Annotation

This article is the first part of a study of a special category of investigative actions, which are different types of investigative actions conducted in a confidential manner. Each of the post-Soviet states has its own name for these actions, but they share common basic characteristics. A comprehensive analysis of these characteristics has led the authors to recognize the ambiguity of this legal institution, which offers promising opportunities for procedural evidence but does not fully align with the Russian model of pre-trial proceedings. Despite this, it is concluded that he is of certain interest to science, and the arguments in favor of further research on him will be presented in the authors' next article on this topic.