Summary

A statement of charges is a procedural document that launches a criminal procedure and is the basis of the court hearing of a criminal case (except in the compromise procedure where the statement of charges is replaced by a statement of agreement). Conditionally, a statement of charges can be treated as criminal charges where the state issues, through the prosecution, a claim in penal law against the accused, requesting from the court the conviction of the person on a concrete factual and legal basis and enforcement of the resulting consequences in penal law. The main functions of a statement of charges is to determine the object of procedure (delimitations function) and to provide necessary information to the accused for the exercise of the right of defence and to the court for the procedure regarding the concrete reproached act as well as the legal assessment of the prosecution (information function). Under the current law, the requirements on the substance and form of a statement of charges are determined by §154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP). The author believes that this provision should be changed because today the law does not require that all information is entered in the statement of charges, although proper fulfilment of the key functions of this procedural document actually presumes this. Moreover, the structure of the statement of charges as set out in §154 of the CCP is not logical to the end. Furthermore, some subitems of §154 of the CCP cause unnecessary ambiguity. This article offers one vision about how the legislator might adjust the requirements applicable to the statement of charges.