Preconditions of forming a subtheory of secrecy in crime detection and investigation

In the modern conditions the domestic jurisprudence does not meet the practice’s requirements and is far behind the achievements of foreign scientific schools in the understanding of the essence of secrecy in crime detection and investigation. The reason lies in the absence of a subtheory of secrecy, whose basis should be formed by the logically interconnected system of scientific concepts and judgments, describing secrecy as a legal category, in relation to the operational search and criminal procedure activities. Methods: the study is based on the dialectical methodology, revealing the unity of an object in its complex diverse manifestations. The scientific novelty of the research is determined by the range of the analyzed problems which are complex for the operational search and criminal procedure activities. Results: on the basis of the analysis of the normative legal acts and law enforcement practice it is proved that the methods of ensuring secrecy in operational search and criminal procedure activities have the same nature and are based on hiding the restricted information (masking, legendizing, encryption, etc.) from stakeholders. Conclusions: the procedural and tactical issues of achieving secrecy in the operational search activity and criminal proceedings have a common methodological basis. The author substantiates the necessity of creating a subtheory of secrecy in crime detection and investigation which is relevant to the scientific community and practitioners, on whose basis the legislative process and investigative practice should be developed effectively.