Some problems of ensuring the protection of attorney-client privilege in the criminal process of Russia and Belarus

The article deals with the basic guarantees of protection of attorney-client confidentiality in criminal proceedings. A comparative analysis of the legislative norms of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus regulating the legal regime of attorney-client confidentiality is carried out. The article presents the legal positions of the constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the issue under consideration, which contributed to the amendments to the criminal procedure law of Russia aimed at providing additional guarantees for the protection of attorney-client confidentiality. The author concludes that the practice of application of the rules containing guarantees of protection of attorney-client confidentiality testifies, on the one hand, to the need to strengthen the protection of citizens' rights to ensure the confidentiality of information provided to the lawyer, and, on the other hand, to the importance of preventing abuse of the right to protection by lawyers and their clients.