National and foreign experience in the criminal-legal protection of an individual’s digital rights

Abstract

The relevance of the study is determined by rapid globalization, the digitalization of social relations, the development of artificial intelligence, and the emergence of a new object of criminal law regulation, namely the digital rights of the individual. The purpose of the article is to define the concept of “digital rights of the individual” and the body of these freedoms as an object of criminal law protection, as well as to clarify the specific features of their protection in the national and international dimensions. The research methodology includes formal legal, comparative legal, analytical, and systemic-structural methods. It has been established that the digital rights of the individual have evolved from the traditional rights to privacy, secrecy of correspondence, and protection of personal data. It has been found that the criminal legislation of Ukraine already contains provisions aimed at protecting digital rights; however, these norms protect them only indirectly and do not define digital freedoms as a separate object of legal regulation. It has been clarified that the Budapest Convention, acts of European Union law, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights as a source of national law, as well as foreign approaches to the regulation of digital rights, are of considerable importance for the formation of policies concerning this object. It has been proved that the European model is based on a risk-oriented approach, the American model on a pragmatic approach, while the Ukrainian model has a prohibitive-regulatory character. Prospects for further research are connected with clarifying the list of digital rights, distinguishing them as a separate object of criminal law protection, and modifying criminal legislation in accordance with the challenges of hybrid warfare, the development of artificial intelligence, cyber threats, and digitalization.