A cooperation between states in criminal cases is carried out in order to achieve the goals of justice and may exist at the stage of pre-trial investigation, trial, as well as after the entry into force of a court decision (sentence, ruling). Forms of international cooperation in the investigation of criminal cases are quite diverse. The main ones are: providing legal assistance, which consists in carrying out procedural actions, because during the investigation and trial of criminal cases there is often a need to gather evidence abroad by questioning defendants, victims, witnesses, experts, conducting searches, examinations, court inspections, seizure and transfer of items, delivery, and forwarding of documents, etc.; extradition of persons for criminal prosecution or for the execution of a court sentence; arrest, search and confiscation of proceeds of crime (states undertake to cooperate in the investigation of money laundering; assist in the investigation and take appropriate measures: to freeze bank accounts, seize property to prevent its concealment; confiscate proceeds of crime or property, value of which corresponds to the value of income, etc.). The normative basis for the international cooperation in the investigation of criminal cases is the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters dated April 20, 1959; the Criminal procedural code of Ukraine; Methodical recommendations of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine; Order No. 223 “On the organization of the work of the Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine in the field of international legal cooperation” dated September 18, 2015. The legal basis for international cooperation in criminal matters is the current bilateral and multilateral international treaties of Ukraine, the binding nature of which has been approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Among the multilateral international agreements, there should be noted the European conventions on criminal justice: the European Convention on the Extradition with two additional protocols to it, the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters with an additional protocol to it, the European Convention on the Transfer of Proceedings in Criminal Matters, The Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons with an additional protocol, The European Convention on the Supervision of Conditionally Sentenced or Conditionally Released Offenders, the Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure, and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and the European Convention on the International Validity of Criminal Judgements. In addition, the Commonwealth of Independent States has the 1993 Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters and its 1997 Protocol; within the framework of the United Nations, there is the Convention on Transnational Crime of 2000, together with two Protocols thereto. These multilateral international agreements establish a uniform sphere of cooperation between law enforcement and judicial authorities in relation to all European countries. Today, the most effective is the method of “SWOT-analysis”, which is currently recognized in the scientific community as one of the most popular tools in strategic planning of social processes, including in the investigation of criminal cases. Although the type of analysis is still considered by most scientists as Bohomolova Ye., (2004) a method of marketing research of enterprises in the market in the context of business practice, the object of “SWOT-analysis” can be as legislation, the practice of its application and prospects of their improvement, and materials of criminal cases. Methodology. Achieving the purpose of this publication is ensured by the use of cognitive philosophical, general scientific and special methods, among which the main are analysis and synthesis, comparative law method, which allow to identify prospects for the use in criminal cases of the method of “SWOT-analysis”, which is currently recognized in the scientific community as one of the most popular tools in strategic planning of social processes. Methods of grammatical review and interpretation of legal norms have helped to identify gaps in the legislation governing the investigation of criminal cases, in particular in the field of economics, and to develop proposals for its improvement. Practical importance. International cooperation in criminal proceedings is an organizationally complex process, which requires the use of effective and efficient methods to perform the tasks of criminal proceedings, respect for the rights and freedoms of all participants in the process, including not violating a reasonable time in the investigation. To date, science has developed many methods of analyzing the law, the practice of their application, and identifying ways to improve legislation, taking into account the results of forecasting the prospects for society and the state. To ensure a high level of quality of criminal investigations in the framework of international cooperation, it is necessary to choose the one that will give the most effective results and allow to formulate the most optimal proposals in a particular criminal case and the practice of their application. An attempt to solve this problem is presented in this study.
On the Definition, Legal Essence and Classification of Electronic Information Used Within the Framework of International Cooperation in Criminal Matters
