Social and Legal Studios

Abstract

The classification of information in conformity to the order of access is of great practical importance for the subjects of law enforcement in criminal proceedings. Despite the fact that the law establishes each of the types of information with limited access definition, it is difficult to distinguish it without highlighting their specific features. That’s why the features of different types of information in conformity to the order of access are elucidated. There is also the need for a clear distinction between confidential and secret information, secret and official information in order to one and the same information to be unambiguously classified in conformity to the order of access. There is the collision between the legal norm settled in part seven of Article 6 and the legal norm settled in part two of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information”. In particular, the stamp “for official use only” is assigned not to official information (as it is stated in part seven of Article 6), but to the document that contains such information (as it is stated in part seven of Article 9). As a result, the access to the whole document is limited. So, the need to eliminate this collision of legal norms is substantiated. A discrepancy in the terminology used in the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine and in the legislation on information is emphasized. Due to the discrepancy in the terminology used in the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine and other legislative acts, the procedural rights of participants in criminal proceedings may be wrongfully restricted. Therefore, the term “law-protected secret” used in the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine should be replaced by the term “information with limited access” in order to prevent the procedural rights restriction

Keywords: information with limited access, confidential information, secret information, official information, law-protected secret

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