Acquittal

Acquittal

 

(judgment of acquittal), a court’s finding that a prisoner is not guilty of a charge against him. A judgment of acquittal is rendered in instances when the event of a crime has not been established, when the act of the prisoner does not contain the elements of a crime, or when participation of the prisoner in the commission of the crime has not been proved. The acquitted person is considered exonerated regardless of the grounds for the acquittal. The judgment of acquittal cancels the measures of securing confiscation of property and measures of restraint. The acquitted person is released from guard in the courtroom immediately after the judgment is announced. The judgment of acquittal may be vacated by way of cassation only on protest of a procurator or on appeal of a victim or a person acquitted (the latter has the right to appeal the judgment with respect to the reasons and grounds of acquittal). Judgments of acquittal rendered by the supreme courts of the Union republics and the Supreme Court of the USSR are not subject to cassational appeal and protest. Review of a judgment of acquittal by way of supervision is permitted only within the first year after it has entered into force.