Violating the Confidentiality of Adoption: Problems of Implementing a Complex Law Mechanism in the Russian Federation

Abstract

The priority task of any democratic state is safeguarding the interests of children, including the right of every child to live in a family. Adoption of orphans or children deprived of parental care is becoming more and more common in present-day Russia, which makes the issue of legal regulation highly relevant. The article examines the problems of implementing a complex legal mechanism that regulates the protection of the confidentiality of adoption and imposes criminal liability for violating it. It should be acknowledged that there are diverse approaches to the problem of criminal law protection of the confidentiality of adoption. The authors analyze the views of different scholars on this problem. They present a critical analysis of the viewpoint that the norm imposing liability for such a violation should be abolished and prove the social importance of preserving the confidentiality. The authors also discuss the problem areas of criminal law characteristics of crimes connected with violating the confidentiality of adoption and conduct a comprehensive research of this issue. The analysis of current legislation shows that it includes a sufficient number of norms safeguarding the confidentiality of adoption. At the same time, this legal institute includes some specific norms that need improvement, require editing or amending, which, according to the authors, stops them from performing their preventive functions. The article contains concrete recommendations on improving current Russian legislation in this sphere, in particular, on improving the clauses of Art. 155 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes criminal liability in those cases where the confidentiality of adoption is violated. Besides, the authors examine the controversial issue of limiting the confidentiality of adoption because they believe that it is not lawful to deny a person who has reached majority the right guaranteed by the Constitution of the RF to learn information concerning him/herself, in this case, the right to know who their parents are. They suggest amending Art. 139 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, which will make it possible to fully guarantee the constitutional rights of citizens.