Digitalization of judicial proceedings: problems of modernizing the criminal process and ways to overcome them (using the example of the Kingdom of Denmark)

The article analyzes the digitalization level of two main branches of judicial proceedings - civil and criminal - in the Kingdom of Denmark, which is one of the world leaders in the public sector digitalizing. The analysis is carried out by comparing legal norms of common procedural institutions. The study leads to the conclusion that even in technologically advanced European countries there is a digitalization gap between civil and criminal proceedings. The civil process in Denmark is fully digital. The criminal procedure, however, remains predominantly paper-based. This gap is caused by criminal procedure peculiarities: the complex structure of the process, the large number of actors involved, etc. The overcoming of the gap is seen in a mutual synchronous development of digital judicial technologies and legal theory. In the case of success, digitalization will lead to a transparent pre-trial investigation, faster criminal proceedings, increased its efficiency and convenience for all participants.