The Role of the Prosecutor in the Implementation of the Function of Criminal Prosecution

The author reviews some aspects of the legal position of the prosecutor in Russian criminal proceedings. The problem of the correlation and implementation of the prosecutor’s functions of supervision and criminal prosecution in criminal proceedings is examined. Using the analysis of everyday tasks carried out by the prosecutor and the research of doctrinal approaches to the essence of prosecutor’s supervision, the author concludes that it is impossible to separate the abovementioned functions performed by the prosecutor, and that the prosecutor should be given the leading role at the pre-trial stage of criminal court proceedings. In connection with this, the author proposes a model for the legal regulation of the status of the prosecutor as a person performing the prosecutorial function on behalf of the state and determining the limits of criminal prosecution obligatory for the court at both the trial and the pre-trial stages of the criminal process.