Ensuring the confidentiality of information about a person involved in criminal proceedings: selected issues and solutions

The article highlights the problem of practical implementation of such a security measure that can be applied to participants in criminal proceedings, such as ensuring the confidentiality of personal information. It is analyzed the views diversity of investigators, prosecutors, judges and lawyers on the algorithm of application of ensuring the personal data confidentiality, on the issue of storage of resolutions (decisions) on the application of this security measure in criminal proceedings. The practice of conducting procedural actions in court with persons whose personal data have been changed is studied separately. The peculiarities of interrogation, identification with protected participants of criminal proceedings in the mode of videoconference and in a closed court session are studied. Previous attempts to solve this problem by developing a Model Instruction on conducting court proceedings with witnesses, victims and other participants in criminal proceedings, in respect of whom security measures have been taken, are considered. According to the analysis results of the domestic legislation on security of participants in criminal proceedings and identification of gaps, after conducting a survey of current investigators, prosecutors, judges and lawyers, the generalization of modern practice of criminal proceedings with the participation of protected persons is made. The purpose of this research is to formulate proposals for a unified and mandatory for all participants in criminal proceedings procedure for working with persons whose personal data are changed for security purposes at all stages of criminal proceedings. The expediency of enshrining at the bylaw level in a separate normative legal act an algorithm for carrying out procedural actions in court with participants in criminal proceedings, which would meet the requirements of current legislation, including the provisions of the Data Summary constituting a state secret, is substantiated.

Features of resposibility for disclosure of state secrets in Ukraine and foreign countries: comparative legal analysis

The article provides a comparative legal analysis of the responsibility for the disclosure of state secrets in Ukraine and foreign countries. It is taken into account that information that is a state secret is extremely important for society and the state. In addition, they need special and vigilant protection from law enforcement, government agencies and civil society and each individual. It is emphasized that in modern conditions of global information network development the problems of solving access to information, as well as effective use of state information resources, which also includes information with limited access and the establishment of order to assign information from one category to another, become relevant. The legal institution of state secrets is developed in most countries of the world, where it occupies a special place and is under close attention of the state. It was found that the legislation of the three studied states (USA, UK, Germany, first of all divides the information into three blocks, and according to the degree of confidentiality of information, measures and the degree of protection of information are determined. It is concluded that a promising way to protect state secrets and distinguish it from classified information will be to adopt the experience of three separate blocks of information, namely: especially classified information, the disclosure of which provides the highest level of punishment, classified information, responsibility for which should also be expressed and enshrining in the Criminal Code of Ukraine and confidential information, for the disclosure of which to establish administrative liability, Keywords: information, state secret, secret information, confidentiality, criminal liability

Prague Spring’s Demise: The Involuntary Emigration of the Journalist Vladimír Tosek

The television journalist Vladimír Tosek broadcasted the occupation until the transmission was discovered, and he was forced to cross the border to Austria. He did not want to emigrate, but the radical political change, which culminated in April 1969, forced him to exile. The Czechoslovak authorities made him pay a heavy price for daring to defy the occupiers in 1968 by making public his previous collaboration with the state secret police. In doing so, the government sought to discredit Tosek and his colleagues in the mass media who identified with and defended vigorously the reform process.

Corruption risks in defense procurement

The article is devoted to the analysis of current regulations in the field of defense procurement. The importance of the problem of corruption for the people of Ukraine is highlighted. The threat to national security caused by high levels of corruption is mentioned. A number of studies on the spread of corruption in the defense sector are processed, in particular by such public organizations as the Independent Anti-Corruption Committee on Defense, Transparency International UK, Transparency International Ukraine and others. Attention is drawn to the presence of a large number of corruption risks in the defense sector. The Law of Ukraine “On Defense Procurement”, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on July 17, 2020, was analyzed. Attention is paid to the fact that the Law of Ukraine “On Defense Procurement” provides for the purchase of goods, works and services for defense purposes, which is a state secret, through closed procurement, and it also regulates the absence of competitive procedures for procurement by import by making purchases directly through electronic trading platforms. Some aspects of the Law of Ukraine “On Public Procurement” used in defense procurement are considered. Based on the results of the analysis, it was concluded that the Law of Ukraine “On Defense Procurement” helps to overcome most of the corruption risks identified in the study of the Independent Anti-Corruption Committee on Defense, however, it also needs significant improvement, as some provisions contain gaps that lead to new corruption risks, if they are not corrected.

Development of a Research Apparatus for Assessing the Effectiveness of Measures to Ensure the Protection of Personal Data

The purpose of the article: to investigate the prerequisites for the development of a methodological apparatus for ensuring the protection of personal data in the activities of the personnel body of the state secret protection service. Research method. system analysis, synergetics. The result: the procedure for the formation of the appropriate research environment is formulated, the stages of formation of the concept of building a research apparatus for assessing the effectiveness of measures to ensure the protection of personal data in the activities of the personnel body of the state secret protection service are given. The concept of building a research apparatus for assessing the characteristics of measures to ensure the protection of personal data in the activities of the personnel body of the state secret protection service is proposed, which allows forming an environment for an adequate assessment of the effectiveness of such measures, as well as determining a set of hypotheses and analogies necessary for setting and solving the problem of increasing the adequacy of assessing the effectiveness of measures to ensure the protection of personal data in the activities of the personnel body of the state secret protection service as a task of developing mathematical models of the characteristics of threats to the security of personal data and the processes of their protection.

Foreign Experience in Ensuring Secrecy during the Fight against Crime by Police Units

An effective system of protection of state secrets is one of the guarantees of preserving the integrity and inviolability of any country, regardless of its location. In the context of the protracted armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, this issue is becoming particularly relevant and requires detailed study in the scientific field and appropriate regulation at the legislative level. One of the most effective methods of implementing this is to study the systems of protection of state secrets of the world in order to borrow their leading experience. This article examines the foreign law enforcement experience of ensuring secrecy in combating crime by criminal police units based on the practice of countries such as the United States, Australia, Iraq, Britain, Poland, and others. Emphasis is placed on the fact that as a positive foreign experience in terms of ensuring secrecy in combating crime by the British criminal police, we can single out the statutory mechanism of prohibition through the court of media coverage of certain information containing information classified as restricted. According to the author, the practice of the United States of America to reduce to a minimum the number of documents containing information that is a state secret and its maximum storage exclusively in electronic form on special secure computers is noteworthy. It would be expedient to introduce, as a positive experience, several promising areas of implementation of foreign practice on issues of ensuring secrecy during the implementation of the operational and investigative activities by units of the National Police of Ukraine. It is proposed to introduce into the national criminal law the distinction between criminal actions by officials for failure to ensure secrecy during the operational and investigative activities, depending on the consequences caused and the type of rights and freedoms that have been violated.

Legal composition of the court in the first instance in the criminal proceedings of Ukraine

The legal composition of the court is part of the concept of «right to a fair trial». Requirements for the legal composition of the court relate to the number of judges, and in some cases also compliance with additional (special) requirements for judges (proceedings against minors; proceedings containing information constituting a state secret; proceedings in the High Anti-Corruption Court). Violation of the requirements of the criminal procedure law regarding the consideration of criminal proceedings in the court of first instance by the legal composition of the court entails the revocation of the court decision. This study pays attention to the presence of some gaps and inconsistencies in the regulation of certain issues related to determining the composition of the court in the court of first instance, and suggests ways to overcome the identified shortcomings of the law. So, according to Article 512 of the CPC of Ukraine consideration of the application of coercive measures of a medical nature is carried out by a judge alone. But there are certain cases when such proceedings are carried out by a collegial court, including a jury trial. Therefore, it is proposed to amend Article 500 of the CPC of Ukraine, noting that the proceedings on the application of coercive measures of a medical nature are carried out by a court composed of a judge alone, except cases provided by the CPC of Ukraine. The CPC of Ukraine does not specify the composition of the court in considering a request for the application of coercive measures of an educational nature (for persons who committed a socially dangerous act that falls under the signs of an act under the Special Part of the Criminal Code before reaching the age of criminal responsibility). In our view, the CPC should clearly define the composition of the court in this case. Key words: court of the first instance, composition of the court, improvement of criminal procedural legislation.