Courts closed criminal proceedings due to the absence of the victim – Joint Chamber of the Civil Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court recognized this as a mistake

The Supreme Court clarified an important procedural detail: the mere absence of the victim in court does not mean that they have refused the accusation. To close criminal proceedings on this basis, certain conditions established by law must be met.

In this case, in other words, the prosecutor must first declare that they no longer support the accusation, and only then can the court assess the victim's behavior and the consequences of their absence.

What is known

In this criminal case, the pre-trial investigation was initiated and conducted in the form of a private accusation. Since the representative of the legal entity, which is the victim party, having been duly notified of the date and time of the hearing, did not appear in court for a long time, the courts of previous instances interpreted this as a refusal of the accusation and closed the criminal proceedings based on part 6 of Article 340 and paragraph 7 of part 1 of Article 284 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

In the cassation appeal, the prosecutor indicated that the court of first instance mistakenly referred to part 6 of Article 340 of the Criminal Procedure Code as grounds for closing the criminal proceedings, since this procedural norm applies only after the prosecutor refuses to support the state accusation.

The Supreme Court explained that according to paragraph 7 of part 1 of Article 284 of the Criminal Procedure Code, criminal proceedings are closed if the victim, or in cases provided by this Code, their representative, refused the accusation in criminal proceedings conducted in the form of a private accusation, except for criminal proceedings regarding criminal offenses related to domestic violence.

Part 1 of Article 340 of the Criminal Procedure Code states that if, as a result of the court hearing, the prosecutor becomes convinced that the accusation against the person is not confirmed, after fulfilling the requirements of Article 341 of this Code, they must refuse to support the state accusation and set out the reasons for the refusal in their decision, which is attached to the materials of the criminal proceedings.

According to part 6 of Article 340 of the Criminal Procedure Code, repeated failure of the victim, who was summoned in the manner established by this Code (in particular, there is confirmation of receipt of the summons or familiarization with its content in another way), to appear in court without valid reasons or without notifying the reasons for absence after the circumstances provided for in parts two and three of this article have occurred, is equated to their refusal of the accusation and results in the closure of criminal proceedings on the relevant accusation.

Thus, the legislator set out Article 340 of the Criminal Procedure Code in a certain sequence, which means that one action must precede another, and the court has the right to apply the provisions of part 6 of this procedural norm only after the prosecutor refuses to support the state accusation.

The application of part 6 of Article 340 of the Criminal Procedure Code must be preceded by the prosecutor's refusal to support the state accusation, because without this, even if the victim fails to appear in court sessions, it cannot be considered that the criminal proceedings have taken the form of a private one and such absence equated to refusal of the accusation. After all, the relevant accusation acquires the status of private and is carried out under the procedure of private accusation if the victim has expressed consent to support the accusation in court.

Decision of the Joint Chamber of the Civil Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court dated September 22, 2025, in case No. 463/2671/17 (proceeding No. 51-3458kmo24).

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