WAYS TO IMPROVE THE INSTITUTE OF EVIDENTIARY LAW IN RUSSIAN CRIMINAL PROCEDURE IN THE LIGHT OF DIGITALIZATION

Abstract

More than 20 years have passed since the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation entered into force. During this period, the world has undergone significant changes. The first is the so-called digitalization process, when the electronic environment is increasingly covering various spheres of life, including criminal proceedings. There are two main directions. Firstly, information of evidentiary value in the proceedings is quite often contained on electronic media: flash cards, SIM cards, hard disks, etc. Secondly, the methods of transmitting this information are also changing. This requires the legislator to make appropriate amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation; in particular, this concerns the rules governing the process of proving in criminal cases. Purpose: to analyze the problems in the application of criminal procedural legislation governing the process of proving in the conditions of digitalization and to find ways to solve them. Methods: methods of comparison and interpretation; methods of formal and dialectical logic; interpretation of legal norms. Results: the study substantiates the necessity of fixing in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation such investigative actions as copying and inspection of electronic messages, seizure of information in digital form located in virtual storages, as well as a regulatory definition of the concept of «electronic storage medium». In addition, further measures should be provided to protect information copied and digitally stored on electronic devices of law enforcement officers during criminal investigations.

Keywords

• investigative actions
• information transfer
• information and telecommunication network
• electronic storage medium
• digitalization
• electronic messages