Electronic evidence as effective tools of proving in criminal proceedings

Abstract

The process of proving is carried out by competent participants of criminal trial in order to establish the truth in criminal proceedings and is an important component of the proceeding. Proving is carried out in compliance with the statutory procedure for criminal proceedings in general, the order of the execution of certain procedural actions and the adoption of procedural decisions, that is within the limits of the criminal procedural form. The modern concept of criminal proceedings is aimed at establishing additional guarantees of observance of the participants’ rights at each stage. The process of proving should be clearly regulated by criminal procedure legislation to ensure the rights of a person in criminal proceedings. The rapid development of the latest information technologies and a significant increase in the number of legal relations in the plane of the information space objectively affected the features of the criminal process. In particular, this applies to such an important category as sources of evidence. In modern conditions of widespread use of information technologies, electronic media are an important and informative source of evidence in criminal proceedings. From theoretical and practical perspectives an important task for scholars is to regulate at the legislative level the methods and procedural proceedings for the legal collection of digital information relevant to criminal proceedings and its further use in compliance with the principles of relevance, admissibility, reliability and sufficiency. The peculiarities of collecting, processing and recording digital evidence are analyzed in the article. It is emphasized that the collection of evidence contained on electronic media can be done by removing the media or information system and by copying the information stored on the corresponding electronic media. The advantages and disadvantages of using digital evidence collection methods are analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the importance of observing the procedural and technical aspects of obtaining information stored on electronic media in order to ensure the possibility of using such information as evidence during criminal proceedings.