Information legal relations in the Russian legal science do not form a single legal branch. It is rather a matter of a combination of social connections and concepts that make up intersectoral discipline. In other words, the grounds for the emergence of information legal relations are various legal conditions and elements. This article will detail the structure, purpose, role and features of the informational legal sphere in the Russian Federation.
Information Relations
The purpose of information legal relations is the study and study of social relations, the subject of which is information. The type of law under consideration appeared recently and is currently actively developing. Moreover, all the provisions and concepts of the information legal sphere are in the process of formation.
Property law, intellectual property, copyright or patent relations - all this is closely related to the concept of information legal relations. Due to the dynamic development of the legal sphere under consideration, the influence of information norms on the life of society and the state is increasing day by day. These norms gradually acquire social significance, forming a special status of public state law. A special role is played by cross-border institutions - the procedures for obtaining, by public norms from different states, the status of "international".
Thus, information legal relations are social interconnections that have a technical and organizational shell and socially oriented content. Most often, the relations under consideration are formed between workers - during the collection, registration, transportation, processing or storage of various information.
Objects of Law
It is easy to guess that the object of information relations is information. This is a collection of personal data recorded on any tangible medium. The information should reflect information about a particular person. The available information should directly or indirectly identify an individual. A special number, a combination of characters, an image, etc. can serve as an identifier. An information link indicates a mental, physical, cultural, mental, financial, or any other person’s identity.
The existing array of personal data is an organized collection of information about an indefinite number of subjects of informational legal relations. In the form of such an array can be file cabinets, archives, electronic databases and much more.
The objects of the legal branch under consideration can be updated, that is, changed in accordance with applicable laws. They can also be blocked, limited, eliminated or depersonalized. All these operations must be applied with the consent of the subject of personal data. And who is the subject? This will be described later.
About subjects of law
The subject of information relations is the owner of information resources. This can be a person who owns the means of storing intangible property, the owner of technologies or means of providing information databases, or an ordinary user of information. The owner of the relevant resources, technologies or bases fully exercises the powers of possession, disposal and use. Of course, the scope of such powers is limited by the laws of the Russian Federation.
The information user is the subject of legal relations, which refers to the system that stores certain information. Thus it is necessary to distinguish between certain types of users. These may be holders or recipients.
Holders, they are also owners of certain information, must carry out professional labor activities with arrays of personal data. Such activities are carried out legally. The holder, as a rule, is federal or regional authorities, local self-government bodies, as well as legal entities determined by the Russian government.
The recipient of information is legal entities, among which there may be state or self-government bodies. Such persons are disclosed arrays of personal data for review. Recipients do not have to work with the available information.
Formation and liquidation of the information sphere
Any legal relationship has a specific legal content. The endowment of a particular legal branch with content takes place with the adoption of the relevant normative act. It is worth noting that the content of the branch of law includes the totality of rights and obligations of subjects of relations.
A major role in creating the information sphere is played by the concept of legal fact. It is a concrete action to create something. This may be an invention, a project, an author's work or any other thing, with the advent of which the considered legal relations begin to operate. Legal facts are closely related to the processes of search, collection, storage, processing and use of information resources. The beginning of the relationship can be considered requests, petitions, statements or specific actions of individuals or legal entities.
And what are the grounds for the elimination of the legal relationship? These can be acts of an unlawful nature, as well as verbal refusals, termination of documentation, dismissal procedures, catastrophes or natural disasters, deaths of individuals, reform and much more. If we summarize all the factors presented, then two groups of grounds will be formed for the elimination of information legal relations: this is the presence of illegal acts, as well as individual cases of influence on the content of legal relations. In the latter case, we are talking about incomplete performance, lack of performance or full implementation of previously set goals.
Relationship types
Different experts in the field of jurisprudence distinguish various types of public relations under consideration. There are several classifications that allow you to divide the relationship into separate groups. One of the classifications allows you to group the types of information relations as follows:
- Spiritual relationship. This group contains information that affects the mental state of the subjects of the law in question. Information from this group can form or change the worldview of people.
- Commodity-money relations. They contain information on the quality of goods, services or objects of intellectual property rights.
- Relationships that are associated with everyday communication of people. This group is a set of information that people can exchange at any time.
- Relations related to state and social management. Messages and information here appear in the form of legal effects on subjects to ensure proper behavior.
- Relationships related to the management of technical systems. In this case, we are talking about access to information embedded in machines. In fact, in such relationships there is a contact between the personnel, whose duties include servicing the machines, and the owners of the information system.
Another classification of informational legal relations is also highlighted. Here relations are divided into ten groups, each of which acts as the subject of information law. These groups are:
- international exchange of information;
- online relationships;
- realization of information freedoms, interests and human and citizen rights in Russia;
- media organization;
- library and archival business;
- ensuring information security;
- personal data processing;
- electronic circulation of documentation;
- electronic commerce and business;
- consideration of disputes in the field of information law.
Thus, information law is a relatively young, but very complex and incredibly vast legal industry. This proves a lot of classifications indicating a variety of types of legal relations under consideration.
Occurrence of duties
The subjects of information law may have certain rights and obligations. However, everything will depend on the nature of legal relations. So, the available information may be limited in access. The activities of persons working with this kind of information are strictly regulated by the norms of the law. For violation of the restriction regime, the subject may face administrative or even criminal liability. Here are the responsibilities of the subjects in this case to highlight:
- establishing information that is not classified as limited information;
- determination of the composition of information;
- licensing the activities of workers processing information with limited access;
- the establishment of additional restrictions;
- protection of available information;
- establishing liability for violation of the rules, etc.
The presented group of responsibilities related to limited access to information is just an example. There are a huge number of such groups, and all of them are associated with the activities of subjects.
Lawyers can briefly describe such responsibilities. So, the subjects of information law must act in accordance with relevant legislation and the provisions of the employment contract. All powers must be exercised in accordance with the principles of freedom of speech and good faith.
The content of legal relations
The structure of information relations includes objects, subjects and the content of law. Having dealt with objects and subjects, you should begin to consider the content of informational legal relations.
The content includes the powers and responsibilities of the subjects of the considered branch of law. Moreover, the activities of the subjects depend on the norms of information-legal nature, which express the main features of law. So, the informational legal industry is characterized by such signs as constitutionality, focus on the protection of freedoms, interests and human rights of a citizen, technological development and much more.
The powers of the subjects of the law in question are incredibly many. All of them are grouped according to classifications, but only the most basic ones are worth mentioning. So, you need to pay attention to the following points:
- restriction, prohibition or elimination of harmful information;
- execution of copyright, patent and other contracts;
- the creation of works of science or art;
- the right to restrict access to certain types of information;
- formation of information resources and their use (provided that they are registered with the relevant state bodies);
- the right to protection of dignity and honor, to freedom of speech, to inform the public, etc.
All the powers presented are only a small part of what is called the content of information law. It should be remembered that absolutely all actions in the field in question must comply with the norms of the law. But where are these norms fixed? What is the legal basis for this branch of law? About it further.
Constitution as the main legal source
The considered branch of law is based on a multitude of normative legal acts, with the help of which the state forms, changes or eliminates the action of the relevant information norms. Information legislation appeared in the Russian Federation not so long ago, but quickly developed. This indicates that the state assigns an important role to information relations, assigns them special, socially significant qualities.
The first and most famous source here will be the country's main law - the Russian Constitution. Here, attention should be paid to Article 71, paragraph “and”, which refers to information and communication as the most important elements contributing to the protection of human rights and freedoms in Russia. The law says that any information system should work for the benefit of the state and society. And for this it must be provided and regulated by normative acts.
Information law
The second place after the Constitution is occupied by separate federal laws. All of them have the highest legal force, and therefore regulate the most important relationships. Such regulations have a permanent or long-term effect. In accordance with federal laws, all other laws and regulations are built.
Among the by-laws governing the information environment, presidential decrees and government acts stand out. Such documents contain clear instructions or give specific instructions.
There are also local regulations. These are contracts, decrees or collections of rules issued within the same organization (sometimes within the framework of the organizational system). Finally, the final group of sources will be international regulations. These are documents issued by large confederate or interstate associations, which are required to ratify various countries. As a rule, international sources indicate the most general rules and requirements. They may relate to global information security, protection against hacks, attacks, etc.
Information Protection Act
Among the other legal sources on which information law is based, the federal law "On the Protection of Information" stands out in a special way. This normative act regulates a whole range of social relations that arise at the following points:
- creation and use of information technology, their provision;
- protection of information, as well as the rights of entities that take part in the privatization and informatization processes;
- the formation and use of information resources and databases, as well as the storage, legal use, distribution and provision to consumers of various elements from the respective databases.
The second chapter of the law reveals the procedure for the formation and provision of information resources by access categories. The third chapter discusses the regulation of relations associated with the exercise of the right to access information databases. The chapter on informatization speaks of the need to pay special attention to the development of technologies and means of information support.
The law does not provide examples of informational legal relations, but they can easily be compiled on the basis of the data contained in the relevant regulatory acts. The simplest example of a relationship under consideration would be registration. A person provides certain information about himself for the sake of obtaining certain services.
In fact, public relations of this kind surround us everywhere. By registering on private or state portals to obtain certain information, we enter into an information legal relationship. The same thing happens when a person provides information about himself to state bodies or independent companies. Recently, it has become much easier to implement the legal relationship in question, because all the necessary information is stored in computer systems.