Transnational Crimes Against Intellectual Property and the Criminal Jurisdiction of the Russian Federation

Abstract

The share of crimes connected with the use of the Internet is growing. Modern information and telecommunication technologies not only provide new opportunities for the development of trade and other sectors of the economy, but also make it easier to commit transnational crimes, for example, in the sphere of intellectual property. The specific feature of such crimes is that they are committed in the quasi-space and oriented towards an unlimited number of intellectual products consumers. The location of the perpetrator and means of committing a crime are not of primary importance. As the same time, the key principle of the action of criminal laws is the territorial one, based on the sovereignty of a state within its borders. As a result, it is necessary to say that the existing legal mechanisms are not sufficiently effective. Criminal theory and the practice of law enforcement, as well as the criminal-jurisdiction activity are not ready for a rapid development of the technologies of data transfer that render crimes instantaneous and border-free. The most urgent issue for scientific research is the application of criminal law in cases when a crime is committed abroad by persons who are not Russian citizens. The author used a comparative legal method, studied the materials of court practice and international legal documents. It is concluded that the problem should be solved by widening the extraterritoriality of criminal law. At the same time, under the existing international law conditions, the creation of a global criminal legal order is a utopian idea. The extension of the universal principle on crimes against intellectual property does not seem to be expedient since this principle is primarily oriented at crimes that infringe on the international legal order. The most promising solution to this problem seems to be the «effects» doctrine and the extension of the application of the real principle. The former makes it possible to prosecute persons who are not citizens of the Russian Federation and committed crimes outside the territory of the country when these crimes lead to consequences on the territory of the country. The real principle makes it possible to prosecute persons who committed crimes abroad if these crimes infringe on the rights of Russian citizens or the security of the state.