Russia (bbabo.net), - At the discussion platform of the IV Meeting of the International Police Club at the conference "Human Rights in the Digital Age", experts discussed the proposal to file all criminal cases and conduct the process electronically.
The idea of filing criminal cases electronically has been circulating in the law enforcement community for several years now. And it causes a lot of controversy. If more than 80 percent of the polled Russian investigators and only 38 percent of judges positively assess the prospect of switching to an electronic criminal case, then almost 19 percent of investigators and 62 percent of judges are against it.
Approximately the same picture is observed abroad. However, electronic criminal cases are already being actively tested there in Germany, the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, China, Singapore and other countries. There is no escape from the digitalization of everything.
Arguments "against" still seem to be more weighty. On the one hand, in the case of the introduction of an electronic method of conducting criminal cases and legal proceedings, there is a huge number of "pluses" - and the reduction of the investigation time, and the convenience of conducting a trial, and much more. But, on the other hand, all the "pluses" are broken by the fear of a hacker attack, leakage of personal data and unlawful interference in a criminal case. Not to mention that all participants in this digital process must be technically trained and technologically equipped. How can we get involved in this process in the least painless way? After all, one way or another, but this problem will have to be solved.
The President of the Russian section of the International Police Association, Yuri Zhdanov, recalled that the concept of an electronic document has already been introduced into the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation and the procedure for its use has been determined, including the possibility of certifying a document with an "enhanced qualified electronic signature" - Articles 474, 474.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.
Yuri Zhdanov believes that the electronic form of a criminal case is a kind of response to a fairly massive social demand. Unlike multi-volume paper criminal cases, an electronic criminal case is convenient, mobile and compact.
Victims and witnesses, especially pensioners, the disabled and other low-income people, will not have to go to court in person each time or to communicate with prosecutors and investigators, and often to another city or region. And that means extra expenses.
But there is also a danger. For example, Yury Zhdanov believes that participation in a trial via videoconferencing does not exclude that the participants in the trials will be deprived of their free will. Indeed, outside the video recording camera in the online meeting mode, there may be another person threatening a witness, expert, any participant in the criminal process.
Tatyana Moskalkova, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, confirmed that the introduction of electronic criminal cases is one of the most discussed issues in domestic law enforcement practice. In her opinion, the use of innovative digital technologies greatly simplifies the access of citizens to the administration of justice. Therefore, the legislative authorities need to develop draft federal laws "On the electronic criminal case" and "On the introduction of amendments and additions to the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation." The Ministry of Justice of Russia has already set up an interdepartmental working group to prepare a draft law "On Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation" aimed at regulating the remote participation of citizens in criminal proceedings. It also includes representatives of the Commissioner for Human Rights. Tatyana Moskalkova also supports the proposal to create the State Automated System "Access to Justice", which will provide for the settlement of the entire complex of criminal procedural relations at the initial stage of criminal proceedings from the moment a crime report is registered to the final decision on the results of its investigation.
By the way, at the end of December 2021, the President of Russia signed the law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation."
Thus, the law provides for the filing of a statement of claim, complaint, presentation and other documents in electronic form with the court through a single portal of state and municipal services and other electronic document management systems.
And yet, how dangerous is the leakage of personal data, will not criminals be happy to read criminal cases in the public domain? And how can this information be protected?
Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov believes that the main risks here are information leaks, data destruction, for example, as a result of infection with an encryption virus or a technical incident, the possibility of falsifying a criminal case by modifying protocols and other procedural documents placed in it.How to deal with it? According to Stanislav Kuznetsov, both basic protection measures, such as multi-factor authentication, access control, and specialized measures can become tools to reduce such risks. For example, creating an isolated outline, embedding watermarks in electronic documents, using DLP information leakage prevention systems, monitoring the Internet for leaks. If these measures are not taken, the database of electronic criminal cases can really become an archive of ready-made recipes for novice criminals.
The expert believes that it is necessary to legally recognize electronic information as an independent type of evidence, which allows considering an electronic document as a kind of this evidence. In addition, it will be necessary to regulate the procedure for applying a qualified electronic signature, affixing seals of investigative, expert, judicial and other bodies on electronic materials of a criminal case for their certification.
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