Informatization, digitalization and digital transformation: their impact on transparency in criminal justice

This research examines the interrelationship and impact of informatization, digitalization, and digital transformation on the development and implementation of transparency in modern criminal proceedings. The paper explores in detail how these processes are transforming the traditionally closed sphere of criminal proceedings, increasing the level of openness and accessibility of information for legal participants and society. Particular attention is paid to identifying and analyzing systemic contradictions arising between the requirement for transparency and the imperatives of ensuring national security, protecting state and other legally protected secrets, and the individual's right to privacy. The study also examines the place and role of the individual in the transparency-security coordinate system and formulates proposals for improving current criminal procedure legislation. The methodological basis is formed by a combination of general and specific scientific methods, including dialectical, systemic-structural, comparative legal, formal-logical, and sociological methods. The research's novelty lies in its conceptual delineation and clarification of the key categories of "informatization," "digitalization," and "digital transformation" as they apply to criminal proceedings, revealing their specific and multifaceted impact on transparency. The author concludes that these processes, while interrelated, are not identical and contribute differently to openness: informatization creates social demand, digitalization provides tools, and digital transformation fundamentally changes the paradigm of the process. A key finding is the thesis regarding the dialectical contradiction between transparency and security requirements, a conflict that cannot be resolved through restrictions alone, but requires the creation of a system of legal and technological guarantees. As a key solution, it is proposed to enshrine the principle of transparency in criminal proceedings in the Russian Federation Criminal Procedure Code. The author formulates the definition, goals, methods for ensuring transparency, and the limits of its application in criminal proceedings.