Summary: 1. Introduction – 2. Grounds for referring the criminal proceedings for consideration by the higher-level structural division of the Supreme Court – 3. An exclusive legal problem and necessity for the development of law and the uniformity of law enforcement practice as grounds for the referral. – 4. The fault of the grounds and the procedure for referring the case for consideration by a higher-level structural division of the Supreme Court in the Ukrainian Criminal Procedure Code. – 5. The reasonableness of judgements on the referral of criminal proceeding for consideration by the joint chamber and the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court – 6. Consistency of court practice of the structural divisions of the Supreme Court – 7. Conclusions
In order to achieve the stated aims, parts 2 and 3 are devoted to the examination of the grounds for referring a case in criminal proceedings of Ukraine and European countries. Part 4 outlines the shortcomings of the content of some articles of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine concerning the procedure of the referral of a criminal case to the highest division of the Supreme Court. Part 5 provides the analysis of the validity of decisions made by the boards of judges at the Supreme Court on the referral of criminal proceedings to its higher judicial divisions – the joint chamber of the Criminal Cassation Court and the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court. On the basis of the study of the judgements of boards, the judicial chambers of the Criminal Cassation Court and the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, in part 6 the question is answered on whether the Supreme Court of Ukraine managed to perform its duty on the assurance of court practice unity in such an area as criminal proceedings