p In speaking about the right of the accused to legal defence, provided for in Art. 111 of the Constitution of the USSR, we must bear in mind all the relevant legal norms which he can use to defend himself against the charge made. The defendant has the right to know what he is charged with, to get acquainted with the materials of the case before they are sent to court, to participate in the investigation of evidence during the trial, to challenge the judges and other participants in the trial, to appeal against the judgement, and so on. Objectively, all these rights constitute the defendant’s right to defence.

p The right to defence is sometimes understood by the layman merely as the defendant’s right to have the services of an advocate (defence counsel). This conception is wrong, since the defendant’s rights are protected by many other procedural guarantees. For instance, when a preliminary investigation is over, the investigator concerned is duty bound to present all the materials of the case to the defendant and enable him to study them and file the requisite petitions. Within three days before the court begins the trial, it is obliged to hand a copy of the indictment to the defendant, which guarantees him the real possibility of preparing himself for his defence in court.

p Like the public prosecutor, the injured party and other participants in the trial, the defendant has the right to participate in the investigation of evidence, adduce new evidence, submit petitions and challenge the members of the bench, give explanations regarding the testimony by the injured party, witnesses and findings of experts. The accused has the right to the last plea in court.

p The right to have defence counsel is of especial importance to the accused person. The law guarantees the provision of qualified legal aid. Every district and town has a legal aid bureau and a bar association staffed by professional lawyers, or advocates, whose function is to give legal aid to the population.

p Before 1958, the defendant could use the services of defence counsel only at court sittings, but not at the stage of preliminary investigation. The Fundamentals of Criminal Procedure, acting on the need further to democratise criminal procedure, extended the right of the accused person to defence by allowing him to have a defence counsel either from the moment when he receives an indictment or when the preliminary investigation is terminated and he has been handed all the materials of the case for his perusal.

p The law provides for the mandatory participation of defence counsel in a number of cases. In particular, his participation is mandatory in cases in which a prosecutor takes part, in cases of minors and of persons who by virtue of physical or psychic deficiency are incapable of defending themselves in court. If the defendant does not possess sufficient means to pay for an advocate’s services, while the court recognises that the participation of defence counsel in a trial is mandatory, the relevant bar association, on the court’s motion, is duty bound to appoint an advocate and pay him the requisite fees out of its funds.

p To this must be added the defendant’s right to defence guaranteed by the statutory procedure for appealing against court judgements. Every convicted person and his defence counsel have the right to appeal to a higher court against any decision taken by a lower court. If the case is to be examined in a court of second instance as a result of the appeal lodged by the defendant or his representative, the court is duty bound to inform the convicted person or his representative of the day of hearing, and they are entitled to be present during cassation proceedings and give their explanations.

Infringement of the right of the accused person to defence is a gross violation of the law and leads to the unconditional quashing of the court sentence or decision in question.