LEGALITY AS A GENERAL LEGAL PRINCIPLE IN THE SYSTEM OF PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURAL LAW OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES

The article examines the issue of the advisability of including legality as a general legal principle in the system of principles of criminal procedural law of the Russian Federation. To this end, the authors have analyzed the provisions of Russian criminal procedural legislation as well as the laws of foreign countries. The methodological basis consisted of general scientific methods—analysis, generalization, systematization, formalization, description, and comparison—the application of which enabled the formulation of well-founded conclusions. The authors formulate the concept of "sectoral legality" in criminal proceedings and define its structural content. It is proposed to rephrase the title of Article 7 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation as follows: «Legality in criminal proceedings». The results of the study led to the conclusion that the principle of legality must be included among the sectoral principles. In order to include the general legal principle of legality in the branch principles of criminal procedural law, it seems necessary to reflect the specifics of a particular branch of law in the name of the principle itself.