidence. The testimony given by a person based on the words of an eyewitness or the features reflected in a copy of the footprint (for example, in a plaster cast made from the footprint) are secondary evidence.
For the purposes of collecting and verifying the evidence, the investigator, person conducting the inquiry, procurator, or court has the right to summon any person for the giving of testimony, to appoint experts, and to carry out examinations, searches, seizures, and other actions provided by the law, as well as the right to demand audits and the submission of required documents. An accused, a suspect, a victim, an advocate, and other participants in the trial, as well as any citizen, representative of the community, or institution, have the right to indicate the location of evidence known to them, as well as to directly submit such evidence—objects or documents (Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR, art. 70). In a civil trial, evidence is presented by the parties and by other persons participating in the case and is collected by the court at its initiative or upon petition by the parties in the trial. Before the trial, certain evidence can be collected by the judge through the procedure of perpetuating testimony, if there is a danger that the evidence may be lost (Code of Civil Procedure of the RSFSR, art. 49).
G. M. MIN’KOVSKII