Sergey R. Zelenin

The use of the institute of procedural costs is one of the tools that ensure the participation in criminal proceedings of both its participants and other persons involved in criminal proceedings. This determines the importance of legislative regulation on the attribution of certain expenses of these persons to those that are subject to reimbursement by the state. At the same time, unreasonable restrictions should not be allowed in the reimbursement of those expenses that are really necessary for the performance of the procedural duties assigned to these persons. Methodologically, the approach to the regulation of the list of procedural costs can be presented in two types: exhaustive or open, assuming an expansive interpretation. Currently, the legislator has established an open list of costs, indicating in paragraph 9 of Part 2 of Article 131 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation “other expenses incurred during the criminal proceedings”. A comparative historical analysis of approaches to the regulation of types of costs used at different times in the Russian criminal process, as well as a study of the attitude to the currently established open list of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation from the doctrine and law enforcement allowed us to conclude that the existing approach is ineffective and suggest in the future a transition to the establishment of a list of specific procedural costs, which will make the practice more stable and predictable.