INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN ENSURING STATE PROTECTION OF CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF PARTICIPANTS IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS IN CRIMINAL CASES RELATED TO THE ACTIVITIES OF ORGANIZED CRIMINAL COMMUNITIES

Crime in its various manifestations is one of the key problems for most independent subjects of international law. Currently, organized criminal formations are characterized by a special negative potential, consistently increasing their corruption, material, technical and other resources and posing a threat not to individual states, but to the entire world community as a whole. However, the capacity of criminal justice systems to investigate and prosecute such forms of serious crimes is often very limited. Persons who assist law enforcement agencies in the course of uncovering and investigating crimes committed in various forms of complicity are at the greatest risk of retaliation, since they decided to testify against their former accomplices (members and leaders of criminal organizations) in order to obtain certain privileges. For this category of persons, within the framework of the domestic law, both a significant reduction in the term of criminal punishment is provided, and a more lenient punishment is imposed than is provided for this crime, a suspended sentence or a released from serving their sentence. After giving evidence and completing criminal proceedings, these persons are not left unattended. Every state facing threats from organized forms of criminal activity is obliged to provide them with both procedural and non-procedural (programmatic) protection. This article discusses the procedure for providing programmatic protection to persons who have assisted law enforcement agencies in the legislatures of the United States of America, England and Italy. Examples of the application of certain measures of state protection in relation to this category of persons are considered. Recommendations are given for the possible introduction of positive law enforcement experience of foreign law enforcement agencies in this area.

state protection, organized crime, witnesses, state protection measures, pre-trial cooperation agreement, security of participants in criminal proceedings, witness protection, international experience, state protection units, marshals service

Gunchenko D. O. International experience in ensuring state protection of certain categories of participants in criminal proceedings in criminal cases related to the activities of organized criminal communities. Biznes. Obrazovanie. Pravo = Business. Education. Law. 2024;2(67):242—247. DOI: 10.25683/VOLBI.2024.67.992.