Interference with the legal professional activities of journalists: public danger and immediate objects

It is indicated that freedom of speech and self­expression are key components of any modern democracy. International and national legislation provides everyone with the right to freedom of thought, speech, and the free expression of their views and beliefs. At the same time, the practical implementation of these fundamental freedoms remains a difficult task. In Ukraine, the professional activity of journalists is under the protection of the state, and the legislative norms regulating this protection are generally sufficient. However, despite this, cases of obstruction of the legal professional activity of media representatives do not stop, as evidenced by judicial practice The work reveals main provisions on the public danger of obstructing legitimate professional activity of journalists (Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), the direct main and additional objects of this tort. To clarify the content of these elements of the composition of a criminal offense, the concept of the object of a criminal offense as a legal relationship is taken as a basis. It has been established that the social danger of obstructing the legal activity of a journalist lies in the fact that this criminally illegal act has such a negative impact on society in general and the journalist in particular: 1) restricts freedom of speech, i.e. the right to freely express one’s thoughts; 2) hinders citizens’ access to information; 3) directly threatens democratic processes in the state; 4) leads to self-censorship; 5) negatively affects public consciousness, makes it more vulnerable and can lead to its manipulation; 6) threatens psychological and physical safety of journalists, their property, honor, dignity, etc., depending on the manifestation of interference with their legal activities. It is proposed to recognize state-protected legal relations in the sphere of the legitimate professional activity of journalists, which determine the order of such activity, as the main direct object of the criminal offense provided for in Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. It is argued that the criminal offense provided for in Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, usually includes direct additional optional objects, which can be legal relations related to the provision of criminal law protection of life, health, honor, dignity, property of a journalist, public order, normal activity of an organization, the right of citizens to obtaining reliable and objective information, etc. At the same time, direct additional mandatory object takes place only in case of committing the specified tort by an official using his official position.