The use of electronic evidence in the criminal procedural law of Ukraine (problematic issues)

The article discusses problematic issues related to the use of electronic evidence in the criminal procedural law of Ukraine. Attention is drawn to the shortcomings of the regulation of the use of electronic evidence in the legislation of Ukraine. In order to solve the problems of the use of electronic evidence in criminal procedural law, some of them were analyzed and suggestions for their solution were provided.

A review of court practice was conducted, where the court ambiguously defined electronic evidence, namely: in some cases – as documents, in others - as physical evidence. Therefore, it is proposed to enshrine electronic evidence in the norms of criminal procedural law as a separate source of evidence.

Separate summaries of court decisions are given in which the court assesses electronic evidence based on the admissibility of recordings of conversations on a voice recorder, telephone recordings of conversations, video recordings created by video surveillance systems. It is proposed to determine the sources of obtaining electronic evidence in criminal proceedings, namely: 1) electronic evidence provided by official institutions or in respect of which access to information stored on the server has been granted; 2) records of autonomous systems; 3) electronic evidence obtained as a result of investigative (search) actions, covert investigative (search) actions, temporary seizure of property, security measures or precautionary measures; 4) electronic evidence obtained as a result of the deposition of technical devices and technical means in accordance with Article 245-1 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

The issue of taking into account evidentiary information contained in a copy of an electronic document in the absence of its original has been considered. Attention was drawn to the need to expand the capabilities of investigators in working with electronic evidence and to organize the work of the information and telecommunications system of the pre-trial investigation, taking into account the peculiarities of the electronic form of evidence.

Corresponding proposals regarding amendments and additions to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine were submitted.