ULOGA INFORMATORA U KRIMINALISTIČKOJ OPERATIVI – KRIMINALISTIČKI I KRIVIČNOPROCESNI ASPEKTI OPERATIVNOG RADA POLICIJE
THE ROLE OF INFORMANTS IN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION – CRIMINALISTIC AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURAL ASPECTS OF OPERATIONAL POLICE WORK

Summary/Abstract: An informant is one of the most important sources of operational intelligence in criminal investigation and an indispensable element of modern police work aimed at detecting and solving criminal offences. Although information obtained from an informant generally has no direct evidentiary value in criminal proceedings, it frequently serves as the basis for planning investigative activities, directing criminal investigations, collecting physical evidence, and obtaining legally admissible evidence. Therefore, it is essential to distinguish operational intelligence from evidence that may lawfully be used in criminal proceedings while fully respecting statutory police powers and the fundamental principles of criminal procedural law.This paper analyses the role of informants in criminal investigation, with particular emphasis on criminalistic, organizational, and criminal procedural aspects of their use in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The paper examines the concept, classification, operational significance, methods of cooperation, protection of identity, professional and ethical standards governing police conduct, and the relationship between operational information provided by informants and evidence admissible under the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.The study applies normative, doctrinal, comparative, and analytical methods and relies on relevant domestic and international literature in criminal investigation, criminal procedural law, and policing. Particular attention is devoted to distinguishing operational police work from procedural evidentiary activities and to the role of informants in investigations involving organized crime, corruption, drug trafficking, human trafficking, financial crime, and cybercrime.The findings indicate that informants remain an indispensable operational instrument of criminal investigation; however, information obtained from them acquires procedural significance only after being verified and corroborated through lawfully obtained evidence. Consequently, the effectiveness of modern criminal investigation depends on the professional management of informants, strict compliance with legal standards, and successful integration of operational policing with the requirements of criminal procedural law.

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