No abstract

The paper analyzes the experience of digitalization of the criminal justice of the Federal Republic of Germany as one of the leading states of the European Union with a high level of informatization of the public administration mechanism. The study of German theory and practice allowed us to conclude that the criminal justice of Germany is quite successful in adapting to the new digital reality and that it is possible to use positive experience in developing the Russian concept of building criminal justice that provides access to justice in the development of digital technologies. It is proposed to consider digitalization as an irreversible and logical process of the development of criminal proceedings, requiring adjustments to the organizational basis of criminal procedure. Along with this, it is concluded that digitalization may become a prerequisite for changing the architecture (construction) of pre-trial stages of criminal proceedings with their subsequent transformation into the initial stage of criminal proceedings prior to justice.

The paper substantiates the necessity and possibility of developing the concept of forming up criminal proceedings that provide access to justice in the conditions of digital technologies development. When developing the concept, the following methods were used: general scientific, interdisciplinary, that is, common to criminal procedure science and information science (for example, mathematical method, and modeling) and specific methods for each of these sciences. The interdisciplinary nature of the study required the use of synergetic, phenomenological, sociological, activity, and normative-value approaches. The main directions of the concept are substantiated as follows: in part of digitalization of criminal proceedings — design and implementation of a state automated system "Access to justice", which has no analogues in the Russian Federation; the creation of a common digital platform for electronic interaction for leaders at all levels of law enforcement and other state bodies, judges, prosecutors, investigators, interrogating officers among themselves and with citizens while ensuring the all members are digitally equal; in terms of paradigm shift of the initial phase of criminal proceedings — a new approach to pre-trial proceedings as a public service to ensure citizens access to justice; provision to participants, having no authority, with the right to address in court with petitions for the deposition of evidence, the adoption of measures to secure a civil claim, etc.; the transformation of the preliminary judicial control into an organizationally independent judicial body that ensures access to justice through considering appeals at the initial stage of criminal proceedings, including remotely. It is shown how the results obtained can be used in further scientific research, legislative and law enforcement activities.

The paper deals with topical issues of ensuring access to justice in criminal proceedings, and substantiates the need to change the paradigm of the pre-trial proceedings. The new digital reality Industry 4.0 assumes a tremendous pace of development, profound changes in all spheres of society, including criminal proceedings. The author argues that the digital transformation of criminal proceedings in terms of ensuring access to justice is impossible unless the legislative model (algorithm) of the initial stage of criminal proceedings ensuring access to justice is changed. The key point in the transformation of the pre-trial proceedings should be the electronic interaction of the state and society (population) in the new digital reality. There are fundamentally new opportunities for participation in criminal proceedings (including remotely) and new opportunities to influence decision making and control over decision making (automatization of a crime report and the start of investigation registration, the ability to file complaints, petitions, receive notifications, copies of decisions in electronic form).

Our paper considers the analysis of international legal and constitutional legal interpretation of the concepts of access to justice and justice availability, as well as definition of the importance of digital relations development to ensure access to justice. The objective of the paper is to determine the content of the concept of access to justice on the basis of generalization of international legal sources and decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, and to identify how development of digital relations affects access to justice, justice availability. The analysis of Russian and foreign legal and doctrinal sources showed that the concepts of access to justice, justice availability, ensuring access to justice are interpreted very ambiguously; the problems of access to justice are identified; it is proved that development of digital relations in the society inevitably affects digitalization of judicial procedures. It is demonstrated that the task of ensuring access to justice and justice availability is vested in the state in the form of constitutional and legal responsibilities; under development of digital relations the new approach to pretrial proceedings as a public service to ensure access to justice for citizens is rationalized; the paradigm of pre-trial as the initial stage of a judicial procedure ensuring access to justice is proposed.