Digital Tools to Facilitate the Implementation of Mediation in Criminal Proceedings

Abstract

The article is devoted to the issues of digitalization of criminal proceedings in general and conciliation procedures of restorative justice in particular. Mediation, as a form of resolving a criminal conflict, is used in many countries of the world and does not lose its relevance, being an alternative form of resolving a criminal conflict in cases of minor and moderate severity, aimed at restoring social balance by reconciling the accused and the victim, restoring his violated rights. In the context of the digital transformation of criminal proceedings and the expansion of the use of electronic and digital tools, mediation in criminal proceedings can take new forms that contribute to increasing the level of citizens’ access to justice, their interactive interaction and improving the efficiency of legal proceedings in general. The conducted research of the international experience of digitalization of interaction between the state and citizens in criminal proceedings shows not only the variety of electronic resources used in criminal proceedings, but also allows us to predict new architectures of criminal proceedings in small and medium-gravity criminal cases that meet the spirit of modern times. The authors have developed a model of the pre-trial procedure for the termination of a criminal case, which provides for the possibility of implementing a conciliation procedure using digital tools, allowing to terminate a criminal case for a minor crime using a universal multifunctional portal in which each of the subjects of the criminal process interactively implements their procedural rights and obligations, and the final decision is made by the court.