Problems of the lawyer's use of information technologies in activities to protect the rights of the victim in criminal proceedings.

Vaitiushkevich Anastasia Aleksandrovna Postgraduate Student of Department of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure and Judicial Organization of the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation 117218, Russia, Moscow, Moscow, Bolshaya Cheremushkinskaya str., 34 anastasiavaitiushkevich@gmail.com

 Information technologies are an integral part of modern society.

They are used in many areas of human activity. Legal activity is no exception. The problems of law in the context of digitalization of public relations have been repeatedly raised in the scientific literature^[1][2].

At the moment, informatization is being actively introduced into advocacy. According to researchers, it is the creation of IT services for automating the processes of providing qualified legal assistance (reference and information (search) legal systems, legal bots, systems for analyzing judicial practice, court decisions and forming a legal position, designers of legal documents, etc.), the target audience of which are lawyers ^[3].

In this regard, representatives of both the legal and scientific community have been actively discussing certain aspects of the automation of advocacy over the past few years. The problems of the use of information technologies in the provision of legal assistance by a lawyer, including in the framework of criminal proceedings to individual participants, are particularly relevant. The use of modern technologies in the process of providing legal assistance to the victim also has its own characteristics.

The appointment of a lawyer as a defender in criminal proceedings is carried out using an automated information system that excludes the influence of any interested parties on the distribution of assignments between lawyers. Its procedure was approved by the Decision of the Council of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation dated March 15 , 2019 . This procedure also applies to cases of appointment of a lawyer to a minor victim. To do this, it is necessary to have several conditions at the same time: a criminal case is being considered for a crime against the sexual integrity of a minor, he has not reached the age of sixteen, the presence of a petition from his legal representative.

There is no doubt that a child who has suffered from a crime is particularly vulnerable due to his age and psychological characteristics. According to the researchers, when working with children, it is important to take into account the psychological characteristics of each child, to find an individual approach. All actions carried out with the participation of minors should be carried out exclusively in their interests^[4]. In this regard, we believe that a lawyer providing legal assistance to a minor victim should also have the skills to work with children, especially with those who have experienced a traumatic experience, as well as have knowledge in the field of child psychology.

However, the current regulatory regulation on the appointment of a lawyer as a representative of a minor victim does not take into account these circumstances. In addition, the Integrated Information System of the Bar of Russia (CIS AR) program currently being implemented in the Russian Federation, which is used to distribute applications by appointment, does not provide for the possibility to specify specialization in the lawyer's profile, as well as the distribution of assignments in accordance with it. In this regard, a lawyer assigned to a minor victim may not have the necessary skills and experience.

We believe that the adoption by the Council of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation of a separate procedure for appointing lawyers as representatives of a minor victim, which would take into account these circumstances and would provide for the distribution of applications among lawyers who meet certain requirements (for example, specialization, skills working with children, experience), would solve the above problems.

Separately, it is also worth dwelling on the specifics of the implementation of the status rights of a lawyer with the help of information technology. The above is important when providing legal assistance to a minor victim, since in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the collection of documents and objects is the procedural right of the victim. Obtaining the information necessary to protect the interests of the principal is possible by sending a lawyer's request.

In accordance with the current procedure for sending it, approved by the Order of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation No. 288 on December 14, 2016 "On approval of the requirements for the form, procedure for registration and direction of a lawyer's request," the possibility of sending an electronic lawyer's request is provided." However, this method of referral is not specified in the Federal Law "On Advocacy and Advocacy", which, according to some scientists, needs to be eliminated^[5]. In our opinion, it is impossible not to agree with this. There is no doubt that without proper regulation it is impossible to ensure the implementation of the right of one of the important status rights of a lawyer to obtain information.

In addition, researchers are currently noting trends towards the digitalization of justice, as well as other branches of government of the Russian Federation^[6]. The legislator has provided for the possibility of filing documents (complaints, petitions and other procedural documents) electronically in the current procedural codes. Many government agencies also use Internet reception rooms (for example, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation).

At the same time, if the procedure for filing documents to the court in the above way is fixed both in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (for example, Article 474.1) and in other normative acts (for example, in the Order of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 27, 2016 No. 251 "On approval of the Procedure for filing documents to Federal Courts of general Jurisdiction in in electronic form, including in the form of an electronic document"), then the electronic submission of documents to the preliminary investigation authorities at the pre-trial stages did not receive such regulation, as researchers have repeatedly noted^[7][8].

Also, electronic filing of documents is associated with certain serious risks: the problem of ensuring the security of the transmitted information ^[9]; the possibility of data leakage^[10], technical failures, due to which the addressee may not receive an appeal or complaint. In addition, it should be taken into account that a court or a law enforcement agency may not have the technical capability to obtain documents in this way, in this case the provisions of Article 474.1 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation do not apply.

However, despite these risks, it should be noted that these innovations can significantly speed up the receipt of the document to the competent authority, and, consequently, its consideration. This is especially important when the applicant is located in another region of the Russian Federation and in cases where the victim needs prompt protection (for example, cases of violence against a minor).

Another element of the digitalization of justice can be called participation in the consideration of a criminal case using videoconference communication. The territorial jurisdiction and location of the victim very often may not coincide, which may cause difficulties with the realization of his right to participate directly in the court session. However, remote participation in a criminal case with the help of information technology has a number of disadvantages. For example, as the researchers note, there are no technical capabilities for working with evidence for persons involved in the case remotely^[11].

Thus, despite the fact that information technologies significantly facilitate the work of a lawyer, allowing him to participate in the case while in another subject of the Russian Federation, and also reduce the financial burden on the principal due to the lack of transportation costs, making legal assistance more accessible to vulnerable categories of the population, the quality of such legal assistance may decrease due to the impossibility of the lawyer and his principal promptly familiarize themselves with the petitions and evidence presented by the other party to the case.

In conclusion, it should be noted once again that, using digital technologies to provide legal assistance to the victim, the lawyer must take into account their features, as well as the risks associated with them. In addition, some aspects of the use of information technology in advocacy require additional legal regulation. In our opinion, it is necessary to develop a separate procedure for appointing a lawyer to minor victims, as well as to improve the procedure for using videoconferencing by developing technologies that would allow a participant participating in the proceedings remotely to quickly get acquainted with the documents and evidence presented during the court session.