Axiological Risks of the Digitization of Criminal Proceedings: Statement of the Problem

Starting from the thesis that the society is now undergoing radical changes due to the developing digital technologies and changes in axiological dominants, the author applies the transdisciplinary research method to the analysis of axiological risks of the digitalization of criminal court proceedings. The conclusions are formulated on the basis of subjective analysis, which allows for a subjective assessment of the likelihood of the risk, because this assessment is specifically linked to the multi-factor expert analysis. The author argues for several interconnected points. First, any stage of digitizing the processes of investigation and consideration of criminal cases (automation, digitization, digital transformation) poses risks for its participants, the only difference being that the gravity of possible negative consequences increases at each stage. Secondly, the legal assessment of the risk of digitizing criminal proceedings could be performed by assessing the likelihood of the risk situation — the «risk of the risk», as well as the assessment of the consequences of a risk situation — «the risk of the consequences of the risk». Finally, the underestimation of the risk in the sphere of criminal proceedings is manifold more serious than that in the private branches of law, as the digitization of criminal proceedings, which is one of the most repressive spheres of the functioning of the state, is connected with the necessity of reconsidering the existing procedural guarantees of the rights of a person in terms of their effectiveness and sufficiency. The author proves that the digitization of court proceedings is a priori a risk for the moral foundations of criminal court proceedings. It is stressed that digitization could primarily damage the moral foundations of criminal court proceedings. Using the example of one of the basic principles of criminal proceedings — the freedom of evaluating evidence (Art. 17 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation) — the author proves that it is necessary to preserve such an ethical category as conscience, which should guide the law enforcer in making decisions.