The choice of research topic is stipulated by its importance for law enforcement practice in the field of criminal justice, as scientific and technological progress should be considered among the determinants that directly affect the legal model of criminal procedural form. On the other hand, the topic is actualized by the fact that the achievements of scientific and technological progress lead to the emergence of new and improvement of existing means of proof, communication of participants in criminal proceedings, change of criminal procedural form of pre-trial investigation and trial.
In order to determine the areas of the research that are currently most relevant for scientific consideration, the paper includes conducted comprehensive review of scientific sources, the authors of which in one way or another touched on the impact of various factors on the criminal procedural form. This made it possible to state that the issue of the impact of scientific and technological progress on the procedural form of criminal proceedings is in the plane of a number of legally vague issues on which there is no consensus among scholars.
In addition, based on the analysis of international experience in introducing the latest information and telecommunications technologies in the criminal procedure, it is stated that the domestic criminal procedure requires radical modernization, and this determines the relevance of the chosen research topic.
In order to establish clear guidelines for the development of further concepts and conclusions within the dissertation paper, there has been identified a system of factors influencing the formation of criminal procedural form, which include: 1) criminal procedural policy of the state; 2) social norms that have become universally recognized in society (moral, religious, etc.); 3) scientific and technological progress; 4) the law of the European Union; 5) praxeology.
The paper concludes that the tasks of implementing the achievements of scientific and technological progress in criminal proceedings are: (a) protection of the individual, society and the state; (b) ensuring a prompt, complete and unbiased investigation and trial; (c) ensuring the effectiveness of procedural actions; (d) exposing persons guilty of committing a criminal offense; (e) raising the innovative level of culture of the court, the parties, the victim and other participants in the criminal proceedings; (e) ensuring consistency between the recording (displaying) and storage of information for use in the evidentiary process.
Within the framework of the study of scientific and technical progress as a factor in the formation of the criminal procedural form, there have been determined the directions of computerization of the criminal process, which include: the transition to electronic document management system; limiting the state monopoly on access to information due to the capabilities of the Internet and expanding the competitiveness of the process; evidence presented in digital (electronic) form; digital court (justice).
It is emphasized that the concept of “e-justice” is generally aimed at ensuring access to justice and its transparency, facilitating the interaction of courts with law enforcement agencies and other public authorities, reducing corruption and other negative factors in the administration of justice that cause public outrage and undermine judicial authority.
It is noted that at the present stage of development of criminal procedural legal relations electronic document management system covers the following areas: the procedure for registration of applications and notifications of criminal offenses, which is conceptually changed with the introduction of the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations; information subsystem “SLID” (TRACE); information and telecommunication system “Information portal of the National Police of Ukraine”; Unified Judicial Information and Telecommunication System.
Electronic information is singled out as a procedural source of evidence, as provided for in other domestic procedural codes, based on the paradigm of modern criminal procedure, namely that the final formation of evidence takes place only in court, and during the pre-trial investigation the actual recording of information that may be used as evidence in court is being carried out.
