Some aspects of legal regulation of the legal activities of journalists in modern conditions

Abstract

The article reveals some of the legal principles of regulating the legal activity of a journalist in modern conditions of martial law. The activities and state of media freedom in Ukraine over the past 11 years have been analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the fact that in modern conditions of martial law, the index of freedom of the press in the state is growing.
 The authors focused attention on some features of the legal regulation of the legal grounds of journalists’ activities according to the norms of international law and the national legislation of Ukraine; determined the rights and obligations of journalists, guarantees of media activity, specifics of activities of foreign journalists, employees of foreign entities in the field of media working in Ukraine.
 Attention is focused on certain types of prohibitions regarding interference in the professional activities of journalists under conditions of peace and during a state of war or in places of armed conflicts. The statistics of criminal offenses against the legal activities of journalists and the media during the ten years of the war in Ukraine were analyzed.
 It is substantiated that legal liability, including criminal liability, has been established for encroachment on the journalist’s life and health, and other actions against him. The current criminal legislation and specific articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provide for criminal liability for such criminal offenses as obstructing the legitimate professional activity of journalists, threatening, or using violence against a journalist, intentional destruction or damage to a journalist’s property, encroachment on a journalist’s life, taking a journalist as a hostage, were analyzed. Statistical information on the number of registered criminal offenses of this category for the last three years is provided. A criminological description of criminal offenses against the legal activity of a journalist is given.
 It was concluded that criminal offenses committed against journalists represent a significant public danger, as they encroach on freedom of speech, national security of the state, and violate the foundations of activity in the information sphere.