Ratnova A. Criminal procedural and criminalistics fundamentals of the use of electronic documents exchange in proof of evidence.

The dissertation is dedicated to the study of criminal procedural and criminalistics procedures of the use of electronic documents exchange in proof of evidence. Considering the general theory of proof, international experience, generalization, and analysis of judicial practice, the fundamentals of the use of electronic documents exchange in proof of evidence have been developed. Coverage of the topic under study involves analysis of the state of scientific development, defining the concept and place of an electronic document in the system of sources of evidence, classification of electronic documents, consideration of criteria for evaluation of electronic documents, outlining ways to obtain and research electronic documents, as well as analysis of experience in the use of electronic documents in evidence. The paper formulates a number of provisions, conclusions and recommendations that are characterized by scientific novelty. Normative legal acts regulating the use of electronic evidence in other branches of law were analysed, the literary sources in the field of criminal procedure and criminology on the use and research of electronic documents were studied. Scientific research was based on both general and special scientific methods. It was concluded that there is a problem of the lack of a unified definition of the concept of «electronic document», which is currently absent in the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, a bigger problem is the lack of a unified approach to the nature and place of electronic documents in the evidence system during investigative and judicial practice. It was established that the main features of electronic documents included the presence of metadata, electronic form of the document, and the need to use special equipment and programs in order to visualize electronic documents. The author's definition of «electronic document» and «metadata» was offered. Consideration of electronic documents as an independent source of evidence in the Code of Criminal Procedure was justified. The electronic documents in terms of their use as evidence were divided into two groups: legal and technical. Electronic documents were classified by stages of production, by combination of metadata, depending on access to metadata, by degree of protection, by source of origin, by their location, and by form.