Introduction. An important achievement of modern criminal procedure legislation and law enforcement practice is the implementation of international standards and democratic legal institutions concerning the strengthening of guarantees of respect for the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of participants in criminal proceedings. Among them is the right of a person to receive qualified legal assistance. In this regard, it becomes important to analyse the system of scientific views and studies on the issue of qualified legal assistance and its relationship with the right to protection determined by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and to determine the main characteristics to which such assistance should correspond. Theoretical analysis. The mechanism of procedural support of the right of a person against whom criminal prosecution is being carried out to receive qualified legal assistance is identified, and proposals are formulated to improve the legal guarantees of ensuring legal activity in its implementation. Empirical analysis. A definition of the right to qualified legal assistance has been developed, which represents the rights of a suspect, accused, or victim to use the help of a lawyer with legal education, who is part of the professional legal community, with a confirmed status, in order to ensure the implementation of the purpose of criminal proceedings – in terms of protecting the rights of victims of crimes – and all components of the right to protection from criminal prosecution and prosecution, which are enshrined in the current legislation at all stages of criminal proceedings. Results. The authors carried out a study on scientific representations of the right to qualified legal aid and the distinction between the right to protection and the right to qualified legal aid.