The use of blockchain technology as an innovative component of criminalistic support for law enforcement activities in war conditions

Current problems of using blockchain technologies in the fight against crime and their role in the system of criminalistic support of such activities in modern conditions are studied. The concept and criminalistic essence of virtual assets are revealed, their types are distinguished, and their characteristics are given. The current understanding of blockchain technology is considered, which is defined as a kind of «chain of blocks», which is an innovative technology that is considered as a decentralized digital ledger that functions as a distributed database. The types of criminal activity in this area are singled out and innovative approaches to criminalistic investigation and trial of criminal offenses related to the use of virtual assets and blockchain technologies are proposed. It is justified that criminalistics, integrating modern achievements of science and technology, in today’s realities directs its scientific potential to create an effective system of criminalistic means, methods and technologies in combating crime in the field of illegal circulation of virtual assets, and the solution of these tasks involves the creation of an appropriate mechanism and the introduction of an effective system of combating crime in this area. The use of such technologies in conditions of war is the foundation for the creation of a new model of forensic support for law enforcement agencies, which is manifested in a paradigm shift in the formation of evidentiary information in the investigation of such crimes. Criminalistic support is considered as the process of creating and providing scientifically based and proven in practice technical, tactical, methodical and criminalistic tools, technologies used by practical workers based on the knowledge and skills they have acquired, in accordance with the general principles and tasks of criminal proceedings. The modern paradigm of criminalistic support is evolving from a purely legal category to a complex organizational and technological mechanism, the functional capacity of which directly depends on the level of integration of innovative digital technologies into the practice of investigation and trial of criminal proceedings.