Translate this page:
Please select your language to translate the article


You can just close the window to don't translate
Library
Your profile

Back to contents

International Law
Reference:

Information security in the Union State: the universal legal dimension

Duben' Andrei Kirillovich

Scientific Associate, Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Assistant, Department of Civil and Administrative Proceedings, Russian State University of Justice

119019, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Znamenka str., 10

k.duben@mail.ru
Other publications by this author
 

 

DOI:

10.25136/2644-5514.2024.1.69960

EDN:

ERZJPG

Received:

25-02-2024


Published:

26-03-2024


Abstract: The subject of the study forms a set of legal norms of normative legal acts of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and the interstate association of the Union State of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, international treaties(agreements) regulating public relations in the field of information security, law enforcement practice, foreign experience of legal regulation, as well as provisions theoretical interdisciplinary research in this field. The object of the study is public relations related to the legal provision of information security in the Union State. The Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus in the context of new challenges and threats, as well as digital transformation and geopolitical changes. The analysis indicates a certain experience of scientific research in this field. At the same time, in the context of significant changes in socio-economic and foreign policy conditions, new challenges and threats, multi-vector scientific research in the information and legal sphere is necessary. The methodological basis of this study is a system of modern general scientific and private law methods. The study of the formation, development, place and role of the legal provision of information security of the Union State of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus was conducted using the following general scientific methods: analysis and synthesis, abstraction and modeling, generalization, description, etc. The main conclusions of this study were the following proposals, it is necessary to develop and approve the conceptual framework for the legal provision of information security for the development of regional interstate cooperation within the framework of the Union State of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation. This is important for solving the tasks of ensuring national and international information security, implementing agreements within the framework of regional interstate associations and further forming a system of universal public law mechanisms for ensuring information security. At the same time, the strategic legal acts of the Union State in the field of information security are dynamic in nature due to changes in social and political relations, including at the international level. There is a growing tendency to perceive the information space not only as an area requiring the use of exclusively protective measures of influence, but also involving active offensive measures to the extent necessary to protect national interests.


Keywords:

international law, information security, international security, place of information security, digitalization, international organizations, problems of cooperation, harmonization, legal support, Union State

This article is automatically translated.

In the context of the development of the information and communication space and the geopolitical changes taking place in the world, information security is becoming one of the priorities in international law, representing a complex, dynamic system with natural connections between its elements and the processes of organization and self-organization. Strategic planning of information security in modern conditions needs scientific and legal understanding from the perspective of law in order to develop new approaches to solving priority tasks.

It is worth noting that the methodological basis of this study is a system of modern general scientific and private law methods. The study of the formation, development, place and role of legal information security in the system of international law was conducted using the following general scientific methods: analysis and synthesis, observation, generalization, description, etc. In the course of the research and the construction of the author's judgments and conclusions, the most important provisions were dialectics, systemic and risk-oriented approaches for the study of the legal system of information security.

The Russian Federation pursues an active State policy, including legal regulation in the field of information security. In this regard, it seems advisable to develop strategic documents in the field of information security covering interstate cooperation. Russia is an active participant in various integration associations: BRICS, CSTO, SCO, EAEU, CIS, Union State.We will focus separately on the legal regulation of the information security of the Union State.

It is worth noting that within the framework of interstate cooperation, agreements are concluded concerning the protection of information and other issues in the field of information security. This approach was not chosen by chance, since the resolution of issues related to the information space requires not only the search for common ground on the part of states and the formation of common approaches, but also a certain trust. Only when interacting with countries with which Russia has partnership and allied relations, one can hope for strict observance of common goals and objectives in the information space.

It draws attention to the fact that each State primarily cares about its own national information sovereignty, including digital and technological aspects. The information security of other states often concerns other participants in the geopolitical struggle only to the extent that information threats affecting the interests of one State may affect the national interests of another State. Such a situation is also possible with close integration cooperation between States, which involves mutual protection of information. Building partnership and allied relations is possible only with mutual responsibility for the information security of each of the participants, which plays a significant role in the interaction of states on the platforms of various integration associations, including the Union State.

Strategic regulatory legal acts have been adopted in order to ensure information security in the member States of the Union State. In 2016, the Information Security Doctrine of the Russian Federation was approved. This normative legal act regulates part of public relations, through which the protection of the state in the information sphere is purposefully achieved and vectors of further improvement of legal institutions are determined in order to balance the interests of the individual, society and the state in this environment. It is important to note that the comparative legal analysis of the Information Security Doctrines of the Russian Federation in 2000 and 2016, respectively, indicate an increase in the importance of the studied sub-sector in Russian legislation. These doctrines are of a strategic nature and are aimed at improving legal norms in the field of information security. Thus, one of the main innovations in the Information Security Doctrine of the Russian Federation in 2016 is the obligation to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Doctrine and submit an annual report to the President of the Russian Federation. This provision is aimed at improving the effectiveness of public authorities and non-governmental organizations within their powers.

In 2019, the Concept of Information Security of the Republic of Belarus was approved. According to this document, the State acts as a guarantor for the protection of citizens' information rights by guaranteeing human and civil rights to the storage and dissemination of information. Meanwhile, the state is developing information security standards and on their basis, state systems will be regularly audited. It is worth agreeing with the position of T.Z. Shalaeva, who notes that the Concept of information security of the Republic of Belarus is based on the geopolitical interests of the country, based on international relations based on cooperation within the framework of integration associations [1, p. 184].

It is worth noting that within the framework of cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, plans are being adopted to implement the main directions of Belarusian-Russian cooperation in the field of international information security, providing for the identification, coordination and implementation of necessary joint measures to ensure information security, conducting bilateral interdepartmental consultations, information exchange, analysis and assessment of emerging threats in this area, coordination measures to respond to these threats [2, p. 11]. In our opinion, these regulations lack a theoretical, legal, scientific and methodological orientation for the development and implementation of unified approaches to the formation of legislation regulating the sphere of information security of the Union State.

The analysis of normative legal acts of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus shows that the processes of digital transformation necessitate the "modernization of legal approaches to the regulation of new public relations" [3, p. 4]. As A.V. Minbaleev rightly notes, in the modern digital era, methods of legal regulation should be flexible enough and ensure the prompt development of a system of ways and means of responding to new threats and challenges [4, p. 62]. We believe that this position of the author largely determines the international legal regulation of information security, where traditional legal sources of regulation in the form of international treaties are still insufficiently developed. In this regard, the adoption and implementation of other international acts in this area, including political declarative documents and acts of "soft law", is of great importance for integration associations.

The harmonization of the laws of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, which are members of this integration association, undoubtedly contributes to the strengthening of allied and partnership relations between these states in the field of building a secure information environment, while it will allow us to develop common principles of legal information security, compliance with which will be mandatory for all members of the integration association.

In order to reduce the vulnerability of information security from political and economic sanctions, the Union State promptly takes measures to regulate information security, in 2023 the Concept of Information Security of the Union State was approved, which provides for the protection of the digital and information space of Russia and Belarus. The concept defines the basis for the formation of a coordinated state policy and the development of public relations in the field of information security, as well as the development of measures to improve the information security systems of Russia and Belarus.

One of the urgent tasks within the framework of the Concept for the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus is the legal regulation of information security aimed at creating a system of legal awareness of all subjects of society. Within the framework of the Information Security Concept of the Union State, the main directions of the development of the state policy of the Union State can be identified: the formation of a union program to create a Belarusian-Russian scientific expert and analytical infrastructure (for example, an expert or scientific council based on modern scientific research) in order to implement a systematic mechanism for operational decision-making by the bodies of the Union State on security priorities; the implementation of a set of urgent measures to harmonize the legislation of the states in order to form a unified legal framework of the Union State for ensuring security in the information sphere (including the integration of information systems, distributed registry technologies, digital identification, including biometric, etc.), ensuring not only the formation of a unified information and legal space, but also the creation of a unified information a system that ensures legal awareness of all subjects of the Belarusian-Russian society, its reliability and effective counteraction to any disinformation; the formation of measures for the legislative registration of the independent information infrastructure of the Union State on the basis of sovereign information platforms, critical information security facilities that ensure the national interests of the Union State, including in the field of customs, tax, financial and other institutions ensuring the vital activity of the population [5, p. 309].

It is important to note that in international law, to date, there is no basic and universal international agreement in the field of information security, despite active interstate cooperation in this area and positive experience in the development of international acts within the framework of integration associations. In this regard, there is a need to promote the Russian initiative to adopt a Convention on ensuring international information security at the United Nations [6]. In addition, in the absence of legally binding international legal acts in this area, a significant role is assigned to other regulatory mechanisms, in particular documents of a political nature and acts of "soft law" [7].

Consequently, the strategic legal acts of the Union State in the field of information security are dynamic in nature due to changes in social and political relations, including at the international level. There is a growing tendency to perceive the information space not only as an area requiring the use of exclusively protective measures of influence, but also involving active offensive measures to the extent necessary to protect national interests. We believe that the existing experience of the Union State has largely determined for the state the new conceptual foundations of the information security doctrine with its further improvement.

Thus, at the interregional level, cooperation in the field of information security is becoming more active and the activities of interstate organizations are gaining key importance. The member States of the Union State emphasize that the information security of each State forms the general security and directly affects the state of collective security. In this regard, further cooperation is necessary in order to develop and approve the conceptual foundations of the legal provision of information security of the Union State. This is important for solving the tasks of ensuring national and international information security, implementing the agreements of the Union State and further forming a system of universal public law mechanisms for ensuring information security.

References
1. Shalaeva, T. Z. (2020). Information security in the legislation of the Union state. Modern information technologies. Theory and practice: Materials of the V All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference (pp. 183-186).
2. Polyakova, T. A., & Smirnov, A. A. (2022). Legal support of international information security: problems and prospects. Russian Law Journal, 3, 7-15.
3. Polyakova, T. A. (2019). Digitalization and synergy of legal provision of information security. Information law, 2, 4.
4. Digital transformation: challenges to law and vectors of scientific research. (2021). Under the general editorship. RG-Press.
5. Polyakova, T. A. (2021). Strategic tasks of legal provision of information security of the Union State of the Republic of Belarus and Russia. Information technologies and law: collection of materials of the VII International Scientific and Practical Conference.
6. Krutskikh, A. V., & Zinovieva, E. S. (2021). International information security: approaches of Russia. MGIMO MFA of Russia.
7. Polyakova, T. A. (2020). Models of legal regulation of information security in conditions of great challenges in the global information society. Amirit.

First Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The subject of the research in the article submitted for review is, as its name implies, information security in the Union State. The scientist focused his attention on the legal aspect of the problem. The stated boundaries of the study are observed by the author. The methodology of the research is not disclosed in the text of the article. The relevance of the research topic chosen by the scientist is beyond doubt and is justified by him as follows: "It draws attention to the fact that each state primarily cares about its own national information sovereignty, including digital and technological aspects. The information security of other states often concerns other participants in the geopolitical struggle only to the extent that information threats affecting the interests of one State may affect the national interests of another State. Such a situation is also possible with close integration cooperation between States, which involves mutual protection of information. However, building partnership and allied relations determines mutual responsibility for the information security of each of the participants, which currently plays a significant role in the interaction of states on the platforms of various integration associations, including the Union State." Additionally, the author needs to list the names of the leading experts involved in the study of the problems raised in the article, as well as reveal the degree of their study. The scientific novelty of the work is manifested in a number of conclusions of the scientist: "... the practice of adopting plans for the implementation of the main directions of Belarusian-Russian cooperation in the field of international information security, providing for the definition, coordination and implementation of necessary joint measures to ensure information security, conducting bilateral interdepartmental consultations, information exchange, analysis, has been widely developed within the framework of cooperation between Russia and Belarus and assessment of emerging threats in this area, coordination of response measures to these threats [2, p. 11]. However, in our opinion, these Plans lack a theoretical, legal, scientific and methodological orientation for the development and implementation of unified approaches to the formation of legislation regulating the sphere of information security of the Union State"; "We believe that this position of the author largely determines the international legal regulation of information security, where traditional legal sources of regulation in the form of international contracts are not yet sufficiently developed. In this regard, the adoption and implementation of other international acts in this area, including political declarative documents and acts of "soft law", are of great importance for integration associations"; "... strategic legal acts of the Union State in the field of information security are dynamic in view of changes in public and political relations, including at the international level. There is a growing tendency to perceive the information space not only as an area requiring the use of exclusively protective measures of influence, but also involving active offensive measures to the extent necessary to protect national interests. We believe that the experience of this integration association has largely determined for the state the new conceptual foundations of the information security doctrine with its further improvement." Thus, the article makes a certain contribution to the development of domestic legal science and undoubtedly deserves the attention of potential readers. The scientific style of the research is fully sustained by the author. The structure of the work is quite logical. In the introductory part of the article, the author substantiates the relevance of his chosen research topic. In the main part of the work, the scientist analyzes the regulatory framework for ensuring information security in the Union State and suggests ways to improve it. The final part of the article contains general conclusions based on the results of the study. The content of the article corresponds to its title, but is not devoid of shortcomings of a formal nature. Thus, the author writes: "The existing problems of interstate interaction at the sites of international organizations in the context of geopolitical risks and the global civilizational crisis, while forming the state policy of the Russian Federation, the importance of interstate interaction at the sites of regional integration unions increases" - the proposal has not been agreed, its meaning is obscured. The scientist points out: "Today, the legal regulation of relations in the field of information security is determined by the needs of regulating public relations that have developed between subjects on national security issues and creating conditions for achieving an optimal level of security in political, legal, military, information and socio-economic spheres" - "Today, the legal regulation of relations in the field of information security is determined by the needs of regulating public relations The relations that have developed between the subjects on national security issues, and the creation of conditions for achieving an optimal level of security in the political, legal, military, information and socio-economic spheres." The author notes: "As A.V. Minbaleev rightly notes in the modern digital era, the methods of legal regulation should be flexible enough and ensure the prompt development of a system of ways and means of responding to new threats and challenges [4, p. 62]" - a comma is omitted after mentioning the surname of the scientist. The scientist writes: "One of the urgent tasks within the framework of the Concept for the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation is the legal regulation of information security in the Union State, which is the formation of a single information and legal space, not only mutual consistency of normative legal acts, but also the creation of a system that ensures legal awareness of all subjects of society" - "Republic"; proposal not agreed upon. Thus, the article needs careful proofreading. There are many typos, punctuation and stylistic errors in it (the list of errors and typos given in the review is not exhaustive!). The bibliography of the study is presented by 7 sources (monographs and scientific articles), not counting normative material. From a formal and factual point of view, this is quite enough. The author managed to reveal the research topic with the necessary depth and completeness. There is an appeal to opponents, but it is general in nature due to the focus of the study (it analyzes the regulatory framework for ensuring information security of the Union State). The scientific discussion is conducted by the scientist correctly; the provisions of the work are justified to the appropriate extent. There are conclusions based on the results of the study ("Thus, it is necessary to develop and approve the conceptual framework for the legal provision of information security for the development of regional interstate cooperation within the framework of the Union State of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation. This is important for solving the tasks of ensuring national and international information security, implementing agreements within the framework of regional interstate associations and further forming a system of universal public law mechanisms for ensuring information security"), but they are general in nature and do not reflect all the scientific achievements of the author. Thus, they need to be specified. The interest of the readership in the article submitted for review can be shown primarily by specialists in the field of international law, information law, provided that it is finalized: disclosure of the research methodology, additional justification of the relevance of its topic, concretization of conclusions based on the results of the study, elimination of violations in the design of the work.

Second Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

REVIEW of an article on the topic "Information security in the Union State: the universal legal dimension". The subject of the study. The article proposed for review is devoted to topical issues of legal regulation of relations regarding information security in the Union State. The author examines the main directions of Russian state policy in this area, as well as jointly adopted acts of Russia and Belarus. The specific subject of the study was, first of all, international acts, legal acts of Russia and Belarus, and the opinions of scientists. Research methodology. The purpose of the study is not stated directly in the article. At the same time, it can be clearly understood from the title and content of the work. The purpose can be designated as the consideration and resolution of certain problematic aspects of the issue of legal regulation of relations regarding information security in the Union State. Based on the set goals and objectives, the author has chosen a methodological basis for the study. As stated in the article itself, "the methodological basis of this study was a system of modern general scientific and private law methods. The study of the formation, development, place and role of legal information security in the system of international law was conducted using the following general scientific methods: analysis and synthesis, observation, generalization, description, etc. In the course of the research and the construction of the author's judgments and conclusions, the most important provisions were dialectics, systemic and risk-oriented approaches for the study of the legal system of information security." In particular, the author uses a set of general scientific methods of cognition: analysis, synthesis, analogy, deduction, induction, and others. In particular, the methods of analysis and synthesis made it possible to summarize and share the conclusions of various scientific approaches to the proposed topic. The most important role was played by special legal methods. In particular, the author actively applied the formal legal method, which made it possible to analyze and interpret the norms of current legislation (first of all, the norms of the acts of the Russian Federation and Belarus). For example, the following conclusion of the author: "The harmonization of the laws of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, which are members of this integration association, undoubtedly contributes to the strengthening of allied and partnership relations between these states in the field of building a secure information environment, while it will allow us to develop common principles of legal information security, compliance with which will be mandatory for all members of the integration association. In order to reduce the vulnerability of information security from political and economic sanctions, the Union State promptly takes measures to regulate information security, in 2023 the Concept of Information Security of the Union State was approved, which provides for the protection of the digital and information space of Russia and Belarus. The concept defines the basis for the formation of a coordinated state policy and the development of public relations in the field of information security, as well as the development of measures to improve the information security systems of Russia and Belarus." Thus, the methodology chosen by the author is fully adequate to the purpose of the study, allows you to study all aspects of the topic in its entirety. Relevance. The relevance of the stated issues is beyond doubt. There are both theoretical and practical aspects of the significance of the proposed topic. From the point of view of theory, the topic of legal regulation of relations regarding information security in the Union State is complex and ambiguous. Information security in modern conditions must be ensured by the forces of various states and based on the possibilities for their interaction. It is difficult to argue with the author that "In the context of the development of the information and communication space and the geopolitical changes taking place in the world, information security is becoming one of the priorities in international law, representing a complex, dynamic system with natural connections between its elements and the processes of organization and self-organization. Strategic planning of information security in modern conditions needs scientific and legal understanding from the perspective of law in order to develop new approaches to solving priority tasks." Thus, scientific research in the proposed field should only be welcomed. Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of the proposed article is beyond doubt. Firstly, it is expressed in the author's specific conclusions. Among them, for example, is the following conclusion: "at the interregional level, cooperation in the field of information security is becoming more active and the activities of interstate organizations are gaining key importance. The member States of the Union State emphasize that the information security of each State forms the general security and directly affects the state of collective security. In this regard, further cooperation is necessary in order to develop and approve the conceptual foundations of the legal provision of information security of the Union State. This is important for solving the tasks of ensuring national and international information security, implementing the agreements of the Union State and further forming a system of universal public law mechanisms for ensuring information security." These and other theoretical conclusions can be used in further scientific research. Secondly, the author suggests ideas for generalization and original comments on the acts of the Union State of Russia and Belarus in the field of information security. This may be useful for practitioners in this field. Thus, the materials of the article may be of particular interest to the scientific community in terms of contributing to the development of science. Style, structure, content. The subject of the article corresponds to the specialization of the International Law journal, as it is devoted to legal problems related to information security issues in the Union State of Russia and Belarus. The content of the article fully corresponds to the title, as the author has considered the stated problems, and has generally achieved the set research goal. The quality of the presentation of the study and its results should be recognized as fully positive. The subject, objectives, methodology and main results of the study follow directly from the text of the article. The design of the work generally meets the requirements for this kind of work. No significant violations of these requirements were found. Bibliography. The quality of the literature used should be highly appreciated. The author actively uses the literature presented by authors from Russia (Krutskikh A.V., Zinovieva E.S., Polyakova T.A., Smirnov A.A., Shalaeva T.Z. and others). Many of the cited scientists are recognized scientists in the field of information security issues. Thus, the works of the above authors correspond to the research topic, have a sign of sufficiency, and contribute to the disclosure of various aspects of the topic. Appeal to opponents. The author conducted a serious analysis of the current state of the problem under study. All quotes from scientists are accompanied by author's comments. That is, the author shows different points of view on the problem and tries to argue for a more correct one in his opinion. Conclusions, the interest of the readership. The conclusions are fully logical, as they are obtained using a generally accepted methodology. The article may be of interest to the readership in terms of the systematic positions of the author in relation to issues of ensuring information security in the Union State of Russia and Belarus. Based on the above, summing up all the positive and negative sides of the article, "I recommend publishing"