Information transparency and publicity of criminal proceedings

In modern conditions, under the influence of the rapid development of information technologies, the previously established paradigm of relations between the court and civil society is significantly changing. Transparency and publicity of legal proceedings have been proclaimed one of the goals of the information policy of the Russian judicial system for 2020–2030. Therefore, there is a need for a scientific study of information openness and publicity in criminal proceedings, especially considering the problems that have arisen due to the adverse impact of the global pandemic.

The purpose of this study is to distinguish between the concept and signs of information openness and publicity of criminal proceedings.

During the research, dialectical, formal-logical, and other general scientific research methods were used; special legal methods: formal legal, comparative legal, etc.

In the course of the study, it was concluded that the publicity of legal proceedings is the ability of any person not participating in the case to actually or virtually be present in the hall where an open court session is held, and information openness in the activities of the courts – as a range of legal and communication tools intended for society as a whole and public control over judicial activity. In addition, publicity as a general condition for trial in criminal proceedings is a judicial constitutional principle of the criminal process, and information openness of legal proceedings is a judicial principle, which consists in providing access to information about the activities of the courts, which contributes to the realization of everyone's right to access to information. The constitutional principle of publicity, as a law of direct action, fully applies to trials in criminal proceedings

1. Zaichenko E.V. [Information technologies and ensuring the rights of participants in civil proceedings] // [Modern information technologies and law]. Ed. by E.B. Lauts; Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov. M., 2019. Pp. 135–156. (In Russ.)]

2. Kail' Ya.Ya. [Correlation between the concepts of "publicity", "openness", "publicity" of the trial]. Pravovaya paradigma = Legal paradigm. 2017;16(3):84–89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/lc.jvolsu.2017.3.14 (In Russ.)]

3. Momotov V.V. [Judicial community and mass media]. Sud'ya = Judge. 2019;5(101):8–13. (In Russ.)]

4. Potapenko S.V. [Openness and publicity of legal proceedings in the light of the Concept of information policy of the judicial system for 2020-2030]. Trudy po intellektual'noi sobstvennosti = Proceedings on intellectual property. 2020;XXXV(1-2):5–17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17323/tis.2020.13391 (In Russ.)]

5. Potapenko S.V. [Glasnost as a general condition for trial and as a constitutional principle in criminal proceedings]. Teoriya i praktika obshchestvennogo razvitiya = Theory and practice of social development. 2022;(1):103–107. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24158/tipor.2022.1.15 (In Russ.)]

6. Foinitskii I.Ya. [Course of criminal proceedings: in 2 volumes. T. 1.] St. Petersburg, 1996. (In Russ.)]

7. Flower L. and Ahlefeldt M.-S. The criminal trial as a live event: Exploring how and why live blogs change the professional practices of judges, defence lawyers and prosecutors. Media, Culture & Society. 2021;43(8):1480–1496. DOI: 10.1177/01634437211022730.

8. Kalenteva T.A. and Bozhko A.P. Digitalization of Legal Proceedings as a Way to Save Budget Funds. Digital Technologies in the New Socio-Economic Reality. 2022. Pp.645–653. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83175-2_79.

9. Schultze S. The Price of Ignorance: The Constitutional Cost of Fees for Access to Electronic Public Court Records. Georgetown Law Journal. 2018;106(4):1198–1226. Available: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3026779.