The secret of the investigation of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and the punishment for its disclosure. Article 161. Inadmissibility of disclosure of preliminary investigation data

General concept of investigative secrecy

The secrecy of the investigation of the Criminal Procedure Code is certain actions of law enforcement officers during the investigation or evidence already collected, as well as some points that must be kept secret. The secrecy of the preliminary investigation of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is, first of all, necessary to ensure that information from a particular case does not fall into the hands of fraudsters, witnesses, victims or other private participants in the criminal process. Disclosure of it may entail irreparable consequences and, accordingly, violate the legitimate rights and interests of subjects of criminal proceedings.

Law enforcement officials have permission to disclose case materials, and only on the condition that the publicity will not negatively affect the investigation and the interests of those involved in the case will not be violated as a result. It should be noted that secrecy is imposed on certain materials from the case for investigators. They cannot disclose personal information of those involved in the process, since this is personal data.

The secrecy of the investigation article of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation does not consist of one single list of data and materials prohibited from disclosure; in each specific case, officials themselves decide what information can be disclosed and what should be left confidential. The Criminal Procedure Code requires that all persons involved in the investigation sign a non-disclosure document; this document is taken from the persons involved in the case by the investigator or interrogating officer. The secrecy of the investigation extends to the following participants in the process:

victim;
defender;
civil plaintiff;
witness;
expert;
translator;
witness;
representative of the victim;
persons who participate in the identification;
other persons (at the discretion of the investigator).

Maintaining the secrecy of the investigation allows one to avoid mutual accusations before the court pronounces a verdict, ensures the safety of witnesses and other participants in criminal proceedings, and also protects the honor and dignity of the suspect himself before he is found guilty.

Based on the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, it should be noted that a non-disclosure agreement cannot be submitted to the accused or suspect. Russian law does not allow you to refuse a non-disclosure agreement. But, you can abandon the general formulation, explaining this by the fact that due to the signing of an ordinary non-disclosure document, a person will not even be able to contact a lawyer. In such situations, the investigative body must specify what can be made public and this will not affect the investigation, and what cannot.

Before signing a non-disclosure document, you need to carefully study the contents. It often happens that the subscription itself does not contain specific data, but only contains a general phrase about non-disclosure. This formulation is incorrect; by forcing the persons involved in the case to sign such a document, the investigator himself is violating the law, because the items of confidential information must be clearly indicated.

If, after signing a document, the persons involved in the case tell someone the materials previously known to them, this is not a violation of the subscription. A violation would be the disclosure of data obtained in a private conversation with an official, which was not known to the person before the conversation.

The refusal of a participant in criminal proceedings to sign a non-disclosure agreement does not relieve the person from liability, and in some cases, it is even grounds for the removal of this participant from the case.

Refusal to maintain secrecy

Many will wonder whether it is possible to refuse to sign a document on the fact of non-disclosure of data. In such cases, it is necessary to resort to the help of Russian legislation.

Some articles of the Code of Criminal Procedure imply a list of specific persons who, if necessary, are subject to signing a document on maintaining the secrecy of the preliminary proceedings when providing it.

Such persons include:

victim;
defender;
civil plaintiff;
witness;
expert;
specialist (part 4 of article 58 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
translator (part 5 of article 59 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
witness;
representative of the victim;
persons participating in the identification;
other persons (at the discretion of the investigator).

Based on the same code, everyone must remember that a non-disclosure agreement cannot be offered to an accused or suspect.

You can refuse the general wording of the subscription by explaining to the employee that you will lose the opportunity to even contact a lawyer if necessary, since he will have to mention the criminal case. In this case, the investigator must specify what exactly is not being made public.

Other information protected by law

Information subject to confidentiality (audit information, wills, adoptions, etc.) is permitted for use in criminal proceedings with the following restrictions:

objects and documents containing secrets protected by law can be confiscated only by court decision (clause 4, part 2, article 29 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
criminal cases containing state secrets are subject to the jurisdiction of second-level courts - regional, regional, republican, etc. (clause 3, part 3, article 31 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
a lawyer in criminal cases containing state secrets gives a signature on its non-disclosure and compliance with the requirements of Federal Law No. 5485-1 of July 21, 1993 “On State Secrets” when carrying out the defense (Part 5 of Article 49 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
a signature on non-disclosure of secrets protected by law is also taken from the jury; refusal to give such a signature entails the challenge of the juror (Part 24 of Article 328 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
the accused and the defense attorney do not have the right to use extracts and copies of criminal case materials containing state secrets outside the court hearing (Part 2 of Article 217 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
proceedings in cases containing secrets protected by law can be carried out behind closed doors (part 2 of article 241 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation).

What is not an investigative secret and what is confidential?

Many citizens, after leaving the investigator’s office, are afraid to even say a word about the preliminary investigation and the case materials in general. In order not to disrupt the preliminary stage of the investigation and not to be subject to criminal liability for disclosing confidential information. You need to understand that you can talk, because this is the only way the person involved in the investigation will be able to distinguish between forbidden and permitted information. It is not a secret of the investigation:

decisions of the investigator made during criminal proceedings, which the accused or suspect can familiarize themselves with (resolution to initiate a criminal case - Article 146 part 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, resolution to select a preventive measure - Article 101 part 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, etc.);
resolution to extend the preliminary investigation in accordance with Article 162 Part 8 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation;
protocol of detention, as well as protocols of investigative actions that were drawn up with the participation of the suspect, accused - Article 53, paragraph 1. Part 6 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation;
resolutions on the appointment of forensic examinations and the conclusions of these same examinations - Art. Articles 195 and 198 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation;
court decisions on conducting operational-search activities;
all case materials presented to the court by the investigator and prosecutor when considering the issue of taking the accused into custody and extending the terms of his detention;
case materials that became the basis for initiating a criminal case - Article 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation;
information about the persons who conducted the preliminary investigation in the criminal case and the composition of the investigative team - Art. 163 part 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation;
information about the experts and the institutions where the examinations were carried out. The data that confirms the expert’s qualification level is also no secret.

The consequences of disclosing this information are not critical, their disclosure is not punishable by law, and moreover, familiarization with the above materials is mandatory, in some cases. A completely different result will be if the defendants in the case begin to disclose information such as:

testimony of witnesses and victims;
a list of material evidence and a protocol for their inclusion in the criminal case;
results of searches;
the investigator's petition to seize postal, telegraph and telephone wiretaps.

The law of the Russian Federation provides for a fine of up to 80 thousand rubles for the disclosure of this information. wages and other income for a period of up to 6 months, or correctional labor for a period of up to 480 hours, or arrest for up to 3 months. Access to these case materials becomes open after the completion of the investigation and the court's sentencing.

The accused has the right to appeal the verdict and has the right to demand, based on the stated procedural norms, a confrontation with the victim or witness, as well as the interrogation of defense witnesses. If the petition is granted, the defendant's defense attorney may personally participate in investigative experiments and other specified investigative actions.

Every year, amendments are made to the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation and the investigative curtain is opened more and more, thereby reducing the limits of investigative secrecy. On the one hand, this is good, because all those involved in the case will be able to monitor the transparency of the investigation, but on the other hand, the beginning of publicity can harm the establishment of the truth and create favorable conditions for opposition to the investigation by persons who have violated the criminal law. Be that as it may, the institution of secrecy of the preliminary investigation today is one of the most important guarantees of the proper administration of justice and ensuring individual rights in criminal proceedings.

The mystery of the preliminary investigation

In theoretical terms, such a principle as the secrecy of the preliminary investigation is widely known, contrasted with the publicity of the trial within the framework of the continental doctrine of mixed criminal proceedings, where the preliminary investigation is separated from the trial by a clear procedural boundary and is built on directly opposite principles. One of them is the secret nature of the preliminary investigation, primarily in relation to the general public (the media, ordinary citizens), but also partly in relation to private individuals participating in the criminal process - the full investigation materials are provided to them and their representatives only after the end of the investigation .

Provisions on the secrecy of the preliminary investigation are enshrined in various norms of the current Russian criminal procedure law, but primarily in Art. 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, called “Inadmissibility of disclosure of preliminary investigation data.” In accordance with it, the data of the preliminary investigation are not subject to disclosure without the special permission of the investigator or inquiry officer, who also determine the permissible volume of the information that is allowed to be made public. The investigator or inquiry officer has the right to give this permission only if the disclosure of the relevant data a) does not contradict the interests of the preliminary investigation and b) is not associated with a violation of the rights and legitimate interests of participants in criminal proceedings.

Disclosure of data on the private life of participants in criminal proceedings without their consent is in any case not allowed, i.e. Here, the permission of the investigator (inquiry officer) alone is not enough - it is also necessary to obtain the consent of the interested person. Participants in criminal proceedings are warned by the investigator (inquirer) about the inadmissibility of disclosing preliminary investigation data without appropriate permission and about criminal liability for such disclosure (Article 310 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and the warning should not be oral, but written (they sign).

Ensuring the secrecy of the preliminary investigation is really necessary both to solve the problems of the preliminary investigation itself to comprehensively establish all the circumstances of the case, and from the point of view of respecting the rights of private individuals participating in the criminal process: protecting the honest name of persons suspected (accused) of committing a crime until it is finally their guilt and that of their relatives has been proven; protecting the privacy of persons affected by crime; protecting participants in the process from possible attacks by those who are interested in hindering the investigation.

If we allow the opposite beginning - the beginning of publicity, then this will certainly harm the establishment of the truth in the case and create favorable conditions for opposition to the investigation by persons who have violated the criminal law, and will also negatively affect the rights of many participants in the criminal process. In general, the institution of secrecy of the preliminary investigation serves as one of the important guarantees of the proper administration of justice and ensuring individual rights in criminal proceedings.

For the same reasons, private individuals participating in criminal proceedings (accused, victim, etc.) and their representatives (defenders) are fully acquainted with the case materials only after the end of the investigation, but not before. Moreover, even in the decision to bring a person to trial The quality of the accused, which is determined during the investigation, should not indicate specific evidence (Article 171 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation), which is explained by the need to ensure the secrecy of the preliminary investigation.

For similar reasons, in accordance with clause 6, part 1, art. 53 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, from the moment of admission to participation in a criminal case and until the end of the investigation, the defense lawyer has the right to become acquainted with only a limited set of procedural documents: the arrest record; a decision on the application of a preventive measure; protocols of investigative actions carried out exclusively with the participation of the suspect or accused; other documents that were presented or should have been presented to the suspect (accused). The defense attorney does not have access to the rest of the case materials until the preliminary investigation is completed. Other examples of ensuring the secrecy of the preliminary investigation in relation to participants in criminal proceedings can be given.

The secret of correspondence

Note 1

Every person has the right to the privacy of his private life, including the privacy of correspondence, which is guaranteed by both international and national acts (Part 2 of Article 23 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Article 13 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation). The right to confidentiality of correspondence, however, is not absolute and can be limited, including in criminal proceedings.

The regime of secrecy of correspondence in criminal proceedings is as follows:

this right can be limited only with the sanction of the court (Part 1 of Article 13 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
by preliminary court decision, postal items can be seized, and negotiations can be monitored and recorded (part 2 of article 13 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation).

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The mystery of the investigation and media publication

Investigative secrecy is one of the types of secrets that establishes a regime of confidentiality in a criminal case and limits access to it, which is valid during the preliminary investigation, that is, from the moment of initiation of a criminal case and the issuance of the appropriate resolution until the termination of the criminal case (in accordance with Chapter 29 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation) or before sending the indictment (indictment) to the prosecutor.

Investigative secrecy is a prohibition on disclosing preliminary investigation data without the permission of the investigator or interrogator. General rule: preliminary investigation data is not subject to disclosure.

The period of secrecy of the investigation is the period of preliminary investigation (from the moment the decision to initiate a criminal case is issued and until the issuance of an indictment or a decision to terminate the criminal case, transfer of the case to court).

Disclosure of information about the progress of the investigation should not contradict the interests of the preliminary investigation and should not entail a violation of the rights and legitimate interests of participants in criminal proceedings. In this regard, obtaining permission from the investigator or interrogator is a mandatory requirement for disclosing preliminary investigation data in any form. The law does not define the form of permission; accordingly, it can be expressed in any acceptable form that allows identifying the will of the investigator or interrogating officer.

Who is obliged to keep the investigation secret?

Only two procedural persons are authorized to give permission to disseminate preliminary investigation data - the investigator or the inquiry officer. Anyone from whom a subscription to non-disclosure of preliminary investigation data has been taken away as part of the investigation is required to keep the information known to them confidential (including a journalist if, for example, he was questioned as a witness).

Who does not have the right to divulge the secrets of the investigation?

Any persons who become aware of the preliminary investigation data, including:

Participants in criminal proceedings who have signed a non-disclosure agreement (criminal liability is established for disclosure)
Journalists (for disclosure without the consent of the investigator - administrative liability - Article 13.14 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

Access to criminal case materials

During the preliminary investigation, the investigative secrecy regime applies. Therefore, materials of a criminal case can only be obtained with the consent of the investigator (inquiry officer).

After the completion of the preliminary investigation, the case materials can be obtained upon request, and information from the case materials can be disseminated in the media. At the same time, the rights to privacy, personal and family secrets, the secret of adoption and other secrets should not be violated.

Mandatory Law Enforcement Reports

Not many media editorial offices and journalists know, but they are OBLIGATED, upon request from interested parties, to publish:

Report on rehabilitation (part 3 of article 136 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation)
Notice of refusal to initiate a criminal case (Part 3 of Article 148 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation)

This is one of the measures to restore the honor, dignity and good name of a suspect, convicted person and compensate for the moral suffering caused to him.

The procedure for publishing a message about rehabilitation:

Media editors are required to publish a message about rehabilitation within 30 days from the date of receipt of the request to publish a message about rehabilitation. However, this responsibility does not lie with all media editorial offices, but only with those that previously disseminated information about:

detention of the rehabilitated person;
taking him into custody;
temporary removal from office;
application of compulsory medical measures to him;
about the judgment of the rehabilitated person, other illegal actions applied to him

Who has the right to request a rehabilitation report? In the media editorial office, a requirement to publish a message about rehabilitation (that is, an acquittal or termination of criminal prosecution on rehabilitative grounds) can be sent by:

rehabilitated;
close relatives and other relatives (in case of death of the rehabilitated person);
court, prosecutor, head of the investigative body, investigator, inquirer (by their written instructions).

The procedure for publishing a notice of refusal to initiate criminal proceedings

Media editors are required to inform about the refusal to initiate a criminal case based on the results of checking a report of a crime disseminated by the media. That is, the basis for a media outlet to receive a message about refusal to initiate a criminal case is a previously disseminated message about a crime in that media. If the disseminated information is not confirmed, the media editors must refute the information.

A prosecutor, the head of an investigative body, an investigator, or an inquiry officer have the right to request the publication of a notice of refusal to initiate a criminal case.

There is no deadline for publication, so it will be set each time by agreement between the prosecutor, investigator, inquiry officer and the media editors.

The principle of non-competition

According to lawyers and human rights activists, changes in legislation have not abolished the infringement of the rights of the defense and those involved in cases, in contrast to the situation of the investigation and prosecution. Evgeny Smirnov cites the case of Ivan Safronov as an example, which stands out from other cases due to its media coverage. The latter, as the lawyer emphasizes, indicated the inequality of the parties.

Immediately after Safronov’s arrest, video publications appeared showing how Ivan was being detained and being taken to the investigative department. Then other comments began to appear from high-ranking FSB and SVR officers who spoke about Ivan’s guilt. And in such conditions, our procedural opponents openly comment on the criminal case, using their authority, and publish materials. This is a violation of the principle of competition and equality of parties, which no one has canceled. But they (investigation - NEWS.ru) want to make sure that only they have a monopoly on coverage of the case ,” commented Smirnov.

According to Leonid Nikitinsky, a journalist and member of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights under the President of the Russian Federation, “the investigator has a lot of different tools to prevent the defender from doing much, and this subscription turns into one of these very powerful tools, and the investigation abuses this in almost any case - about the theft of pears from the garden, they even try to sign a non-disclosure agreement.”

The law says that the investigator has the right to tell anyone, including the press, what he sees fit. But a lawyer has no right. The inequality of the parties is quite obvious. The investigator is our king and god, but the lawyer is nothing ,” Leonid Nikitinsky is sure.

According to State Duma deputy Yuri Sinelshchikov, who worked in the prosecutor’s office for about 30 years, the need to maintain investigative secrecy “occurs very rarely - in ordinary cases, out of 10 cases, only in one, and then only in the first days of the investigation.” And then, according to the parliamentarian, when all the main witnesses have been interrogated, “there is no need for investigative secrecy,” which, according to Sinelshchikov, “is necessary throughout the entire criminal case only in cases of state secrets and in cases of sexual crimes.”

Investigators are “playing it off” with this non-disclosure agreement, they are intimidating, although according to Art. 310 of the Criminal Code, for example, last year no one was convicted, but one person was acquitted under it. I remember that criminal cases involving the disclosure of investigative secrets were initiated and then dropped - the courts came to the conclusion that the information was used to protect the suspect. That is, a criminal case against a lawyer does not work out, and these scare signatures themselves do not pose any danger. Why are investigators doing this? Not in order to prevent interference in the investigation, not in order to stop the loss of evidence, but above all, to stop criticism of oneself.
Yuri Sinelshchikov
State Duma deputy

Lawyer Dmitry Dinze shares a similar opinion about the essence of non-disclosure agreements. In his opinion, in almost every second criminal case it is necessary to appeal against non-disclosure agreements. On the periphery, the courts in 90% of cases go towards the defense, while in Moscow and St. Petersburg they are inclined to side with the prosecution, especially when it comes to high-profile stories.

Komsomolskaya Pravda/Global Look Press

The non-disclosure agreement applies only to the preliminary investigation. And then, in court, you can tell whatever you want. All subscriptions, as a rule, are collected in order to reduce public anger, public indignation and excitement around this case and allow the investigation to work calmly. And thus they are still trying to reduce the activities of lawyers to zero. But we believe, and the ECHR spoke about this, that the public and the media should know what is happening in certain cases. And the involvement of the media and the public is one of the forms of protecting the rights of the defendant in a criminal case. All the restrictions that the state imposes on us, lawyers, regarding disclosure are generally illegal. Because one of the forms of protection is the dissemination of information so that the materials of the criminal case are not falsified.
I believe that every criminal case, except for cases with state secrets, pre-medical secrets, banking secrets, and everything else can be disclosed, because we have a public criminal trial. There is an exception - cases involving sexual inviolability - where the permission of the victim is required.
Dmitry Dinze
advocate

His colleague Andrei Eremin draws attention to the fact that “Article [161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation] is formulated very vaguely” and “due to its streamlined nature, it allows the application of a non-disclosure agreement on preliminary investigation data to every criminal case.”

All scientific and practical comments state that this rule should be applied in cases where there is actually some information containing state or other secrets protected by law. But I believe that law enforcement agencies abuse their rights and often use this rule to avoid publicity around certain cases that have a significant resonance for society. This is also done to ensure that the participants in the process who have access to the case materials are as constrained as possible and cannot transmit information to anyone.
Andrey Eremin
advocate

At the same time, he draws attention to a “serious legal conflict” - the absence in the law of a clear procedure for selecting such a subscription. Dmitry Dinze cites as an example the investigation of a criminal case about a terrorist attack in the St. Petersburg metro. Then the subscription did not prevent the lawyers from talking about the use of torture against the defendants, and for this “the Investigative Committee did not take any measures against them.”

Subscription on non-disclosure of preliminary investigation data

The secret of the investigation. Subscription on non-disclosure of preliminary investigation data. Both in the movies and in real life, there are probably no phrases for investigators that they utter with greater feeling, pathos and sincere, but carefully hidden narcissism, than these.

Despite the fact that the criminal procedural legislation does not contain the concept of “investigative secrecy”, the prohibition of an investigator or interrogator from disclosing both certain information and any information that has become or will become known to a person in connection with his participation in the investigation of a criminal case, legislatively enshrined in Art. 161 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. It is assumed, and not unreasonably, that as a result of premature notification of the persons involved in the case, or persons having a non-procedural interest in it, they may destroy evidence, eliminate persons possessing information of interest to the investigation, and gain leverage over the investigator, operative or prosecutor.

One way or another, this norm gives the investigator the right to take away a written signature from a participant in the process on non-disclosure of investigation data. Preliminary investigation data includes virtually any information obtained during criminal proceedings, for example, about the progress of the investigation, about the evidence collected and the sources of its receipt, about the testimony of persons interrogated in the case, about the use of coercive measures, about the content and results of investigative actions, about carried out or planned activities of an operational-search and investigative nature, etc. Information that a person had before committing a crime does not apply to the data of the preliminary investigation.

Violation of the subscription in any way: transferring to another person verbal information about the case, one’s own notes from the materials of the criminal case, the materials themselves, or copies of procedural documents from the case, entails criminal prosecution on the grounds of committing a crime under Art. 310 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

In theory, everything seems to be clear and understandable. However, in fact, investigators, by presenting a participant in the process with a non-disclosure agreement to sign, are following falsely understood and contradictory requirements of Art. 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the principles of globalism. In the vast majority of cases, the signatory is subject to a total ban on disclosing investigation data, and criminal liability for violating this obligation. Meanwhile, part 2 of Art. 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation focuses only on those data that became known to the participant in criminal proceedings.

In other words, the investigator is obliged to clearly define in the subscription the information on the disclosure of which he is prohibited. Undoubtedly, “known” is data about the content and result of an investigative action in which a person took personal participation. In other cases, information that has become known to a person and is not subject to dissemination must be specified. The signatory must be made aware of exactly what and when an event occurred, as well as who took part in it. Moreover, if this information was not received by him personally, the disclosure of such information does not violate the requirements of the obligation assigned to him.

Thus, if in the procedure for warning a participant in the process the investigator committed violations of the requirements of Art. 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the person is considered not to have been warned about the non-disclosure of investigation data. If the procedural issues are resolved flawlessly, but the investigator presents the signature for signature after the disclosure of the information supposed to be prohibited, the participant in the proceedings will not be recognized as a person who has violated the provisions of this rule of law.

It should be borne in mind that according to Art. Art. 46, 47 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, a warning about liability for disclosing preliminary investigation data cannot be applied to a suspect or accused.

Criminal procedural legislation provides a list of persons who can be warned in writing about the inadmissibility of disclosing investigation data that has become known to them without the permission of the investigator:

victim (part 7 of article 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
defense attorney (part 2 of article 53 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
civil plaintiff (part 6 of article 44 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
witness (part 9 of article 56 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
expert (part 6 of article 57 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
specialist (part 4 of article 58 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
translator (part 5 of article 59 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
witness (part 4 of article 60 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
representative of the victim;
persons participating in the identification;
other persons.

Criminal procedural secrets

In criminal proceedings, various situations of a tactical nature may arise in which it is necessary to keep certain information secret. The following secrets in criminal proceedings can be distinguished:

secrecy of detention can be used with the consent of the prosecutor in relation to adult detainees, if this is necessary in the interests of the investigation (part 4 of article 96 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
confidentiality of data about the person who transmitted information about the crime to the media (Part 2 of Article 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
confidentiality of information about the victim, witness, their loved ones, if they are in danger, during investigative and judicial actions (part 9 of article 166, part 3.1 of article 227 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
the secret of the private life of the person in whose premises the search was carried out, as well as other persons (Part 7 of Article 182 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation);
attorney-client privilege and confidentiality of confession (inadmissibility of interrogation of a lawyer and a priest, respectively, about information obtained during the provision of assistance or from confession).

What responsibilities are provided?

All persons involved in the case are warned that it is impossible to disclose the secrets of the investigation, but some citizens do not fulfill this duty. For violation of the law, punishment is established under Art. 310 of the Criminal Code:

a fine of up to 80 thousand rubles;
compulsory, corrective labor;
arrest up to three months.

After the investigation is completed, you can tell the details. The exception is cases when the subject of the investigation represents a state secret or a secret protected by law.

Concept and classification of secrets

Russian legislation provides for many types of secrets - state, commercial, tax, banking, medical, notary, lawyer, etc.
Definition 1

A secret is understood as information that is particularly significant for a particular activity, the dissemination of which may cause harm to legally protected interests.

The secrecy regime includes restrictions on the circulation of certain information, for example:

the inadmissibility of questioning a lawyer about the information he received while providing legal assistance;
creation of a system of protection (admission and access) of state-significant information;
a special procedure for the provision of information by a government agency that allows obtaining commercial benefits;
confidentiality of information received by a notary in the course of professional activities, etc.

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Within the framework of criminal proceedings, several types of secrets can be distinguished:

confidentiality of correspondence;
state secrets and other types of secrets protected by law;
criminal procedural secrets;
investigative secrecy;
secrecy of legal proceedings.

Non-disclosure: keep quiet about everything?

Most participants in the process, leaving the office of the investigation or inquiry department, where they signed papers on maintaining the secrecy of the investigation, think that even one word about a criminal case outside the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs may threaten them with an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Before you are afraid to say too much, you need to know that Article 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation does not impose a taboo on the disclosure of data:

On non-compliance with the law of the Russian Federation by officials and government authorities in general.
Voiced by authorized employees in the media, through television and in any other way through which information was transmitted to the masses.
Discussed in an open court hearing.

If the presentation of data was required when submitting documents to government authorities, disclosure of information is not a crime. The transfer of case data to a specialist involved in the investigation will also fall into this category, but subject to his signing a document on secret data.

Investigative mystery

Information, the disclosure of which is limited in criminal proceedings, includes data from the preliminary investigation (Article 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). The investigative secrecy regime is as follows:

as a general rule, investigation data cannot be disclosed, about which the person conducting the proceedings warns the participants in the process and takes a subscription;
in the absence of permission from a participant in the process (his legal representative), data about his private life cannot be disclosed;
making information about the investigation public is permissible only with permission and to the extent determined by the person conducting the proceedings, if this does not violate the interests of the investigation and the rights of the participants in the process;
The disclosure of investigative secrets does not include the presentation of the circumstances of the case in procedural documents, as well as the provision of information to a specialist involved in the case.

At the same time, a list of investigative information has been established that cannot be subject to a publicity ban:

information about illegal actions of government authorities;
information publicly disseminated by the person conducting the investigation;
information announced at the court hearing.

What are the consequences of violating a subscription?

You need to know that the secret of the preliminary investigation of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation can be disclosed despite the subscription.

There are different options for transferring case material to third parties:

Transmitting information about a procedural case orally.
Transfer of written notes about the case by a participant in the process.
Transfer of copies or originals of documents from the case.

How will the violator have to answer before the law? A crime of this kind is provided for in Article 310 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

But before you sign the non-disclosure document, you should read it carefully. Quite often it happens that the subscription does not contain specific data, but only a general phrase about non-disclosure of preliminary investigation data; such wording is incorrect. Having turned to the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, namely Part 2 of Article 161, everyone will understand: the person involved in the case does not have to make public only those facts and speculations that became known to him during a conversation with an authorized person. The data that he had before committing the crime, but which were used in the case, is not a secret.

It turns out that when disseminating known data in the case of a general wording about the secrecy of the investigation in the subscription, the participant in the legal proceedings is not a violator of the law.

Also, Article 310 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not threaten those whom the investigator or interrogator asked to sign a document not at the first meeting, but later, but at the same time the person could already share the supposed secret information with someone.

It is not so scary to preface the material on the case if the document on the secrecy of the investigation of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation has not been signed. If, nevertheless, a participant in the process was provided with such a subscription, then he is automatically the carrier of important information. And in order not to fall under an article of the Criminal Code, you should be prudent.