SOME WAYS TO IMPROVE CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ESPIONAGE

Abstract

Abstract: The article examines espionage activities, which are carried out for the purpose of transfer or collection for the purpose of transfer to a foreign state, a foreign organization or their representatives, information that constitutes a state secret, if these actions are committed by a foreigner or a stateless person. The article singles out specific types of information that belong to state secrets, listed in the Law of Ukraine “On State Secrets”. They are information: 1) in the field of defense; 2) in the field of economy, science and technology; 3) in the field of foreign relations; 4) in the field of state security and law enforcement. The purpose of the article is to reveal the essence of espionage in the form of collection, to clarify the concept of collection in relation to espionage activities, to clarify the feasibility of criminalizing the collection of secret information for the purpose of transmitting it to foreign recipients as a completed crime. It should be borne in mind that espionage is a completed crime not from the moment of establishing contact with a foreign state, foreign organization or their representatives or receiving an assignment from foreign intelligence, but from the moment of committing certain specific actions to the detriment of Ukraine. If a person, having received a task of foreign intelligence, did not take any actions and voluntarily and finally refused to fulfill it, then regardless of whether he declared to the state authorities about his connection with foreign intelligence or did not do this, he should be released from criminal responsibility based on the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The article emphasizes that the state can face the greatest threat as a result of external influence – this is espionage. In order to successfully counteract external factors, the article recommends introducing preventive, regulatory and counterintelligence measures in the most vulnerable sectors: defense, economy, science and technology, foreign relations, state security, law enforcement, language policy, etc.