Peculiarities of interaction of an investigator and operations officers during the detection and investigation of fraud-related crimes connected with subsidy payments in the sphere of small and medium entrepreneurship

Sustainable socio-economic development of Russia is a strategic guideline for the creation of favorable conditions for entrepreneurship in the country. Article 6 of the Federal Law “On the development of small and medium entrepreneurship in Russia” of July 24, 2007 No 209 states that the governmental policy in this sphere is a part of the state socio-economic policy, and is a composition of political, economic, social, informational, legal, organizational, educational and other steps taken by Russia’s public and local authorities.  At the same time, in the last few years, the cases of illegal acquisition of budgetary funds by business entities in the form of federal, regional and local subsidies have been registered more and more often. Law enforcement agencies failed to effectively detect and investigate these crimes, which can be explained by the lack of methodological support of their work and modern tools based on information technologies. Intelligence support plays a significant role in the investigation of fraud connected with subsidies in the sphere of small and medium entrepreneurship. It is explained not only by the large amount of documentation and the spatiotemporal dissemination of a crime scene, but also by the fact that in most cases, the illegal acquisition of subsidies by small and medium business entities is pretends to be a legal economic activity.  The research subject is the laws of organizational and methodological support of the work of law-enforcement agencies aimed at the detection and investigation of fraud-related crimes. The scientific novelty of the research is determined by the solution of its tasks, and consists in the substantiation of conclusions about the natural interrelation between the organization and the method of investigation of fraud-related crimes connected with the acquisition of subsidies in the sphere of small and medium business, and the development of ways of their improvement.   

Criminal proceedings in the case of death of the suspect or the accused

There’s a necessity to study criminal proceedings in the case of death of the accused or the suspect as a differentiated form. The purpose of the research is the development of the optimal approach to the understanding of the form of criminal proceedings in the case of death of the suspect or the accused. The research subject is the criteria of a special procedure in relation to the peculiarities of the criminal proceedings in the case of death of the suspect or the accused. The author considers the criteria of differentiation of a procedural form, the most significant for this research, with account of the provisions of the Law on Criminal Procedure, theoretical concepts, the legal position of the Constitutional Court of Russia, and the explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia regarding the proceedings against a dead person. The scientific novelty of the research is determined by the ongoing development of the theoretical background of criminal proceedings in the case of death of the accused or the suspect. Based on the analysis, the author formulates the conclusion that these proceedings should be classified as specific and enshrined in the law as a specific form of proceedings. The significant criteria of the proceedings against a dead person are: the purpose, the way of deciding on the criminal liability, the composition of legal relations, the requirements to their participants, the specific nature of criminal procedure, the socio-legal status of a justiciable person. The results of the research can be used for scientific and research purposes, and can be taken into account when preparing amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Russia related to criminal proceedings in the case of death of the suspect or the accused.

Forensic approaches to the evaluation of video observation systems effectiveness

The article considers the topical issues of facial recognition in video images. The author studies the modern methods of using facial recognition technologies. The research covers the current methods and software systems able to use list-based facial recognition technologies. The article contains the requirements to information technologies and means, and to the reference facial images. Special attention is given to the problems of legal regulation of the requirements to technical means used for image acquisition. The author analyzes the factors impacting on the objectivity and comprehensiveness of imaging a person’s appearance. The author analyzes one of the groups of factors connected with the conditions of recording. The author arrives at the conclusion that in order to raise the effectiveness of the work of video observation systems, it is necessary to follow the requirements to information technologies and information references. The author notes that, based on the tasks of law-enforcement agencies and the analysis of factors impacting on the effectiveness of video observation systems, there is a necessity to develop a video observation systems evaluation system.   

The legal meaning of a person’s consent to damage to life or health: international and foreign experience

The research subject is international and foreign legislation in which a person’s consent to or request for infringement of their rights and legal interests indicates their acquiescence to their unreliable property management. The author uses dialectical, logical, historical-legal, formal-legal, and comparative-legal research methods which helped to detect various fields of social relations in which the legislation regulating a person’s consent to damage is used, thus hampering the unification of the legal understanding of this facultative phenomenon. The consideration of a person’s consent to damage as a manifestation of private interest in international law and the legislation of particular countries will allow adopting the best practices for the purpose of integrating this phenomenon into the Russian legal realia. The examination of international and foreign legislation regulating a person’s consent to damage to rights or legal interests demonstrates the need for the implementation of this phenomenon in Russia’s legal sphere, which would be a basis for a comprehensive assessment of the situation of the infringement of rights upon a person’s consent or request. The author studies international and foreign legislation to consider the evolution of social relations in which a person can implement his or her right and manage his or her property, and the regulation of the forms of exercising a personal interest consisting in the consent to damage to life and health. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the comprehensive consideration of international and foreign legislative experience in exercising personal right to be subject to damage, which determines the necessity to introduce such a legal phenomenon into the Russian legal realia based on the criteria of social benefit. The author’s contribution to the development of the topic is the suggestion to introduce a person’s consent to damage into the Russian criminal law. 

Organizational and technical peculiarities of presenting for identification

The research object is social relations connected with the legal regulation, organization and the tactics of identification. The authors consider the types of identification mentioned in the criminal procedure law, and those used during criminal investigation. Having compared their volume and contents, the authors note that the number of types of identification used in the work of law-enforcement bodies is larger than that of those formalized in the Criminal procedure Law of the Russian Federation. This situation doesn’t violate the law, since such types of identification as the identification of animals, territories, etc. are the components (subtypes) of the types of identification formalized in the law. The authors study the correlation between the organization and tactics of presenting for identification and attempt to systematize the investigator’s actions during the preparation and organization of various types of presenting for identification. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the formation of tactical techniques of presenting for identification through the lens of registration and correlation of subjects of the forensic tactics (the most rational ways of organizing an investigation  - the problem scope) and the organization of criminal investigation (the creation of a structure of the investigative activities, the conditions for its effective implementation, and the investigation management - the organizational and administrative scope). This approach helps to create a detailed list of tactical recommendations for the organization, preparation and realization of various types of presenting for identification with account for the specificity of the object of identification, and their classification in accordance with the stages of this investigation.   

Problems of legal regulation of a procedure of seizing electronic media and copying information

The research subject is the provisions of criminal law regulating the procedure of seizing electronic media and copying information. The article considers the problems faced by investigators connected with the seizure of electronic media during the investigation, copying the information they contain, and the related changes in the investigation practice caused by the introduction of article 164.1 into the Criminal Procedure Code. The purpose of the research is, based on the analysis of the Federal Law of December 27, 2018 No 533, which had amended the Criminal Procedure Law with the article 164.1 “The peculiarities of seizing electronic media and copying information they contain during investigative activities”, and law-enforcement practice in this field, to define the scope of the most urgent problems and develop the ways how to solve them. The research methodology is based on general scientific and specific research methods of cognition: the comparative-legal and formal-logical analysis, modeling, induction, deduction, etc. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the comprehensive and system-based study of the issues and problems of criminal legislation and law-enforcement practice connected with seizing electronic media and copying information they contain, and in the development of the key suggestions about amending the current legislation.   

On the role of legal education of non-professional participants of criminal proceedings in the criminal science

The research subject is the activity of public authorities and officials related to anti-criminal education of non-professional participants of criminal proceedings, and the legal regulation of such an activity within a criminal investigation. The authors study the role of legal awareness in criminal science. The research object is social relations regulating the activity at the level of public authorities and their officials aimed at legal education. The authors consider legal education as a part of an investigator’s work, which should be reflected in criminal science. The research methodology is based on the dialectical and formal-legal research methods, as well as the analysis of regulatory documents and criminalistic literature. The authors describe the role of legal education (in the course of their formation) within the structure of criminal science. It can be implemented within one or several tactical methods (their combination); as a general provision of the criminal investigation technique; as a subtheory of criminal science.   

Classification of factors determining criminality in the sphere of housing and utilities infrastructure

The research object is criminality in the sphere of housing and utilities infrastructure. The research subject is the combination of factors determining criminality in this sphere. The topicality of such a classification is conditioned by a special role of the housing and utilities infrastructure in the country’s economy. All crimes committed in the housing and utilities infrastructure, trespassing upon property, also threaten public safety. The author uses general scientific methods of dialectics, analysis and generalization, as well as specific methods of summarizing and grouping. The author formulates the classification of factors determining criminality in the sphere of housing and utilities infrastructure. The classification is based on the distinction between objective (external) and subjective (internal) factors. The former ones are historically determined, i.e. caused by the existing mechanisms functioning in the sphere, which can be overwhelmed only by means of reforming the regulating legislation and modernizing the engineer infrastructure. The latter ones are caused by the drawbacks in the organization of public authorities supervising the housing and utilities infrastructure, and law enforcement bodies. The proposed determination system allows organizing comprehensive and targeted planning of measures preventing this type of criminality.   

Topical questions of crime prevention in the Darknet

The article considers the topical issue of a significant growth of crimes in the field of information technologies most of which are committed in the dark and hidden web. The research object is social relations in the sphere of Internet crime prevention. The research subject is the methods and mechanisms of crimes using information systems, and the technologies of information safety provision and deanonymization. The main task of the research is to develop the scientifically-grounded ideas aimed at the enhancement of the technique of analysis and assessment of crimes committed via information and telecommunication systems. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the fact that the authors systematize, generalize and analyze the standard mechanisms of committing crimes using information technologies. Based on this analysis, the authors formulate suggestions and recommendations. The article considers the main methods and mechanisms of information safety provision (anonymity on the Internet, and some promising technologies of deanonymization which can be used in the process of crime detection and investigation. The authors formulate a basic model of an offender which can be used for a primary profiling of a criminal. They also formulate an approach to the assessment of his potential which takes into account the peculiarities of using computer equipment in criminal activities in information and telecommunication networks.   

Particular aspects of the use of judicial accounting expertise results for the investigation of corruption-related crimes

The research subject is scientific and methodological patterns of a judicial expertise in the field of accounting research of state-funded organizations which are the most sensitive to corruption-related offences. The research object is investigatory and expert assessment of the use of the results of judicial accounting expertise for proving in investigating corruption-related crimes. Special attention is given to particular problems related to the mechanism of use of the results of such accounting research by investigators. To acquire evidentiary information about the case, one needs to analyze the report of an expert accountant as a possible evidence, while it is not possible to attach it to the case without its legality assessment. Only a careful reading of the research results by the person, who has initiated expertise, can help detect corruption-related circumstances. The authors of the article attempt at covering the range of problems which can lead to the consideration of a report of an expert accountant as an incomopetent evidence. On the other hand, the authors note that the analysis of accounting expertise helps investigators to establish or check facts not available to other experts. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the fact that the authors attempt at forming an overall picture of the mechanism of the use of judicial accounting expertise results for the investigation of corruption-related crimes.