CRITICAL THINKING IN ACTIVITIES OF AN INVESTIGATOR (COURT)

The paper considers the concept of critical thinking of investigators, judges, and other subjects of criminal proceedings. Its application is determined by the realities of current investigative and judicial practice. The authors note the shortcomings of the mechanism for collecting and processing evidentiary information in the investigation (judicial examination) of criminal cases. The study shows the prospects of applying critical thinking to understanding the situation of the investigation (consideration) of a case. The paper presents the advantages of a situational approach to the examination of a criminal event under the influence of negative factors. Such factors are defined as those that lead to the destruction, distortion, or falsification of evidence. The situational approach guarantees the completeness and comprehensiveness of processing the obtained evidentiary information. From the informational point of view, the authors specify the static and dynamic structures of critical thinking of subjects of criminal proceedings. The paper defines the thinking of an investigator and the court as the process of transferring the circumstances of an event under investigation (consideration) into the system of elements of the subject of evidence. Critical thinking aims at resolving contradictions between the sources of evidence. The complex nature of thinking defines criticality. This allows the subject of criminal proceedings to make proper decisions in the face of negative factors. The reliability criterion becomes an indicator of the quality of critical thinking.  This criterion is included in the system of the concept of critical thinking formulated in the paper. The structure of critical thinking includes the methodology of scientific research, scientific worldview, ways of forming internal beliefs, and algorithms for making heuristic decisions. The authors outline the ways of critical thinking formation among investigators and judges, and other subjects of criminal proceedings. The study shows that it is based on the system of professional knowledge of subjects of criminal proceedings, is confirmed by the development of practical techniques for analyzing carriers of forensic information. The correct application of the evaluation method to establish the reliability of evidence is called an indicator of mastering such thinking.