State secret is important information, the disclosure of which can lead to great damage to the country, the activities of state bodies, and, ultimately, to society. In addition, the degree of secrecy of information constituting a state secret is also highlighted. They are enshrined in Russian law. Consider the important points in this niche.
Defining concept
Before we examine in detail the rules for admission to information constituting a state secret, we will consider what exactly is it.
Let us turn to the interpretation of the term adopted by the Russian government. This is information protected by the state in the following areas of its activity: foreign policy, economic, military, search, intelligence and counterintelligence. The disclosure of such data could theoretically harm the state.
State secrets protection
How is information classified as state secret protected? It goes without saying that this information is protected by law:
- Constitution of the Russian Federation.
- Federal Law "On State Secret" (in particular, Article 3).
- Federal Law "On State Security".
The list of information on state secrets is determined by the independent Federal Law - "On State Secrets" (in particular, the second section). Based on this act, an interdepartmental commission for the protection of state secrets forms a list of secret state-important information.
The state imposes strict restrictions on the dissemination of such information. Moreover, they (restrictions) begin to act both in advance and from the moment of the appearance (creation, development) of such data. In order to streamline work with such classified information by the same state, relevant regulatory acts are being drawn up. This is the so-called brown information security system.
Those bodies of state power, the leadership of which is vested with the exclusive right to classify information as state secret, develop, within the framework of their authority, detailed lists of information on state secret. That is, data that in the future must necessarily be classified.
It is guided by such lists that the performers determine the degree of secrecy of the data constituting state secrets, the media that they create.
Legislative regulation
Information on the degree of secrecy of information constituting a state secret is enshrined in the Law "On State Secret" No. 5485-1 (1993), Art. 8.
What does the article say? Consider its main provisions:
- The degree of secrecy of information constituting a state secret corresponds to the level of damage that could theoretically be done to the security of the Russian Federation as a result of the dissemination of this information.
- The procedure for determining the extent of damage that could theoretically be caused to Russian security as a result of the dissemination of such classified information is determined by the government of the Russian Federation.
- In domestic legislation, there are three degrees of secrecy of information constituting a state secret. Three fingerboards for carriers of such information correspond to them: “special importance”, “top secret” and simply “secret”.
- The assignment of this or that information to one of the degrees of secrecy of information constituting a state secret is directly established by the Russian government.
- The use of the aforementioned privacy vultures to classify information that is not classified as state secrets is not permitted by law.
Levels and Vultures
From the foregoing, we can conclude that in the Russian Federation there are three privacy stamps of information constituting a state secret:
- "Of particular importance."
- "Top secret".
- "Secret."
As for the times of the USSR, in that historical period the levels of secrecy of state documents were somewhat higher:
- "Top Secret. Information in a special folder."
- "Special folder."
- "Of particular importance."
- "Top secret".
- "Secret."
- "Data is for business use only."
Classification system
The above classification of information constituting state secrets is approved by the Law on State Secrets. It performs several functions at once:
- The classification of classified data of national importance.
- The circle of information that is / is not subject to such classification.
- The order of both classified and classified information.
- The admission of individuals to state secrets.
- Measures taken to protect this sensitive data.
The attribution of this or that information to a certain level of secrecy is regulated by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 870 (1995). Consider how information is classified here.
Critical Data
It is important to highlight the following information:
- Military.
- Foreign policy.
- Scientific and technical.
- Intelligence.
- Economic.
- Counterintelligence.
- Operational Investigation.
These are the data that can theoretically cause damage to the Russian Federation in one or more of the above areas of activity.
Top Secret Data
These include information on the same areas of activity:
- Military
- Counterintelligence.
- Foreign policy.
- Scientific and technical.
- Economic.
- Intelligence.
- Operational Investigation.
- Counterintelligence.
The dissemination of such data can harm the sectors of the Russian economy, ministries, government departments in one of the designated areas of activity.
Secret data
This is all information constituting state secrets, but not related to the most important and top secret. Here, the damage caused by the Russian Federation will be considered the damage that has been caused to one or several enterprises, organizations in the fields of activity:
- Counterintelligence.
- Economic.
- Scientific and technical.
- Operational Investigation.
- Military
- Intelligence
- Foreign policy.
What can not be a state secret?
By the information constituting a state secret, far from all information can be attributed. So, in Art. 7 of the Federal Law "On state secrets" provides a list of information that cannot be classified:
- Disasters, emergencies that can threaten the life, safety, health of citizens. As well as the consequences of accidents, emergencies, natural disasters, official forecasts of their occurrence and expected damage.
- The state of health, ecology, sanitation, education, demography. agriculture, culture, data on the level of crime in society.
- Compensation, social guarantees, other privileges and preferences that the state provides to citizens, enterprises, individual officials, organizations and institutions.
- The facts of violation of freedoms and rights of a citizen and a person.
- The size of foreign exchange reserves and the gold reserves of Russia.
- The health status of senior decision-makers in the structure of the Russian state power.
- Facts of violation of the law by officials-representatives of domestic state power.
Declassification of information
State secrets in some cases may be declassified. What does it mean? The restriction on the distribution of such information is removed. However, there must be sufficient reasons for declassifying these data:
- The assumption by the Russian Federation of a number of interstate obligations for an open exchange of information, which contains facts that constitute state secrets in Russia.
- A change in the objective group of circumstances, which is why further protection of information that is a state secret is inappropriate.
There is another prescription. The period of classification of data that make up state secrets may not exceed 30 years. Only as an exception, this period can be extended by appropriate decision of the interagency committee for the protection of state secrets.
Information Access
Forms of admission to information constituting a state secret are also determined by Russian law. In particular, there is a list of positions of responsibility in which individuals receive admission to Russian state secrets. It was approved by Order of the President of the Russian Federation No. 24-rp (210).
Access to classified information of national importance have:
- Chairman of the Russian government.
- Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation.
- Head of the Presidential Administration.
- Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
- First Deputy Prime Minister.
- Deputy Chairman of the Russian Government.
- Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation.
- The head of state apparatus.
- First Deputy The Prosecutor General is the chairman of the investigative committee operating at the prosecutor's office.
- Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee.
- Federal Minister.
- Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation.
- Chairman of the Russian Audit Chamber.
- Chairman of the Central Bank of the country.
- President of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
- Director of the Federal Service.
- Head of a federal agency.
- Head of the highest state executive authority at the level of the subject of the Russian Federation.
- Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia.
- The head of the institution, which, according to Russian law, is authorized to carry out public administration in certain areas of activity.
The following persons may also be allowed to information relating to state secrets without conducting any verification measures in the Russian Federation:
- Deputies of the State Duma.
- Members of the Federation Council.
- Judges (at the time of the exercise of their official powers).
- Lawyers acting as advocates in criminal proceedings in cases that are directly related to information constituting state secrets.
Limitation
Persons admitted to information constituting a state secret may be restricted in some of their constitutional rights. In particular, this applies to the following:
- Free travel abroad of Russia.
- The right to disseminate data (only the information that constitutes state secrets).
- The right to use specific discoveries and inventions classified by the state.
- The right to privacy.
In the Russian Federation, such restrictions are imposed by security agencies. The basis for this is the conclusion on the citizen's awareness of the data constituting state secrets.
In our state special acts are in force, the provisions of which relate this or that information to state secret, establish for it the degree of secrecy, the possibility of declassification. They also determine the rules for working with such information, the access to it of specific responsible persons.