Criminalistic protection of the rights of minor victims and witnesses. Problem statement

The paper points out the role of criminalistics in providing criminal proceedings with cognitive tools that allow solving one of the key tasks of justice - protecting the rights and legitimate interests of persons and organizations who have been victims of crimes, and above all, minors who have become victims of crimes and the possibility of conducting investigations taking into account the mental and physical characteristics of participants in criminal proceedings. The purpose of the paper is to identify and substantiate the topicality of the problem of criminalistic support for the participation of a minor victim in criminal proceedings. The following methods are used: empirical comparison and description methods, theoretical methods of formal and dialectical logic. Results: a number of problems are identified regarding the participation of minor victims in criminal proceedings. In that connection, a theoretical justification is provided for the need for further research of the problem and for the establishment of a special criminalistic doctrine on that basis.