Official Secrets Research Articles

Marketing Government: X-Raying Nigerian Government’s Use of Disinformation in Citizen-Engagement (2015-2023)

The goal of citizen/public engagement is to make develop trust between the government and the governed. However, evidence shows that citizens are losing trust on the government owing to misleading information. Thus, it has become imperative to investigate the underlying aim of government communication and the consequence of the approach adopted by the governments in engaging with their citizens. This paper sought to peripherally investigate the approach adopted by the Nigerian government between May 29th 2015, and May 29th 2023. Since the work of marketing the government is predominately domiciled within the official functions of the Minister of Information and Culture, this paper focuses on the speeches made by the then Minister. The study adopted agenda setting theory and propaganda model as the theoretical framework that guided the research. To attain the basic aim of this paper, qualitative content analysis was adopted by the researcher, which allows for the speeches made by the Minister within the timeframe being studied to be examined. This study found that most of the information and speeches made via interviews, press releases and press conferences for public consumption by the then Minister of on issues about security and economy were generally misleading. Thus, the study recommended that the government adopt a different but balanced approach, as its current strategy will likely cause general disillusionment amongst the citizenry. The balance must keep the citizens gainfully informed, even considering public safety, interest and the government's official secrets.

The Validity Of The Additional Obligations Of The Notary Profession Through PP Number 43 Of 2015 Of The Notary As The Reporting Party

The Indonesian government has enacted Law Number 8 of 2010 concerning the Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering, along with its implementing regulation, Government Regulation Number 43 of 2015 on Reporting Parties in the Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering Crimes. This regulation designates Notaries as one of the reporting parties in Suspicious Financial Transactions related to Money Laundering (TFM), obligated to submit reports to the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK). Meanwhile, Article 16 paragraph (1) letter f of the Notary Law states that in carrying out their duties, Notaries must maintain the confidentiality of deed contents. Here, there is a contradiction between legal regulations. This study aims to examine and analyze the validity and legal consequences of the additional professional obligations for Notaries as stipulated in the Notary Law, supplemented by Government Regulation Number 43 of 2015, designating Notaries as reporting parties in TFM related to Money Laundering. The research indicates that the confidentiality duty of Notaries is not absolute; in other words, the obligation to maintain confidentiality in the Notary Law can be set aside by other laws, in this case, the Law on the Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering through Government Regulation Number 43 of 2015, a directly authorized implementing regulation. The additional obligation as a reporting party cannot be considered a violation of the principle of notary confidentiality but rather a form of protection, with Minister of Law and Human Rights Regulation Number 9 of 2017 serving as an implementation of the prudence principle for Notaries in performing their duties. Furthermore, the legal consequences for Notaries, if they breach their duty as keepers of official secrets, may include criminal sanctions based on Article 322 of the Criminal Code and Law Number 43 of 2009 concerning Archives, civil sanctions under Article 1365 of the Civil Code, and administrative sanctions under Article 85 of the Notary Law. Additionally, if a Notary fails to report suspicious financial transactions resulting in criminal activities, the Notary faces the threat of punishment as regulated in Article 5 of the Law on the Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering, which includes passive involvement in money laundering crimes (Article 55 of the Criminal Code) and active assistance in criminal activities (Article 56 of the Criminal Code).

Crime in the law enforcement agencies in 1948–1952 and its counteraction

The article reveals the state of crime in the police in 1948–1952, identifies its main manifestations and measures to counteract it. Crime in the police in the post-war years remained an acute and permanent problem. The late 1940s and early 1950s were no exception. This was influenced by the very nature of the totalitarian regime, which was based on violence and violation of the rule of law, the difficult socio-economic situation in the country, as the consequences of the post-war devastation were only beginning to be eliminated, and the low level of professional training and education of a certain number of police officers. For many of them, the perceptions of the state of legality were quite specific, formed mainly under the influence of the events of the war, combined with a tendency to be quick to punish those who were considered criminals and a relatively low level of awareness of the law. All of this has led to the existence of the problem of crime in the law enforcement agencies of the republic, and this problem is still relevant today, both from a theoretical and practical point of view. The most common violations in the police at that time were: alcoholism, abuse of office, connections with criminals, violations of the law during the detention of citizens and the conduct of investigations, failure to comply with orders, bribery, embezzlement, domestic and moral decay, desertion, disclosure of official secrets, unauthorised abandonment of duty, illegal use of weapons and, as a result, injury or killing of citizens, negligence in the performance of official duties, and loss of personal weapons. Most cases of lawbreaking were committed by police officers who were intoxicated. During this period, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR took a number of measures to improve the situation: offenders were dismissed from the police and brought to trial, and the leadership of those local police forces with the highest number of such violations was changed. This was done on the basis of an analysis of the flow of investigative cases, inspection of documentation and the state of work of local police bodies in the field of training their personnel.

Content Analysis of Indonesian Tax Court Rulings: Aggresiveness of Transfer Pricing and Tax Avoidance

This research aims to examine the influence of effective tax rates, the existence of transactions with Tax Haven countries, and the aggressiveness of transfer pricing on tax avoidance. This research observed 115 public and private companies in all areas of the Indonesian Tax Authority whose tax disputes over transfer pricing cases had been decided by the Indonesian Tax Court for the 2017-2022 period. This research was carried out using a quantitative approach with cross section data which was then analyzed using multiple regression analysis using the Eviews 12 application. The secondary data for this research came from Financial Reports, Court Decisions and Tax Annual Corporate Reports which had received approval from the Directorate General of Taxes and used initials so as to avoid violations of official secrets. The results of this study indicate that the effective tax rate has an influence but is not significant on tax avoidance. This shows that the effective tax rate or large tax burden of companies, most of which are foreign owned, has not been able to encourage these companies to avoid tax. On the other hand, the existence of transactions with Tax Haven countries and the aggressiveness of transfer pricing have a positive and significant effect on corporate tax avoidance. These results indicate that there are transactions with affiliates in Tax Haven countries and the more aggressive the company is in its transfer pricing policy, it indicates that there is a strong motive to avoid tax.

‘State threats’, security, and democracy: the National Security Act 2023

AbstractThe National Security Act 2023 replaces the Official Secrets Acts 1911, 1920 and 1939, updating, rationalising, and expanding the various offences which they contained and introducing new rules aimed at the same broad end of countering the threat posed to the UK by the efforts of hostile states and their proxies. It therefore represents a legislative confirmation of the ongoing pivot back to ‘state threats’ rather than terrorism as the focus of the national security enterprise in the UK, though now informed by the experience of counter-terrorism law since 2000. This paper assesses the main changes made by the 2023 Act, including in the context of threats to the democratic process, actual and potential, which have been identified in recent years. The argument offered is that the focus of the 2023 Act – encompassing threats to democracy only where they rise to the level of threats to national security – is undermined by the absence of a more thoroughgoing project to protect the democratic process more generally against foreign interference.

Official Secrecy as an Element of Ensuring National Security of Russia

Official secrecy as one of the methods of protecting state-relevant information in connection with significant legislative changes that occurred in connection with the adoption of the Law of the Russian Federation “On State Secrets” in the early 90s of the twentieth century, has passed a difficult path of formation and development in new socio-political conditions. At one time, it was an information resource formed by the state administration bodies of the USSR to protect the most important departmental information that is not related to state secrets. At the same time, the institute of official secrecy represented a unified administrative and legal regime for the protection of such information throughout the state, almost identical to the regime for the protection of state secrets. Since 1993, in connection with the adoption of the Law of the Russian Federation “On State Secrets”, the official secret in the form in which it existed before, actually disappeared. Without any serious grounds, all information previously protected under the heading “secret” was automatically classified as a state secret, which significantly expanded its scope, although the purpose of the adoption of the above-mentioned legislative act was precisely to reduce the volume of information protected in this regime. Since that period, official secrecy has been under conditions of legal uncertainty, which, it seems, did not work towards needs of the State in the real protection of state-significant information. A huge number of different databases containing various information related to the activities of state authorities and state organizations, providing access to their content via the Internet require the formation of a new universal administrative and legal regime that allows effective protection of such information from various illegal actions, including access from foreign states and organizations. The introduction of the category of “official secrets in the field of defense” into legislation in 2021 indicates the increasing importance of this category of information for ensuring the national security of the state. The present work reveals the main problems associated with the legitimization of official secrets at this stage of the development of our state.

Рассмотрение дел по спорам в сфере государственного оборонного заказа в закрытом судебном заседании

The mechanism for protecting office information in the field of defence cannot be complete without ensuring the confidentiality of information when considering legal disputes, including disputes about a state defence order. The article substantiates the point of view about the possibility of moving to a closed trial when considering disputes in which information of limited access appears at the discretion of the court. The analysis of the limitations of procedural rights that result from the transition to the consideration of the case in a closed court session indicates the futility of waiting for the relevant petition from interested persons, which may lead to a violation of the priority of preserving official secrets in the field of defence. A negative assessment is given to the illegal deprivation of the participants in the process of the right to receive an audio protocol of the court session.

The First Interception Provision: Section 4 of the Official Secrets Act 1920

ABSTRACT Section 4 of the Official Secrets Act 1920 contained the first explicit statutory power to intercept communications. This article surveys the process leading up to its enactment against the background of the law of interception as it existed prior to World War I. Before then interception had taken place on the basis of a series of exceptions to a general prohibition on interception of postal and later telegraphic communications, as well as via the landing licences granted to private operators. These dual legal strategies were usually predicated upon the existence of an ‘emergency’, with the war fulfilling that requirement. As the war came to end a new legal basis was sought for that interception which did not take place through the Post Office. This article details the process by which the need for power was identified and the power drafted, challenging accounts which portray it as a sudden response to events elsewhere.

Sempill, Japan, and Pearl Harbor: Traitor or Spy-Myth?

Lord Sempill (1893–1965) was the subject of extended investigation by the British Security Service (MI5) between World War I and II. A distinguished aviator, he was suspected of disclosing classified information to the Japanese over the years 1923 to 1925 and 1939 to 1941. MI5’s investigation was inconclusive. But with the progressive release of agency materials from the late 1990s, Sempill attracted high-profile interest from historians and media alike. In 2012, he was labeled “the traitor of Pearl Harbor,” a canard with implications for the integrity of the early Atlantic alliance. This fresh study of a major early-modern counterespionage case reassesses Sempill in relation to his professional and political milieu and explores his Japanese connections as Tokyo moved from guarded friendship to challenge and aggression in the climacteric year 1941. Notwithstanding his admission of a technical breach of the Official Secrets Act in 1925, the evidence overall does not support the prevailing view of Sempill as a spy who betrayed British and American interests.

The role of the Freedom of Information Act (2011) in enhancing public accountability in Nigeria

Access to information has been recognized as a powerful mechanism of accountability that lifts shrouds off government transactions. In Nigeria, the Freedom of Information Act was enacted in 2011 ostensibly to guarantee citizens’ right to public information and enhance transparency and accountability in governance. This discourse examines the role of the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act in enhancing public accountability in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. The study which is analytical and relies on secondary found out that the FoI Act has indeed emboldened the citizens to demand accountability from government officials and it has been used as a tool to expose corruption in the public sector. Among other recommendations, it is suggested that existing extant laws that have conflicted with the enforcement of the FoI Act such as the Official Secrets be repealed. The Legal Aid Council should be mandated to assist litigants in prosecuting cases that may arise in the event of refusal of a government institution’s reluctance to disclose information which may warrant court action.

RUSSIA: THE CYBER GLOBAL PROTAGONIST

Russia has discovered by trial and error one of the most economical ways to assert foreign policy goals, conduct espionage, inflict economic loss, and conduct destabilization through disinformation on its rival powers. Although western and European cyber efforts in this regard are more covert and protected by legislation such as Official Secrets Act’s, it’s apparent that Russia has – more than any other nation – publicly engaged in cyber operations in direct support of military operations. For the Russians, cyber is a Hammer (& Sickle) and everything standing in Russia’s way is a “Nail”. The transformation of traditional Russian organized crime into sophisticated cyber-criminal gangs and their subsequent rapid accumulation of wealth deeply illustrated the potential of political and later in the evolution military cyber operations. In a very real way this set the stage for the Russians to invest, explore and trial cyber at a political and then military level over the past two decades. Due to a “cosy” relationship between Russian politicians, Oligarchs, and some - but not all - cyber-criminal groups there was a large talent pool of offensive cyber skills to leverage in Russia. Russian military and political cyber operations are both overt and covert and are very intertwined. They include some of the most sophisticated espionage campaigns ever discovered to globally destructive cyber-attacks. More recently, the information security research community has observed precision and persistent capabilities unleashed on unsuspecting organizations. This paper charts a course of Russian cyber capability development and explores the application of those cyber capabilities in both a strategic policy level to application on a tactical battlefield.

Enacting Freedom of Information Act in Malaysia: A Cost-Benefit Analysis

Freedom of information (FOI) refers to the right given to the public to seek information from government bodies. In Malaysia, to date, there is no federal legislation on the right to information. The system of official secrecy under the Official Secrets Act 1972 is the default system of information access. This paper aims to discuss the current constitutional setup, information disclosure system in Malaysia and the cost-benefit analysis of enacting the Freedom of Information Act at the Federal level. This article uses content analysis methods of previous literature, courts’ judgements, and statutory interpretation. This article also studies the international paradigm of FOI in various human rights instruments. This article concludes that the arguments favouring enacting the FOI law outweigh the contentions against such regulation.

Rzymska faza sprawy beatyfikacyjnej Sługi Bożego ks. Stanisława Streicha

April 13, 2019, in the Church of St. John Bosco in Luboń, the last public session was held ending the diocesan stage of canonization process of the Servant of God, Rev. Stanisław Streich. Streich was a martyr for the faith who died at the hands of the Communist criminal Wawrzyniec Nowak. The session was attended by Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, Metropolitan of Poznań, and the established tribunal: bishop’s delegate, promoter of justice, and notary, as well as a postulator. Archbishop Gądecki’s decree declared that the investigation at the diocesan stage was finally closed. Each individually swore that he had fulfilled his tasks faithfully and that he would keep an official secret. Extensive documentation of the canonization process of Rev. Stanisław Streich, numbering almost 3,500 pages that included trial files with thirty-one testimonies of witnesses was prepared to be submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. This stage, which is called the Roman stage of any altar candidate process, represents a qualitative leap in a given cause. The phase of collecting documents is over, and their substantive development begins. Al this is served by the various stages that establish the following: a new postulator of the cause; the issuance of a decree of validity of the diocesan inquiry; the appointment of a relator; the editing of the Positio; then the historical, theological, and ordinary congregation of cardinals and bishops; and finally, the promulgation of the decree of martyrdom by the pope.

Instytucja ślubowania sędziowskiego w polskim porządku prawnym

Judicial oath of office is a solemn declaration and attestation taken publicly in a prescribed form, by which a newly appointed judge obliges himself both to accomplish properly his professional duties and to respect essential values and principles pertinent to judicial deontology. The origin of the present institution dates back to times of ancient Rome, where it was called iusiurandum. The paper presents institution of judicial oath of office in the Polish legal order, especially since 1918 to nowadays. Over the span of nearly one century the analyzed institution has undergone relevant changes. In the interwar period the judicial oath of office lost its religious dimension. Up to this time the oath nominally had been taken to God, which was articulated in the following words: “I swear by Almighty God”. At present the oath’s text is secular, although a judge can optionally complete his swearing-in with the following invocation: “So help me God”. In the Second Polish Republic and in the People’s Republic of Poland judges took the oath before presidents of the particular types of courts or before Minister of Justice. Since 1989 the judicial oath is taken before the President of Poland, who at the same time appoints judges on the motion of the National Council of the Judiciary of Poland. In conjunction with the installation of communist government in Poland in 1944 the judicial oath’s words was submitted to political ideologization. This process reached its fullness on the ground of the 1985 statute. Ignoring the above-mentioned fact, one can state that the judicial oath’s text in the presented time frame has included similar rules and guidelines governing judicial behaviour, which can be classified into two groups. First category relates to relations between a judge on one side and the Polish state or the Polish Nation on the other side. By this part of the oath a judge expresses his patriotism toward homeland. Second category of rules refers to principles of judicial deontology, i.e. obligations functionally connected with jurisdictional activity. Judges in Poland solemnly swear to uphold the law, to fulfill judge’s duties conscientiously, to dispense justice lawfully and impartially according to their consciences, to keep state and official secret, and – finally – to be guided in their conduct as judges by principle of dignity and principle of fairness. Legal rules do not, apart from plain text, regulate the etiquette of taking the judicial oath of office. The course of swearing-in ceremony is in high degree a result of over twenty-one-year customary practice of the President’s Chancellery. There is a need, motivated by legal certainty and security, to fix, even if out of necessity only generally, in the form of a normative act both the form and the procedure of judicial swearing-in. One should also place a referral to the judicial oath of office in the Collection of Principles of Judge’s Professional Ethics because the oath embodies fundamental principles that guide every member of the judge’s fraternity. The author of the article postulates to determine in a statute a few further issues, such as consequences of the oath’s infringement (disciplinary punishments) or sanctions for refusing to take the oath (invalidity of appointment act). The taking of the judicial oath of office is a condition to the admission to administer justice, to authoritatively deciding cases. In other words this requirement constitutes conditio sine qua non of judge’s jurisdictional activity. Normative sense of the present institution coexists with its symbolic dimension as a source of professional identity. Every judge must remember that the oath is not a mere formality to be forgotten afterwards. It’s some kind of a sacred trust that judges should keep inviolable regardless of circumstances. Tenets of morality written in the text of the oath comprise a compass pointing at the best path of judicial career.

Freedom of Press in Myanmar

Every person has to enjoy freedom of expressing their opinion and information and they also have the duties to refrain from affecting the right and reputation of other persons. Since it is not an absolute right, the person who practices the right to freedom of press needs to respect the rights and reputations of others. This paper used a qualitative approach by reviewing relevant literature such as international legal instruments, domestic laws and reports regarding freedom of expression. This research mainly based on primary and secondary resources because the required information is obtained from Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), General Comment No.34, Johannesburg Principles on National Security and some Myanmar laws such as the Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Telecommunication Law 2013, the News Media Law 2014, the Official Secrets Act 1923 and the Unlawful Association Act 1908. Although Section 354(a) of the Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar provides that every citizen has a right to express and publish freely their convictions and opinions, many people including journalists and news media men can be prosecuted under the provisions of the existing laws. Thus, when many people posted information in their own pages, they have been charged with the provisions of the existing laws. Therefore, the existing laws in Myanmar which contain restricted provisions for freedom of press should be repealed or amended and new laws should be enacted in line with the International Human Right standards.

Freedom of Expression in Malaysia: Compatibility with the International Human Rights Standard

<p>Malaysia is likely to introduce new laws on freedom of information. However, the important questions are whether the said laws are effective and will have enough bite with the public looking forward to opening government policy. Freedom of information has developed under international human rights law as the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart knowledge and ideas through media, regardless of any frontier. This paper aims to examine freedom of expression under the international realm, scrutinize the said freedom in the Malaysian legal framework, and discuss the proposed enactment of freedom of information laws in Malaysia in conformity with international human rights law. This research uses the qualitative research method. This paper concludes that freedom of information in Malaysia is severely impeded by the enforcement of the Official Secret Act. This paper calls for the repeal or amendment to the Act in conformity with international standards. </p><p><strong>Keywords</strong><strong>:</strong> Expression; Freedom; Expression; Human Right.</p>

FEATURES OF THE QUALIFICATION OF UNFAIR COMPETITION EXPRESSED IN THE FORM OF ILLEGAL ACTIONS REGARDING PROTECTED INFORMATION

The article deals with the characteristics of one of the forms of unfair competition associated with the illegal receipt, use, disclosure of information prohibited by article 30 оf the law of the Republic of Belarus "On countering monopolistic activities and development of competition". Based on the legal analysis of the legal norms of the antimonopoly legislation and scientific literature, the author reveals the signs and conditions of disorganization of the competitor's activities committed by illegal dissemination of commercial or official secrets. The author analyzes the definition of" information", signs of commercial and official secrets and the legal regimes established in relation to them. The circumstances and elements of the offense are important for the requirements of an administrative offense under Article 13.33 "Unfair Competition" of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses, expressed in the form of actions in relation to protected information, are considered.

Motivation Practices and Employee Discipline of Selected Federal Paramilitary Agencies in South West, Nigeria

Motivation is imperative for employee discipline, as it is also critical to the success and survival of organisations. Some scholars are of the opinion that the most difficult factor, of all the factors of production in the organisation, is the human element. In the same vein human beings are considered as the most important assets of organization. Employee's behaviours, such as discipline and indiscipline affect the image of organisations both positively and negatively. The image of the organisation may be damaged by acts of indiscipline exhibited by employees. Such acts may include, lateness, laziness, leaking of official secrets, going against the rules and regulations of the organisation, brutality, corrupt practices and general misconducts.Indiscipline among employees is a common phenomenon and it contributes to the negative images of many organisations. The high level of indiscipline among paramilitary officers is also a global issue. The study adopted quantitative research technique, with a study population of 22,235 personnel of selected paramilitary agencies in South-West, Nigeria. One thousand copies of validated questionnaires were used for collection of responses from respondents. The response rate was 91%, and data collected were analyzed by employing both descriptive and inferential methods. The result of the study confirmed that motivation had positive effect on employee discipline of the selected Federal paramilitary agencies in South-West, Nigeria.

КОРХОНАНИНГ ТАРКИБИЙ ҚИСМИ СИФАТИДА ХИЗМАТ ВА ТИЖОРАТ СИРИ ТУШУНЧАСИ ВА МАЗМУНИ

This article analyzes the concept of official and commercial secrets as part of an enterprise as an object of civil law relations, their legal foundations, the meaning of their main features, as well as contractual legal problems arising in connection with them. In addition, we will talk about the differences between the concepts of "commercial secret" and "official secret" on the subjects of transactions, official secret in relations of an administrative nature, the secret of an economic entity, on the circumstances that are not protected by patent protection.In addition, the properties of information included in ranks of commercial secrets are disclosed

Executive Accountability and National Security

AbstractThe protection of national security has traditionally been an exception to general norms of public accountability, based on prerogative powers. The last three decades have seen efforts to bring national security closer to the normal constitutional control mechanisms of parliament and the courts. The design of and changes to mechanisms of accountability have, however, been accepted without discussion of the often narrower purposes for which they were first established (most notably for oversight of surveillance), the extent of their departure from constitutional principles, or their impact in embedding new forms of exceptionalism in the constitutional framework. This article critically assesses these developments, prompted for example by the Law Commission's recommendations to reform official secrets laws, which adopted trusted intermediary and indirect accountability models without full consideration of historical and contemporary concerns or the exceptionalism on which they were based. Though focused on the UK, our account provides a cautionary tale for national security law reform in any modern democracy.