INSTITUTE FOR THE SAFETY OF PARTICIPANTS IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the experience of foreign countries in ensuring the safety of participants in criminal proceedings. It is determined that security measures include the following: to ensure the safety of these persons, by decision of the investigator, data on them may not be indicated in the investigative report (search) action carried out with their participation, in this case, the investigator, with the consent of the prosecutor, makes a decision stating the reasons for making such a decision, indicates the pseudonym of the participant in the investigation a (search) action and a sample of its signature, which are used in the protocols of investigative (search) actions with its participation; the order is stored in a sealed envelope, attached to the materials of criminal proceedings; If there is a threat of violence, extortion and other criminal acts against these persons, control and recording of their telephone and other conversations is permissible, either on their written application or, in the absence of such a statement, on the basis of a court decision; To ensure the safety of whoever learns the identification can be conducted in such a way that whoever learns cannot see whoever learns; In order to ensure the safety of these persons, a closed trial, all or part of it, may be conducted on the basis of a court order; In order to ensure the safety of the witness, his relatives and close persons, the court has the right not to disclose the present witness data and to conduct his interrogation in such a way that other participants in the trial cannot see the witness. It has been proved that the effectiveness and special significance of the activities of the bodies providing state protection measures is confirmed by the practice of applying the State program in foreign countries, where due attention is paid to this issue. Based on the experience of foreign countries, it can be argued that such security measures as personal security, protection of housing and property and temporary accommodation in a safe place were mainly applied. It was noted that despite substantial funding for the State witness security programme in neighbouring States and an increase in its use, the level of security of criminal proceedings as well as confidence in law enforcement agencies remained fairly low, which led to the refusal of persons to provide the necessary information.