Criminal Responsibility for Threat or Violence against a Journalist in Historical Terms

Abstract

In connection with the lack of development in the theory of criminal law concerning the study of the periodization of the development of criminal responsibility for the threat or violence against a journalist, the purpose of the article is to study the conceptual foundations of the stages of its development. Taking into account the specifics of the topic, goals and outlined objectives of the study, various general scientific, special-scientific and philosophical methods were used that provided for an objective study of the subject and the development of ground-based conclusions. The methodology of the study is historical and legal, which was used to cover the historical development of criminal responsibility for the threat or violence against a journalist and the detection of patterns of development of domestic criminal law under the influence of the legislation of foreign states; a system that was used in the study of stages of development of criminal responsibility for threats or violence against a journalist as a single integral process; the dogmatic method was used to identify shortcomings and to explore possibilities for improving the periodization of criminal liability for threats or violence against a journalist; logical-semantic – had significance in the process of in-depth study of the categorical-conceptual apparatus on the structure of stages of development of criminal responsibility for threats or violence against a journalist. In order to ensure the formation of new proposals based on existing ideas in the special literature on the definition of stages of development of criminal responsibility for threats or violence against a journalist, a method of generalization was applied. Using these methods, the article investigates the periodization of the development of criminal responsibility for a threat or violence against a journalist.The scientific novelty of the article lies in the fact that it gives various scientific points of view as regarding periodization of history of criminal legislation of Ukraine, as well as in the area of responsibility for threats, violence against specific individuals along with legal professional activity of journalists and publishing activity. The criteria (approaches) of periodization have been determined. According to the results of the study,
conclusions on the stages of the periodization of criminal responsibility for threats or violence against a journalist are formulated. In particular, the following steps are set: 1) the formation of prerequisites of responsibility for threats, violence against specific individuals (911 – second half of ХVІІІ century); 2) establishment of criminal legal protection of the freedom of press and journalistic activity (first half of XVIII century – second half of XVIII century); 3) normative regulation of publishing activity aka «era of censorship terror» (second half of XVIII century – 1985); 4) consolidation of norm regarding implementation of criminal responsibility for the persecution of citizens for criticism (1985); 5) normative improvement of criminal responsibility for threat, violence against specific persons along with legal professional activity of journalists and persons engaged in publishing activities (1985–2001); 6) modern period of development of criminal responsibility for threats or violence against a journalist (since 2001 till now). Crucial importance for this classification was the Adoption and operation of main legislative acts regulating grounds, procedure of persons' responsibility for threat, violence against specific persons along with legal professional activities of journalists and persons engaged in publishing activities were to have crucial importance for this classification.

Keywords: criminal responsibility; stage; periodization; threat; violence; journalist.