The transfer of information of national importance to other persons affects the interests of the Russian Federation, the success of its economic development and foreign policy activities. Liability measures are provided for in Art. 283 CC. In addition, the employer has the right to mention the disclosure of state secrets as one of the grounds for dismissing the guilty employee (Article 57 of the Labor Code). There is also the possibility of imposing an administrative penalty (Article 26 of the Law “On State Secrets”).
The crime is committed either intentionally or through negligence, and can be expressed by active actions or failure to take precautions. Intention can be expressed by a desire to rise in the eyes of others, to help an outsider complete scientific work, or even noble intentions to highlight the dangers of ongoing research for the population and the environment. In the latter case, the perpetrator justifies his actions under Art. 42 of the Constitution on the right of citizens to receive complete information about the state of the environment. The difference between the disclosure of state secrets and treason and espionage lies in its goals and recipients of information.
Corpus delicti
This act is qualified if the following signs are present:
- Disseminated information constitutes a state secret.
- The perpetrator gained access to secret information in connection with the performance of official duties, training or other circumstances specified by law.
- The information was passed on to third parties.
In the absence of at least one sign, the crime can be classified under other articles of the Criminal Code.
An object
The crime violates the inviolability of the constitutional order and the security of the country. Its additional objects are classifying information as particularly secret and ensuring its safety.
Item
The subject of this crime includes information of national importance. The specific nature of these is established by Presidential Decree No. 1203 of November 30, 1995. In particular, they relate to the following areas:
- economics;
- Sciences;
- industry;
- operational search;
- weapons;
- military equipment;
- foreign policy;
- intelligence and counterintelligence.
Objective side
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation defines the disclosure of state secrets as its issuance to unauthorized persons . Issuance can be carried out through:
Additionally
An outsider is a person who does not have the right to familiarize himself with the disclosed information. Although it may have access (admission) to other secret information.
- Actions:
- confidential conversation;
- public statements on television, in social media. networks and other media;
- correspondence;
- familiarization with documents, drawings, structures;
- loss of records containing excerpts from documents (the loss of the documents themselves is qualified under Article 284 of the Criminal Code).
- Inaction - non-compliance with the rules:
- restrictions on access to documentation rooms;
- concealing the external appearance of objects taken outside closed premises;
- classification of documents.
Qualifying features
The punishment becomes more severe in the event of severe consequences of the committed act. For example, violation of scientific research, refusal of a foreign partner to conclude an agreement, disclosure of a Russian agent by foreign counterintelligence.
The severity of these is determined proportionately:
- the content of the information provided;
- its importance for the state;
- the number and status of persons who have become familiar with the prohibited data;
- the use of information by the person who received it;
- the amount of damage caused;
- other parameters.
Disclosure of medical confidentiality, that is, information about visiting a medical institution, diagnosis, test results, and so on, is subject to criminal liability under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, there is a list of situations in which such information can be disclosed to the doctor - for example, when receiving official requests from the police, prosecutor's office, military registration and enlistment office, or when investigating an accident. https://lexconsult.online/6340-ponyatie-vrachebnoi-tainy-nakazanie-za-ee-narushenie
An expert opinion is issued by institutions in which information constituting a state secret was disclosed:
- government authorities;
- organizations authorized to grant confidentiality status to information.
If a leak of secret data affects the activities of several government bodies, their conclusions are considered by the Interdepartmental Commission for the Protection of Information of National Importance. Damage caused intentionally is considered in conjunction with the disclosure of the secret.
The end of the crime
An illegal act is considered completed at the moment an unauthorized person becomes familiar with secret information. In this case, the person must consciously perceive the fact of receiving information that constitutes a state secret.
Subject
A special subject of a crime is a sane individual who has reached the age of 16, to whom secret information:
note
Trade secret - information about the company’s activities (for example, technologies used, know-how, information about counterparties, and so on). Depending on the circumstances of the crime, penalties may include administrative fines from 500 rubles to 1,500,000 rubles, forced labor or imprisonment. Read more in this article
Was entrusted by right:
- admission - specially issued to an official and necessary for him to work;
- access - issued by the head of a closed institution to a specific person to familiarize himself with certain information.
- Became known without obtaining special permission in the performance of official duties:
- service personnel;
- courier;
- security guard;
- driver.
Illegal obtaining of information constituting a state secret by other means (through theft, deception, blackmail, threats) is qualified under Art. 283.1 CC.
Subjective side
Form of guilt when committing a crime designated:
- In the first part of Art. 283 of the Criminal Code, it can be any. For example, the culprit: Tells an outsider about secret developments at the enterprise, deliberately wanting to inform him. That is, he commits an act with direct intent.
- Sends a secret document to the director with an employee who does not have access to review this document. There is indirect intent when the perpetrator admits the possibility of the document being read by the specified employee, but does not take any precautions.
If the disclosure of state secrets was committed intentionally, with the intention of causing heavy damage, it is classified as a set of crimes in accordance with the consequences that occurred.
Judicial practice: sentences and punishment under Art. 283 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
- Decision of the Supreme Court: Determination N 203-APU17-21... THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION Case No. 203-APU17-21 APPEAL DECISION Moscow August 31, 2022 Judicial Collegium for Military Personnel of the Supreme...
- Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated... PLENARY OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION DECISION dated December 27, 2002 N 29 ON JUDICIAL PRACTICE IN CASES OF THEFT,...
- Decision of the Supreme Court: Resolution No. 310P13 dated... DECISION OF THE PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION Case No. 310-P13 Moscow January 23, 2014 Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation...
- Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated... PLENARY OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION DECISION of November 15, 2016 N 48 ON THE PRACTICE OF APPLICATION BY COURTS OF LEGISLATION GOVERNING FEATURES...
- Ruling of the ECtHR dated 02/14/2017 EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS THIRD SECTION CASE “MASLOVA VS. RUSSIAN FEDERATION” (Complaint No. 15980/12) JUDGMENT…
- Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases, appeal:... THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION Case No. 72-APU 17-21 APPEAL DECISION Moscow October 04, 2022 Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases...
- Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated... PLENAUM OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION DECISION dated June 25, 2022 N 18 ON JUDICIAL PRACTICE IN CASES OF CRIMES,...
- Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated... PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION DECISION dated December 5, 2018 N 126-P18 ON RESUMING PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE DUE TO NEW...
- Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated... PLENAUM OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION DECISION dated December 17, 2022 N 43 ON SOME ISSUES OF JUDICIAL PRACTICE IN CASES...
- Decision of the Supreme Court: Determination No. 56-КГ16-46 dated... THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION No. 56-КГ16-46 DETERMINATION Moscow March 6, 2017 Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court...
Crimes with similar elements
Criminal acts similar to the disclosure of classified information, the subject of which is also a state secret:
- Loss of documents containing secret information (Article 284 of the Criminal Code). Punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years.
- Theft of secret information, its extortion by deception, threats, blackmail or other violent means (Article 283.1 of the Criminal Code). The punishment will be from 3 to 8 years in prison.
- Treason is the transfer by a citizen of the Russian Federation of secret data to foreign states, organizations, and their representatives (Article 275 of the Criminal Code). The perpetrator is sentenced to 12 to 20 years in prison.
- Espionage is the collection of secret information by a citizen of a foreign state or a stateless person for the benefit of an international or foreign organization (Article 276 of the Criminal Code). Punishable by imprisonment for a term of 10 to 20 years. In this article you can read more about industrial and commercial espionage
To qualify a crime as treason or espionage, there must be intent. The accused deliberately transmits information to foreign organizations, carrying out a destructive mission directed against the security of the Russian Federation. If he was in the dark about the true identity of the interlocutor, his actions will be qualified under Art. 283 of the Criminal Code as disclosure of secrets.
What refers to "secrets"
Information that is prohibited from disclosure in this case may include the following:
- trade secret: features of the technological and production process, results of intellectual activity in the scientific field of the enterprise;
- official secret: personal data of employees and any information that the employee received in the performance of his official duties;
- state secret: information from the military and economic areas of the state, operational intelligence information.
Important! For disclosure of such information to third parties, the manager is obliged to apply disciplinary sanctions to the employee, but only if the employee signed the corresponding document. This is either an employment contract with a clause on non-disclosure of secrets protected by law or an additional agreement to the contract.
Intent
It can be indirect and direct. In the latter case, the perpetrator understands the danger of his behavior, assumes that as a result of his illegal actions, confidential information will become known to outsiders, and desires such consequences to occur. Direct intent, for example, occurs when information is published in the media.
With indirect intent, the perpetrator also understands the danger of the actions, assumes that the information will become available to other persons and consciously allows these consequences, that is, does not take measures to maintain the confidentiality of the information. For example, a citizen shares information in a conversation in a public place.
Lawyer's answers to private questions
My mother has been declared legally incompetent in 2022. Two years before, she drew up a will and said it was in my name. How do I know if this is really the case? Maybe she transferred her property to a stranger.
Your mother can bequeath her property to anyone, it is her will. You cannot find out who the will is made for. The notary will provide this information to you only after the death of the mother.
Can I find out online through the Probate Registry who is named in a closed will? The father has died, the inheritance case has been opened, but the notary has not yet read out the will.
No. Through the Registry you can only find out your full name. notary who opened the inheritance case. Other information, including the list of heirs, is not published there - this would be divulging the secrets of the will.
I made a will for my daughter and told her about it. Besides her, I also have a son, my relationship with him has always been strained. I asked her not to tell him anything. My daughter spilled the beans about the will to him, and now he’s arguing with me. What should I do?
By law, you can recover damages from your daughter and civil liability for violation of privacy. You also have the right to cancel or change the will. If you cancel, after your death the property will be divided among the first priority heirs at law: children, parents and spouse. If there is a previous will, the inheritance will be entered into according to it.
My wife and I drew up a joint will a year ago. I recently changed my mind and decided to cancel it. I came to the notary, did everything, and then my wife received a notification about this. Are the actions of a notary legal, or is this considered a disclosure of the secrets of the will?
The notary's actions are legal; he should have notified your spouse of the cancellation. The notary would be breaking the law if he notified the wife that a personal will was revoked rather than a joint will.
The testator himself announced the contents of his will. Isn't this considered a violation of secrecy?
No. The testator can tell anyone about his will, that’s his business. He is not included in the list of persons subject to liability for violation of secrecy.
Subjective part
Only a certain category of persons can be held accountable under Article 283. First of all, the subject of the crime must have access to state secrets.
In this case, the information must be entrusted to him due to his professional duties or must be known to him in connection with his studies or work activities. Thus, the subject of a crime may be a worker involved in the production of special equipment, an employee involved in the reproduction of documentation, and so on.
Exceptions
The legislation establishes a ban on classifying as state secrets information about:
- Disasters and emergency situations that pose a threat to the safety and health of the population, natural disasters, their forecasts and consequences.
- Compensations, social guarantees, privileges provided to organizations, individuals, employees, institutions.
- Violation of interests, freedoms and rights of man and citizen.
- The size of the gold reserves and foreign exchange reserves of the Russian Federation.
- The state of health of persons holding senior government positions.
- Violations of the law by government structures and their employees.
Responsibility under labor law
A bank employee who is careless or maliciously discloses information constituting bank secrets must be prepared for disciplinary measures to be taken against him. Most often, the employment contracts of credit institution specialists and responsible officials directly contain such grounds for termination of employment relations as disclosure of bank secrets.
In addition, if the employee’s guilty actions became the basis for the recovery of the client’s losses from the bank, the credit institution may subsequently transfer the compensation of these losses to the culprit.
Motive
Disclosure of state secrets occurs for various reasons. Most often, the motive of the culprit is the desire to give weight and importance to his person, to win someone’s favor. In some cases, the reason for committing a crime can be very banal - assistance in writing a scientific work, for example.
Meanwhile, neither motive nor goal affect qualifications.
What information cannot be disclosed
Secrecy applies to all information relating to the will. You cannot even tell someone about the very fact of making a will, not to mention the contents:
- who is the heir;
- what property is inherited;
- shares of heirs;
- conditions of testamentary assignment or refusal.
The above information must not be disclosed to anyone. Only the testator can provide this information if he deems it necessary.
It is also prohibited to disclose information about the change or cancellation of the will, the executor, or the executor.
How to appoint an executor of a will?
What is a testamentary refusal?
Declassification of data
The grounds for removing the secrecy stamps are:
- Acceptance of international obligations by Russia for the open exchange of information that constitutes a state secret in the country.
- A change in circumstances due to which maintaining confidentiality of information becomes impractical.
The period for which information can be classified cannot exceed 30 years. However, in exceptional cases this period may be extended. Such a decision should be made after a meeting of the interdepartmental commission for the protection of state secrets.
How to correctly draw up an act of disclosure of secrets protected by law
There is no standardized form for such a document. Therefore, the act is drawn up in any form in compliance with all the details of such documents. Handwriting is possible, but for ease of reading it is better to use a typewritten version.
The act must contain the following information:
- the name of the company or enterprise where the incident occurred;
- the name of the document itself;
- date and place of compilation (indicate the city or other locality);
- the number assigned to the document;
- date and time of establishment of the fact of disclosure of confidential information;
- the composition of the commission that is appointed to review and investigate the incident;
- Full name of the employee who violated the law;
- the essence of the employee’s misconduct, circumstances, consequences;
- whether or not the employee provided an explanatory note;
- the commission’s opinion on what punishment the employee should suffer;
- signatures, their transcripts and positions of all commission members;
- signature, its decoding and position of the offending employee;
- appendices to the document (this is a report and explanatory note, an act of refusal to read the act and sign it - drawn up in the event of an employee’s refusal).
The document must be kept in the company or enterprise for a period of three years.
If there was an error in the text, it must be corrected. We are talking about factual errors, it is understood that there should be no spelling and punctuation errors. Corrections are made as follows: a part of the text or a word with an error is crossed out with one line, the correct text is written on top, then an o is written next to it (usually in the margins), and the members of the commission put a date and sign, confirming the accuracy of the changes.
