RESTRICTION OF THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION AS A MEANS OF ENSURING INFORMATION SECURITY AND THE STATE’S OBLIGATION TO “COMPENSATE” FOR INFORMATION OPPORTUNITIES LOST BY A PERSON

Abstract

The article deals with the problematic issues of applying restrictions on the right to information as a tool for deterring and counteracting threats to Ukraine’s information security, neutralizing information aggression, creating an effective system of interaction between public authorities, local self-government bodies and society, and also developing international cooperation in the field of information security on the basis of partnership and mutual support; the use of which requires “compensation” for the information opportunities lost by a person, and which has not yet become the subject of Based on the analysis of recent studies and publications, the author has established the absence of a single mechanism for compensatory restriction of the right to information, and the attempts of Ukrainian courts and state bodies responsible for regulating information activities to develop their own ways and mechanisms for applying restrictions on the right to information with “the least losses” for information subjects, based primarily on their own practice of providing a legal assessment of each of such cases. Given the relevance and significance of the issue, the purpose of the article is to present the results of the analysis of the content of restriction of the right to information as a means of ensuring information security and the State’s obligation, and on this basis to formulate scientifically sound proposals for “compensation” for the information opportunities lost by an individual. The author emphasizes the need for further analysis and formulation of a reasoned position with regard to each national security regime separately, and the possibility of applying mechanisms for restricting the right to information in the general practice of ensuring information security and special restrictive measures against information entities. The author analyzes the practice of administrative courts in providing a legal assessment of the validity of recognizing information and other activities of a subject of information relations as unlawful, as well as a legal assessment of the actions of national security entities within the limits of their powers and the provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The author suggests that further research on the issue of justification of certain restrictions on the right to information should be focused on the consideration of the public interest as a “compensator” for a certain restriction of the right to information and the application of the “three-part test” in the practice of applying restrictions.