Directions for Improving Legislation Regulating Operational and Investigative Activities in Order to Combat Criminal Offenses in the Information Space

Abstract

Abstract. The article focuses on the problems of regulatory-legal regulation in the Law of Ukraine «On Operational and Investigative Activities» regarding the capabilities of operational units of law enforcement agencies to carry out operational and investigative measures in the information space. This need is due to the fact that over the past decade, criminals have increasingly used modern information technologies to commit criminal offenses, constantly improving the methods of committing such offenses using the Internet, cloud services, cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, deepfake, etc. It is indicated that the Law of Ukraine «On Operational and Investigative Activities» adopted in 1992 currently lacks systemic integration with domestic cyber legislation, in particular with the Laws of Ukraine «On the Basic Principles of Ensuring Cybersecurity», «On Electronic Communications», «On Sanctions», «On the Protection of Information in Information and Telecommunications Systems». At the same time, the article points out existing shortcomings of the Law of Ukraine «On Operational and Investigative Activities», namely the limited rights and powers of operational units to: act within lawful frameworks in the information space for the effective conduct of search activities; document factual data on the unlawful activities of individuals and groups that use modern information technologies for illegal purposes, including the collection, storage, and use of electronic (digital) evidence; apply special procedures to enable law enforcement access to data stored abroad (servers of Google, Meta, etc.); create and use anonymous accounts, user profiles, Internet pages, web resources, and similar tools for the purposes of operational-search activity, as well as to ensure the protection of citizens’ constitutional rights from unlawful interference by law enforcement agencies with the privacy of individuals and legal entities in information and communication networks. The article proposes introducing amendments and additions to the Law of Ukraine «On Operational and Investigative Activities», the provisions of which are aimed at protecting privacy in information and communication networks, defining the areas of activity for operational units in the field of electronic communications, introducing such a new method of covert detection and prevention of criminal offenses as a «computer interference», ensuring the collection and use of electronic (digital) evidence in the course of operational-search activity, as well as interaction with foreign service providers or competent authorities of foreign states.

Keywords: computer interference; electronic (digital) evidence; operational and investigative activities; cybercrime; privacy; operational unit; information space.