OBSTACLING THE LEGAL PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES OF JOURNALISTS (Art. 144 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation): WAYS AND WAYS TO IMPROVE THE CRIMINAL LEGAL REGULATION

Abstract

Analysis of modern legislation, namely the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law "On the Mass Media" of December 27, 1991, the current Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, etc. shows that at present, at the legislative level, norms are enshrined that serve as a guarantee of freedom of speech, freedom of the media, protecting the legiti-mate professional activities of media representatives and expressed in the prohibition of censorship, freedom of speech, freedom of the media, and the presence of media repre-sentatives of legal rights and obligations. All this is a necessary component of democracy. The proclamation of freedom of speech provided journalists with new opportunities to realize themselves as professionals, and also secured media representatives as full partici-pants in the relationships that arise between the state, private organizations and citizens. In general, the media are considered the fourth power, since it is on them that the percep-tion and understanding of this or that information by the society depends, and as a result, all this affects the formation of public opinion. At the same time, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation currently provides for only one provision that establishes the onset of criminal liability in case of violation of the legal rights of journalists. Lack of uniform practice of application of Art. 144 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as well as its different interpretation shows the need for its improvement.