Some Features of the Legal Guarantees for the Protection of Persons Providing Assistance to Bodies Engaged in Operational Search Activities

This article discusses some issues of providing legal protection for persons who provide covert assistance to bodies engaged in operational search activities. The problems of the society's attitude to the very fact of cooperation between citizens and law enforcement agencies of the state are touched upon, including taking into account such categories as morality, rights and freedoms of the individual, which are somehow affected by operational search activities; the role of the agent method at various stages of the development of human society is traced. The article argues for the importance and indispensability of the agent component of operational-investigative activities in solving most of the tasks facing it in combating various manifestations of criminal activity, and emphasizes the moral difference between the work of confidants who assist in the detection and suppression of criminal crimes and the activities of the agents of political investigation. The paper also identifies some shortcomings and gaps in the implementation of guarantees of legal and social protection of confidential persons, which arise due to the fact that the legal status of this category of persons is not fully defined at the legislative level. It is proposed to discuss the possibility of making changes to the legislation, for example, to include confidants in the list of person’s subject to state protection measures in accordance with Federal Law No. 119-FZ of 20.08.2004 "On State Protection of Victims, Witnesses and other participants in Criminal Proceedings".

persons providing covert assistance to law enforcement agencies, confidants, operational and investigative activities, confidential cooperation, agent, informant, legal protection