Criminal procedural and forensic issues in the context of legal regulation of legal assistance in criminal matters

The article deals with the criminal procedure and criminalistics aspects of mutual legal assistance in criminal matters in the context of the legal regulation of the provision of such assistance by States. The article reveals the content of legal assistance in criminal cases as an important prerequisite to ensure the fight against crime in modern times, when crime transcends national borders. It is established that the observance of reasonable terms of rendering of legal assistance, stipulated by law, is one of the guarantees of efficiency of criminal proceedings. The comparative legal analysis of norms regulating such form of international cooperation in criminal proceedings as a request for legal assistance was performed; the legal norms determining the volume of legal assistance were studied; an opinion on the distinctions of this form of cooperation from other forms was given. The impact of forensic provision of legal assistance in criminal cases in terms of reliability and persuasiveness of evidence is evaluated.