The Needs of Corruption Crimes Investigation and Main Directions of Forensic Research

The paper examines both the practical problems of preventing and investigating corruption and related crimes, and the main shortcomings of forensic scientific and, more broadly, interdisciplinary applied research in this area. It is noted that in the presence of positive trends, law enforcement practice and science are still far from the desired parameters in terms of the principle of effectiveness in combating corruption. Next, the essence of corruption and related crimes is revealed, and several classifications are given for various reasons. The phenomenon of their multiplicity, other key concepts and scientific categories are explained. It is proved that the most dangerous corruption crimes are high-tech, highly organized and are committed repetitively, in various combinations. Their prevention and investigation must be supported by high-tech tools that anticipate the natural evolution of corruption crimes. Means to overcome the shortcomings of practice and theory are listed, and the main directions of scientific research in this area are determined. Among them are: 1) the introduction of state-of-the-art digital tools and methods for the prevention and investigation of corrupt assets into forensic techniques; 2) adherence by developers to the principle of law enforcement effectiveness — maximum investigation results with minimal expenditure of state resources; 3) development of new methods for investigating corruption and related crimes: a) by group, based on the method and criminal legal criteria, b) in certain fields of activity. It is concluded that criminalistic and interdisciplinary recommendations should be developed in two senses: as independent investigation methods; as a means of updating and modernizing existing methodological developments for combating most other, especially organized, types of criminal activity. 

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