Protection of honor, dignity and business reputation. How is the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation going? The procedure for protecting business reputation

Citizens, entrepreneurs and legal entities have the right to defend their honor or business reputation only in court. The injured party should not use exculpatory arguments. However, she is obliged to show that the information denigrates her good name and is disseminated by a specific person / company. The detailed procedure is described in the article.

The legislation of the Russian Federation does not provide specific definitions of any of these concepts. However, in practice, it is generally accepted that:

Honor- This is a public assessment of a particular person, a characteristic of his traits as a personality, behavior, character traits, worldview attitudes.
Dignity- This is a person's self-assessment of the same qualities. At the same time, dignity is recognized both by society and by the state.
Business reputation- this is an assessment by society of a person's professional qualities, his knowledge and skills as an employee.

The concept of business reputation applies equally to both individuals and companies and individual entrepreneurs. It is assumed that a legal entity can only have a business reputation, and individual people have both a business reputation and personal. As for honor and dignity, they can only characterize a specific person, not an organization.

Thus, the listed concepts describe the spiritual and moral characteristics of people and indicators of the company's professionalism. Together they form spiritual rights that are not directly related to material rights, but have many connections with them.

Expert opinion

Dmitry Sobolev

For example, a person is entitled to a good name. If this rule is violated, he risks facing problems in the field of professional development, relationships with creditors. In the long term, this aggravates his financial situation, i.e. already violates substantive rights.

The legislative framework

Every citizen of the Russian Federation has the right to defend his own honor, dignity and good name, which is guaranteed by the Constitution.

Other legislative acts specify the methods and procedure for the protection of honor.

The Civil Code defines the described concepts as intangible benefits of a person, which he acquires by birth. That is, "by default" each person and company has a good name, are considered "good", unless proven otherwise. The described intangible benefits cannot be alienated and are not inherited or sold in any other way. However, they can be violated in various ways by individuals, entrepreneurs or companies.

What can harm the honor, dignity and business reputation

Intangible (spiritual) rights can be inflicted exclusively on intangible harm, which, however, does not exclude material and financial consequences. Damage to a person's honor or reputation of a company or individual entrepreneur consists in the fact that an interested person spreads defamatory information about him, i.e. knowingly false information of a negative nature.

Such information is transmitted to a large circle of people, which forms a negative perception of a person or company in society, a certain group, in front of loved ones, clients, in the region or the state as a whole. Moreover, such data is disseminated precisely in the media (TV, newspapers, the Internet, etc.).

As a result, the injured party receives or risks receiving both moral and material damage:

job loss;
detention;
loss of reputation;
breaking ties with business partners;
damage to a trademark, brand;
decrease in sales and much more.

When determining the harm caused by defamatory information, the generally accepted legal principles apply:

Presumption of good faith.
Presumption of innocence.

These principles mean that every person and every company is not required to prove their good name and reputation, which originally belongs to them inherently. Upon receipt of certain negative information, only the party that disseminated such information is obliged to prove its veracity. The subject himself is not obliged to justify himself and prove the falsity of the data received, although he has the right to do this at his own discretion.

Expert opinion

Dmitry Sobolev

Administrative lawyer, site expert

The buyer insists that the store is selling expired products. He disseminated the data through publication in a local newspaper. In this case, the store is not obliged to prove that the information is false. At the same time, the company has the right to go to court and demand a refutation of this information.

Methods and procedure for protecting the honor of dignity and business reputation: a sample of a statement of claim

The Civil Code provides for judicial restoration of violated rights by:

refutation of false information in the same way in which they were originally disseminated;
(only for individuals).

Both measures can be applied both jointly and separately - the final decision remains with the court. Thus, the only way to restore one's honor or reputation is to go to court with a demand to refute the disseminated information of a negative nature. The parties can come to the same agreement in the pre-trial procedure by concluding an amicable agreement, which has full legal force.

Protection is implemented in courts of general jurisdiction (for citizens) and in arbitration courts (for individual entrepreneurs and legal entities). As a plaintiff both a private citizen and a representative of a company, organization, community, or an entrepreneur can speak. It is important to understand that a person has the right to protect a good name both during life and after death. Therefore, the heirs of deceased citizens, whose good name was damaged (including after death), can also apply to the court.

As a defendant are:

the authors themselves, who made false materials, denunciations, photos, videos, etc .;
persons disseminating this information (for example, citizens or newspapers, owners of websites and other media).

The statement of claim has a standard structure and contains the following sections:

"Hat" with the name of the court, full name, address, contact details of the plaintiff and the defendant.
Detailed description of the situation.
Claims - refutation of false information and compensation for moral damage.
Applications.
Date, signature, decryption of signature.

When drawing up a statement, you can focus on such a sample.

It is important to understand that the plaintiff can also demand the restoration of his good name in cases where it is impossible to establish the author of false rumors due to objective reasons (or this author has died, disappeared, etc.). In this case, the party is also not obliged to prove its good faith, i.e. there is no need to provide documents that confirm her positive business reputation.

The limitation period for such cases is 3 years. If the plaintiff claims damages in connection with the publication of false information in the media, the limitation period is 1 year. The course of this period begins from the moment when the victim learned about the dissemination of defamatory information or should have learned about it. If there are valid reasons (illness, other extraordinary circumstances), the terms can be restored: only the court has the right to make an appropriate decision.

Judicial review: 10 findings

Judicial practice in such cases is quite diverse. Statistics show that annually, claims are heard on 5000 claims of citizens and 800 claims from individual entrepreneurs and legal entities. In this case, the judges seek to be guided by the explanations of the highest instance.

When resolving disagreements, it is necessary to pay attention not only to Russian legislation, but also to decisions of the European Court of Justice and other international documents.
Claims should also be considered in cases where the author cannot be identified (anonymous notes, negative information on the Internet, etc.).
If an entrepreneur or a company is a participant in the process, but the case is not related to economic activity, it is considered in the courts of general jurisdiction.
A preliminary requirement for the author to refute false data is optional - each person has the right to immediately go to court.
If defamatory information is disseminated by an employee of the company (in connection with the performance of his professional duties), then it is this company as a legal entity that will act as the defendant. In this case, the employee himself can act as a third party, provided that he has no personal interest in the case.
If there are signs of a crime in the actions of the author of false information, the victim may demand the initiation of a criminal case. Refusal to initiate does not deprive him of the right to apply to a civil court.
The court must be convinced of the fact of dissemination of information by a specific person. The injured party must prove this fact. She must also prove the fact that this information is defamatory.
The information, the existence of which has not been proven, is false. They cannot include information that is contained in court documents (rulings, decisions, sentences).
Defamatory is information not only about a person's violation of the law, but about the commission of an unethical, immoral act, which is not formally prohibited by law.
In some cases, the media are exempt from liability for the dissemination of such data. All these cases are spelled out in the relevant law, and their list is exhaustive.

Protection of honor, dignity and business reputation — a procedure aimed at restoring a person's good name. Everyone has such a right in the event of harm as a result of disclosing defamatory information that does not correspond to reality. Read more about ways to protect honor and dignity in this article.

Protection of the honor and dignity of a citizen

Protection of honor and good name is the constitutional right of every Russian, regardless of age, gender, nationality, official position and other characteristics. This provision is enshrined in article 23 of the main law of the country and is duplicated by many regulatory legal acts. In particular, Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation guarantees citizens judicial protection of honor, dignity and business reputation.

What is honor, dignity and business reputation?

honor - an assessment of a personality from the point of view of its perception by society, based on the social and spiritual qualities of a person;
dignity, on the contrary, means self-esteem, that is, a person's idea of himself as a person and an assessment of his own worth;
business reputation is a category applied mostly to legal entities, but it is also fair for citizens in terms of recognizing the professional and personal qualities of a person in aggregate.

How can harm to the honor and dignity of a citizen be expressed?

As follows from the provisions of Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, harm to honor, dignity or business reputation consists in the dissemination of defamatory information about a person. The way this information is disseminated does not matter.

The main condition for the emergence of the right to protect honor, dignity and business reputation is the discrepancy between the disclosed information and reality.

Important: it is the responsibility of the person who disseminated the information to prove the accuracy of the information. At the same time, in this case, the principle of the presumption of innocence is fully valid, that is, defamatory information is considered a priori false, until the opposite is proven in a judicial or other procedure established by law.

A typical example is the disclosure of information that incriminates a person of committing a crime. In such a situation, despite the obviousness of the dissemination of information, without a final conviction of the court, it is regarded as untrue.

Ways to protect honor, dignity and business reputation

Civil protection of honor (as well as dignity and business reputation) implies 2 types of consequences of its application:

public denial of defamatory information;
compensation for moral harm caused to a citizen as a result of spreading false information about him.

At the same time, one does not exclude the other, that is, the court, depending on the specific circumstances, has the right to apply both sanctions to the violator.

How to provide compensation for moral damage?

If, in order to achieve a refutation of defamatory information, it is enough to prove their falsity, then compensation for moral damage is allowed only on condition of causing physical or mental suffering to the victim.

In the case of attacks on honor and dignity, we can only talk about moral suffering, which is very difficult to confirm and even more so to evaluate. The wording of the legislation on this matter is very vague and does not answer the question of how exactly the existence of suffering should be proved.

Don't know your rights?

In particular, Article 1101 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation names as criteria for assessing moral damage:

the nature of moral suffering;
the degree of guilt of the person who caused them;
circumstances of violation of rights;
personality traits of the affected person.

A certain clarity is made by the resolution of the plenum of the RF Armed Forces "Some questions of the application of legislation on compensation for moral harm" No. 10 of 20.12.1994. The document indicates that moral harm may include, among other things, experiences associated with the loss of a job, the inability to continue the previous way of life, etc.

As the judicial practice shows, various circumstances can be regarded as the loss of the opportunity to continue the usual way of life, such as: exclusion from any public associations; refusal of the victim's environment to communicate with him, etc. - all this often takes place due to the dissemination of false and defamatory information.

As for the compensation itself, according to Article 151 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, it can be expressed exclusively in monetary form. The amount depends on the degree of harm caused and is determined by the court based on the requirements of the victim. There are no restrictions, as well as a unified position of the courts on this score.

In other words, the victim has the right to declare any amount in the claim, but this does not mean that the court will appoint it to be paid in full.

Important: you can go to court for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation in terms of compensation for moral damage at any time: by virtue of Article 208 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the statute of limitations does not apply to requirements relating to the protection of personal non-property rights.

Procedure for refuting false information

In accordance with Article 151 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the refutation of false information must be carried out in the same way in which they were disseminated. In addition, the norm contains several clarifying provisions:

in case of disclosure of defamatory information in the media, in addition to refutation, the victim has the right to demand the publication of his response or response in the same place;
documents containing defamatory information are subject to revocation or cancellation (the provision applies to documents from specific organizations, for example, orders, orders, etc.);
if it is impossible to report the refutation to the general public due to the widespread dissemination of false information, the victim can count on its removal from all sources and blocking further dissemination by any means, including the destruction of material carriers;
when disseminating defamatory information on the Internet, at the request of the victim, they must be removed with the subsequent publication of a refutation.

Important: the inability to identify the person who disseminated false information does not deprive the victim of the right to defend his honor, dignity and business reputation. In such situations, he can apply to the court with a demand to recognize such information as untrue and to stop publishing refuting materials in the public domain.

Unlike claims for compensation for harm, claims for the refutation of defamatory information are subject to the general limitation period, which is 3 years from the moment when the victim became aware of the violation of his rights.

The exceptions are claims related to the publication of false information in the media - here interested parties should hurry up, because the limitation period in this case is limited to 1 year from the date of publication of the defamatory information.

Other forms of protection of honor, dignity and business reputation

Protection of honor, dignity and business reputation, in addition to civil, is guaranteed by the norms of criminal and administrative law.

So, humiliation of the honor and dignity of a person, if these actions are expressed in an indecent form, are qualified as an insult and are punished in accordance with Article 5.61 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation.

The size of the fines stipulated by the norm vary from 1,000 to 5,000 rubles, depending on the circumstances of the insult.

The dissemination of defamatory information is completely subject to the Criminal Code - Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes liability for libel. And although the culprit does not face imprisonment, the consequences are nevertheless very serious - a large (up to 5,000,000 rubles) fine or compulsory work for a long time.

If desired, the victim of defamation can use any method of protecting honor, dignity and business reputation, or apply them all at once. All that is needed for this is to appeal to the magistrate with a statement to bring the culprit to criminal responsibility. It is possible to obtain compensation for moral damage and refutation of false information within the framework of a criminal case - the judge will make an appropriate decision simultaneously with the sentencing.

Important: the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is a right guaranteed not only during the life of a citizen, but also after his death. In this case, it can be realized by the relatives of the deceased victim or other interested persons. Some difficulties may arise only if the descendants wish to receive compensation for moral damage - it is allowed only in relation to persons who have directly suffered suffering.

Procedure for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation

Honor, dignity and business reputation are intangible benefits, the right to protection of which is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. This rule is confirmed by clause 1 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 24, 2005 N 3 "On judicial practice in cases of protecting the honor and dignity of citizens, as well as the business reputation of citizens and legal entities" and is subject to strict observance by both judicial authorities and any by other persons.

What is meant by honor, dignity and business reputation?

Normative acts do not give a clear and unambiguous definition of each term, however, based on judicial practice, scientific publications and the opinions of practicing lawyers, the following definitions of the above concepts can be formulated:

Honor- assessment of a person from a socio-ethical point of view, based on the spiritual, social and ethical qualities of a particular person;
Dignity- self-esteem of a person, his awareness of himself as a person;
Business reputation- general assessment of both personal and professional qualities of a citizen or company, recognition of these qualities and an objective opinion of society and third parties about this person (company).

Note: Perhaps, these definitions are not precise or exhaustive from the point of view of a deep scientific analysis of these concepts, but they very easily allow you to get an idea of what this or that intangible good is.

Article 152 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation establishes that harm to the listed intangible benefits can be caused by the dissemination of information discrediting the good name of a citizen or legal entity. At the same time, the method of committing such an act does not matter at all - information can be published in the press; announced in an interview or public speech; written on the forum or publications on the site, posted on a social network.

IMPORTANT: The disclosure of defamatory information to the person whom it concerns personally does not constitute a violation of the citizen's right to a good name. However, when such information is reported in the presence of unauthorized persons, the citizen in relation to whom this information was reported has every right to apply for the protection of honor and dignity.

As an example of information discrediting the honor and dignity of a citizen, one can note:

Dissemination of false information about the commission of a citizen of acts or actions subject to condemnation from the point of view of morality and ethics (for example, information about a dissolute lifestyle, alcoholism, adultery, etc.);
Offensive language based on nationalist, social or gender characteristics;
Accusation of committing an offense or crime (in this case, the distributor may also be subject to criminal liability under Art. 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - "Slander associated with accusation of committing a grave or especially grave crime");
Libel and insults in any form and form;
Accusation of professional dishonesty, incompetence.

The business reputation of a legal entity can be undermined:

False information about unfair treatment of counterparties, default on obligations;
Accusations of illegal activities of the company, lack of licenses, competent specialists, permits, etc.
Negative information about specific employees, if such information is directly related to the professional activities of the company, etc.

IMPORTANT: In a number of cases, in order to recognize information as defamatory, it must be established that it is false. A report in the press, for example, about the imposition of a court verdict against a citizen under any article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation cannot be recognized as the dissemination of defamatory information, even if such information forms a negative attitude of society towards him.

It is noteworthy that the presence in the actions of the distributor of defamatory information of any composition of an administrative offense or a criminal offense (libel, insult, etc.) does not deprive the victim of the right to receive compensation for moral damage within the framework of the provisions of Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Ways to protect honor, dignity and business reputation

The protection of the rights of citizens and legal entities in this case is carried out exclusively through the courts by applying the injured person to the court with a corresponding statement.

Article 152 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation provides for two ways to restore the violated right:

Refutation of defamatory information or organization of information.
caused by the dissemination of defamatory information.

IMPORTANT: Only citizens have the right to compensation for moral harm. Legal entities have the right to demand only the refutation of the information discrediting the reputation, or their removal in cases where it is not possible to establish the person who published it.

The rebuttal must be given in the same way in which the defamatory information was published. The information posted on the Internet must be deleted and further refuted in any way that involves bringing this information to the Internet users.

The procedure for refuting information recognized as defamatory on the basis of a court decision is prescribed by the court individually in each case. In this case, the violator's failure to comply with the court decision entails the application of additional measures of responsibility to him, but does not deprive him of the obligation to remove the defamatory information.

A statement of claim for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is filed:

By individuals - to the courts of general jurisdiction located at the place of residence of the defendant-citizen or at the place of registration of the legal entity.
By legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, in cases where the dissemination of defamatory information is directly related to the sphere of entrepreneurial activity, - to the arbitration court at the location of the defendant.

Note: If an individual participates in a case on the protection of intangible goods, then the arbitration courts are obliged to consider such cases, regardless of who is a party to the case (clause 2 of the Review of judicial practice, approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on March 16, 2016).

If it is not possible to establish the person who disseminated the defamatory information, a claim for the removal or refutation of the defamatory information may be filed against the publication, the owner of the site or other service on which the defamatory information is posted or posted. Court requests to remove information or its refutation will be binding on the owner of the site, media or other publication.

Submitting a claim to the court for the protection of violated rights

The procedure for going to court for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is regulated by Art. 131-132 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, which regulates the general requirements for the form and content of the claim, taking into account the features prescribed by Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

It makes no sense to analyze in detail typical samples of claims, their content and other nuances, since the complexity of this area and a small array of judicial practice practically excludes independent effective protection of their intangible benefits by citizens and organizations.

I, lawyer V.V. Kochenkov, provide a full range of legal services for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation, from and preparation of a claim, ending with assistance in the actual decision made by the court.

A person, regardless of his property status, nationality, official position, his convictions, is worthy of public respect. With the birth of them, they acquire inviolable rights to their own dignity and honor.In our world, it is also important to know what the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is.

Dignity, honor, business reputation: definition of concepts

Important! It should be borne in mind that:

Each case is unique and individual.
Careful study of the issue does not always guarantee a positive outcome of the case. It depends on many factors.

To get the most detailed advice on your issue, you just need to choose any of the options offered:

Not a single normative act today provides an interpretation of these concepts. Honor, dignity and business reputation are moral categories.

Honor and dignity have similar meanings. The rights to them are natural, i.e. received from the moment a person was born. The owner of dignity and honor is always an individual or a group of individuals. These rights are inviolable, while other people's encroachments on them entail negative legal consequences.

Honor is an assessment of the qualities of an individual given by society. Each person is assessed, as he is in constant interaction with society. Various qualities of an individual are assessed: his morality, attitude to social categories, outlook on life, actions.

Dignity, on the other hand, is an assessment of one's own qualities by the individual himself. Dignity includes the inner feelings of a person, awareness of his place and role in the social system. To some extent, the concepts of "dignity" and "honor" relate to each other as an internal and external understanding of the assessment of human properties.

Close in meaning, but with more significant differences, is the concept of "business reputation". Business reputation is the assessment of professional actions given by the society. Compared to dignity and honor, business reputation has the following distinctive features:

reputation can be not only positive, but also negative, while dignity and honor are initially understood in a positive aspect.
reputation depends on the performance of the subject. The higher the quantity and quality of the created goods, the more significant the business reputation will be.
reputation can be assessed not only with a person, but also with a firm, organization, bank, enterprise and other institutions.

Business reputation, dignity and honor are moral concepts that are reflected in the legal system.

Laws regulating this issue

Dignity, honor and reputation, the endowment of subjects with them and their protection are regulated by various branches of law. The Constitution proclaims the inviolability and natural acquisition of these rights. Its norms are of a declarative nature. The procedure for protecting interests is detailed in the provisions of the Civil Code.

The Civil Procedure Code prescribes the rules for the implementation of the procedure for the protection of honor, dignity and reputation. Law No. 2124-1 defines the procedure for refuting defamatory inaccurate information as one of the means of restoring the violated right. Resolution of the Supreme Court of 2005 No. 3 provides clarifications to the courts when considering cases on the protection of reputation, honor and dignity.

The Tax Code determines the amount of fees for filing a claim with a judicial authority. For convenience, in the search for the legal norm of interest, you can use the table below.

Question	Normative act	Article
Proclamation of the human right to the protection of honor and my own good name	Constitution	Art. 23
Protection order	GK	Art. 152
Compensation for moral harm	GK	Art. 151
Amount of Compensated Moral Damage	GK	Art. 1101
Form of claim	GPK	Art. 131
List of documents to be submitted to the court along with the claim	GPK	Art. 132
Time for consideration of the claim in the judiciary	GPK	Art. 154
Rebuttal procedure	Law of 1991	Art. 44

Methods and features of protection

There are two ways to restore damaged honor and dignity. The first method refers to the nomination of the subject who disseminated defamatory information, the requirement to refute this information. The second way is to file a claim with a judicial authority. At the same time, the law does not oblige the person to resolve the issue out of court.

The reason for the defense is the dissemination of negative information discrediting the social qualities of an individual or organization. Distribution should be understood as the transfer of information to a circle of persons, including one person. Information can be transmitted using print media, video broadcasting on television, radio, newsreels, the Internet, in public speeches and service characteristics.

Dissemination is not considered the presentation of defamatory information to the person whose rights are infringed upon, in this case we are talking about an insult. It is also necessary to distinguish the dissemination of defamatory information from libel, which implies the disclosure of knowingly false negative information, the dissemination may not be intentional. Defamation, as opposed to distribution, is subject to criminal sanctions.

In order to protect violated social rights in court, it is necessary that the very fact of an offense has the following features:

The transmitted information must tarnish the reputation of the subject.
Information should not be reflected in reality.
The dissemination of information takes place.

In the absence of any of the above circumstances, the judge has the right to refuse to satisfy the demand.

A feature of the protection of non-property rights is that it is the distributor's responsibility to prove the authenticity of the defamatory information. A citizen, whose honor and dignity are defamed, should not prove his innocence, the law firm UESKOM insists on this when working with clients. If the distributor cannot provide evidence to the court in the veracity of the information, he is found guilty, then the claim is satisfied.

Protection order

Before going to court, a person can send a request for refutation or his response to what was said to the editorial office that disseminated negative information. The person must be informed about the measures for refutation no later than one month from the date of receipt of the request. If the newspaper is published once a week, then the refutation must be published no later than ten days, in relation to other information broadcasters - in the next edition.

The refutation in the newspaper is placed in the same column where the defamatory information is, and is typed in the same font. The refutation on television or radio is announced at the same hour as the program in which the negative information was disseminated.

Judicial protection of the violated right involves filing a claim for the restoration of the previous reputation and compensation for moral harm. Claims with such requirements are sent to the courts of general jurisdiction. If the subject of the dispute is related to economic activity, then the arbitration court shall resolve such dispute.

The limitation period on this issue is one year from the date of dissemination of negative information. If the deadline is missed, then the court rejects the claim.

Individuals whose rights have been violated and their legal representatives can defend their interests. Also, the law allows the protection of the honor of a deceased citizen. Attached to the claim are documents confirming the dissemination of defamatory information. The plaintiff pays the fee. Its size for the restoration of non-property rights is 6,000 rubles for everyone. When filing a claim for compensation for moral harm for people, the amount is 300 rubles, for organizations - 6,000 rubles.

The amount of compensation for moral harm is determined by the victim independently, taking into account the severity of the experience and is expressed in monetary terms. As a general rule, a judge considers the case within two months and delivers a verdict.

Typical cases of defense from judicial practice

According to the Resolution of the Plenum, the courts, when resolving cases on the protection of honor, do not make mistakes in law enforcement. The greatest complexity is acquired by cases in which the person who disseminated defamatory information is unknown. For these purposes, it is recommended that the issue be resolved as a special consideration, by filing a claim with a magistrate to declare the information invalid. The modern capabilities of the special unit "K" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs make it possible to establish the e-mail address of the person who violated the Internet.

There are mistakes of persons in determining the violation itself when filing a claim. Citizens often cannot distinguish slander, insult from the dissemination of perverse information. The rights violated by slander and insult are defended by way of private public accusation in the magistrates' courts.

Thus, the legislator guarantees to legal entities and individuals the protection of the rights to honor, dignity and business reputation proclaimed by the Constitution.

Lawyer of the collegium of legal protection. He specializes in administrative and civil cases, compensation for damage by insurance companies, consumer protection, as well as cases related to the illegal demolition of shells and garages.

The judicial procedure, namely civil law, allows to significantly expand the circle of persons against whom claims for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation may be presented. It makes it possible not only to protect the specified intangible benefits by refutation, but also to compensate for moral damage, to resolve the issue of compensation for losses. It is the court that is the state body that, by virtue of the powers vested in it by law, can make a fair decision based on the principles of legality, equality of organizations and citizens before the law and the court, adversarial and equal rights of the parties, transparency of the proceedings.

Today, judicial protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is possible in courts of general jurisdiction in the civil and criminal proceedings, as well as in arbitration courts (if the case concerns the protection of business reputation in the field of entrepreneurial and economic activity). In addition, the current legislation does not exclude the possibility of considering issues related to these intangible benefits in an arbitration court, the disputing parties may resort to its services.

The current Civil Code of the Russian Federation establishes a special civil law method for protecting the honor, dignity and business reputation of citizens and legal entities. Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation gives every citizen the right to demand in court a refutation of information discrediting his honor, dignity and business reputation, if the person who disseminated such information does not prove that it is true. Part 7 of the same article provides for the right of legal entities to protect their business reputation according to the rules applied to protect the corresponding reputation of a citizen.

As a general rule, civil liability for encroachments on these intangible personal benefits occurs when three conditions are present simultaneously: 1) the fact of dissemination of information; 2) the defamatory nature of this information and 3) the discrepancy between their reality. In the absence of at least one of these circumstances, the claim cannot be satisfied by the court.

The dissemination of information discrediting the honor and dignity of citizens or the business reputation of citizens and legal entities should be understood as the publication of such information in the press, broadcast on radio and television, demonstration in newsreel programs, and other media, distribution on the Internet, as well as the use of other means of telecommunications, presentation in service characteristics, public speeches, statements addressed to officials, or a message, in one form or another, including oral, to at least one person. The communication of such information to the person to whom it concerns cannot be recognized as its dissemination if the person who provided the information has taken sufficient confidentiality measures so that they do not become known to third parties. took place in reality at the time to which the disputed information relates. Incorrect information about a citizen's illnesses (for example, tuberculosis, cancer, etc.) and physical disabilities that he allegedly has cannot be refuted by the court, since they, although and are fabrications that can cause severe moral feelings, but do not affect the formation of public opinion about a person. The only exceptions are cases of mentioning diseases that arise mainly as a result of depraved behavior.

This point of view seems to be controversial. Each person individually perceives the false information reported about him. The personal benefits we study are equally diminished by the spread of false information, both in the case of reports that a citizen has alcoholism or drug addiction, and in the case, for example, of reports of a young woman's or young man's inability to bear children. It is unlikely that anyone will deny that such information forms in society an opinion about the inferiority of such people. It seems that this opinion is correct - in such situations it is impossible to deprive the individual of the opportunity to demand the refutation of inaccurate information, especially since the court gives the decisive assessment in the event of a dispute.

Defamatory, in particular, is information containing allegations of a violation by a citizen or a legal entity of current legislation, a dishonest act, wrong, unethical behavior in personal, public or political life, dishonesty, in the implementation of industrial, economic and entrepreneurial activities, violation of business ethics or business customs that belittle the honor and dignity of a citizen or the business reputation of a citizen or legal entity.

When considering cases of this category, the courts of general jurisdiction have the right and are obliged to ensure the proper balance in the use of the constitutional right to the protection of honor and dignity, on the one hand, and the right to freedom of speech, on the other. In each specific case, it becomes necessary to carefully examine the text and determine whether the information contained in it corresponds to reality; whether they harm honor, dignity and business reputation; is it permissible to disseminate such information in a free discussion and is it possible to refute it in court. At the same time, the assessment of a text that has become the subject of a controversial relationship is usually given according to the judges' own lexical experience or experts are involved in the case. It should be noted that the use of linguistic expertise in courts when considering cases of this category is becoming more and more widespread.

In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 79 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the court assigns an examination when issues arise in the process of considering a case that require special knowledge in various fields of science, technology, art, and craft. For the examination of cases on the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation to become an effective legal instrument, sufficient theoretical material is needed to ensure the reliability of conclusions and uniformity in the application of methods and calculation formulas. Currently, this class of examinations is in the stage of formation. Expert knowledge in the field of philology is necessary in order, on the basis of these criteria, to provide a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the text that has become the subject of controversial relations. At the same time, the competence of an expert does not extend to legal issues, and only the court has the right to decide whether the information contained in the text discredits the honor, dignity and business reputation.

A citizen or an organization can apply to the court with a claim to refute widespread information if they provide information that this information discredits them. At the same time, if information disseminated in relation to others belittles the honor and dignity of the applicant, the case is subject to judicial review. A lawsuit for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation has the right to present capable citizens who consider that they have spread defamatory and untrue information about them. For the protection of the honor and dignity of minors and the incapacitated, their legal representatives may apply to the court. Protection of the good name of a citizen is also provided after his death. Persons interested in this can be both citizens (relatives, heirs, co-authors) and legal entities (for example, an organization headed by the deceased).

In accordance with clauses 1 and 7 of Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a citizen has the right to demand in court the refutation of information discrediting his honor, dignity or business reputation, and a legal entity - information discrediting his business reputation. At the same time, the law does not provide for a mandatory preliminary appeal with such a request to the defendant, including in the case when a claim is brought against the editorial office of the mass media in which the specified information was disseminated. When the courts consider cases of this category, they often have to deal with cases when it is impossible to establish the person who disseminated information discrediting the honor, dignity, business reputation of a citizen or the business reputation of an organization. In such cases, the person in respect of whom this information has been disseminated has the right to apply to the court with an application for recognizing the disseminated information as untrue. However, the law does not regulate the issue in which proceedings such a statement is subject to consideration - a claim or another. Since in this case there is no defendant, it seems that the application should be considered in the order of a special procedure, having fixed the corresponding rule in the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.

In judicial practice, the question often arises of the jurisdiction of the court of a case on a claim for refuting defamatory information contained in the prosecutor's submission. Since the representations and information of the prosecutor are not among the procedural documents, accordingly, the defamatory information contained in them can be appealed in court. At the same time, in the order of Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation cannot be considered requirements for the refutation of information discrediting a citizen contained in court decisions and sentences, decisions of the preliminary investigation bodies and other procedural or other official documents, for the appeal and dispute of which a different legal order is provided. The choice of the method of protection of honor and dignity - civil or criminal - depends on the discretion of the person concerned. It should be borne in mind that criminal liability for libel and insult occurs only with the deliberate actions of the perpetrator, and the possibility of civil protection does not depend on the fault of the person who disseminated the defamatory information. It should also be remembered that the civil law protects the honor, dignity and business reputation of both citizens and legal entities, while the criminal law protects only citizens. Compensation for moral damage is possible only in civil proceedings. Claims for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation are submitted to the court at the place of residence of the defendant, at the location of the organization or property of the legal entity that disseminated defamatory information.

The proper defendants in claims for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation are the authors of untrue defamatory information, as well as the persons who disseminated this information. If the disputed information was disseminated in the media, then the author and editorial staff of the respective media outlet are the proper respondents. If this information was disseminated in the mass media with an indication of the person who is its source, then this person is also the proper respondent. When publishing or otherwise disseminating defamatory information that does not correspond to reality without specifying the name of the author (for example, in an editorial article), the appropriate defendant in the case is the editorial office of the relevant media outlet, i.e. an organization, an individual or a group of individuals engaged in the production and release of this mass media. If the editorial office of a mass media outlet is not a legal entity, the founder of this mass media may be involved in the case as a defendant.

In the case when the information was disseminated by the employee in connection with the implementation of professional activities on behalf of the organization in which he works, the proper defendant in accordance with Art. 1068 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is a legal entity whose employee such information is disseminated. Considering that the consideration of this case may affect the rights and obligations of the employee, he may enter into the case as a third party who does not declare independent claims regarding the subject of the dispute on the defendant's side, or may be involved in the case at the initiative of the court or at the request of persons involved in the case. When filing a claim for the refutation of information that belittles honor and dignity, business reputation, the plaintiff is obliged to prove only the fact of their dissemination by the person or organization to which such a claim is made. He also has the right to present evidence of the discrepancy between the validity of the disseminated information. The duty of proving the truthfulness of the information discrediting the plaintiff is assigned by law to the defendant.

When the claim is satisfied, the court decision must set out exactly which widespread discrediting information does not correspond to reality, when and in what way they were disseminated. In the operative part of the decision, the methods of refutation must be indicated. If defamatory information has been disseminated in the media, it must be refuted in the same media. In the decision, the court can set out the text of the refutation, determine the period during which it must follow. When disseminating defamatory information in another way, the procedure for refuting it is established by the court, taking into account the content of this information, the place of distribution and other noteworthy circumstances.

If defamatory information is contained in a document emanating from the organization, the court, if the claim is satisfied, obliges the defendant to replace such a document or withdraw it. If the claim for compensation for material and moral damage, declared by the plaintiff, is satisfied, the decision shall indicate the amount recovered from the defendant. It should be borne in mind that compensation for non-pecuniary damage and losses in case of satisfaction of the claim are subject to recovery in favor of the plaintiff, and not other persons indicated by him.

Let's see in more detail. In relations with state bodies and officials, the protection of the honor of a citizen becomes extremely acute in those cases when it is associated with bringing an innocent person to criminal responsibility. The shame that covers the name of a person accused of a crime, and which he did not commit, especially if he was innocently convicted of a serious crime, not only nullifies a person's reputation, but also casts a shadow on his family and friends.

Unreasonably defamed honor, dignity or business reputation can be restored with the help of legal measures, which amount to the refutation of information that does not correspond to reality.

The subject of business reputation infringement are those elements of the bearer of business reputation that are directly related to his business activities.

The Civil Code, the Law "On Competition and Restriction of Monopolistic Activity in Commodity Markets" dated 03.22.1991 N 948-1 defines the essence of violation of business reputation as the dissemination of false, inaccurate or distorted, discrediting an economic entity, information that can cause him losses.

By analogy with how dissemination, defamation and falsity are considered in the process of protecting honor and dignity, it is possible to establish what dissemination, defamation and falsity are when violating a business reputation. The specificity here is manifested in the possibility of causing losses, and despite the fact that the Competition Law formally distinguishes between information "capable of causing damage" and information "capable of causing damage to business reputation", it can be assumed that it is practically impossible to damage business reputation without such damage did not become a cause of loss or a possible cause of loss.

Without such a connection, the protection of business reputation loses its commercial meaning. In the economic field, information is only able to cause losses when it is brought to the attention of those persons, on whose actions the well-being of the economic entity in respect of which the information is disseminated depends.

Defective goods (works, services), individualized by assigning them the trademark of an economic entity, whose business reputation, thus, may be diminished, cannot be considered a carrier of defamatory information.

Business reputation can be protected in two ways.

The first option: article 152, part 1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

The second option of protection is provided by the Law on Competition. Clause 1 of Article 3, Clause 1 of Article 2 of the Law determine the main goals, objectives and functions of the Antimonopoly Committee and designate how to suppress unfair competition, including damage to business reputation. True, an entity entitled to protection under the Competition Law may be an economic entity included in the art. 4 list. Based on this, the right to appeal to the Antimonopoly Committee does not have those economic entities that do not have the right to appeal to the arbitration court for the protection of their interests.

It is the ability to quickly attract or limit violations of the antimonopoly legislation, to administratively oblige the restoration of the original situation by filing a binding order to the violator that makes an effective way to protect business reputation through an appeal to the Antimonopoly Committee.

But the appeal of a subject for protection from unfair competition to the Antimonopoly Committee, as an administrative body, does not exclude two other possibilities:

a) apply in parallel: to the Arbitration Court and the Antimonopoly Committee;
b) apply to the arbitration court of the committee itself with a claim to prohibit unfair competition, restore the original position, recover damages in favor of the victim. Moreover, it cannot be said that in the latter case the Antimonopoly Committee will always stand up for the protection of the economic entity.

When filing a claim for the protection of business reputation, the plaintiff must provide evidence that this dispute is related to his business or other economic activity.

The decisions made by the court are not always implemented. Here, the legislator provides for the imposition of a fine for the violator (clause 3 of article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), which is collected in the prescribed procedural order in the income of the state. But the fine paid does not relieve the offender from the obligation to fulfill the obligation stipulated by the court decision.

Sometimes information is disseminated about a person, which, although they correspond to reality, but contain his negative characteristics (previous conviction, being in a mental hospital, etc.) unrest. Russian law does not provide for sanctions for the dissemination of such information. Special literature contains different points of view on this matter.

Some experts argue that the institution of defamation is incompatible with our legislation. Others, on the contrary, consider this to be wrong, since information that does not affect the public assessment of the individual, but causes mental suffering and sometimes mental shock of a person, may be subject to publicity.

Here, in our opinion, a differentiated approach is needed, because the appearance of information about circumstances defaming a citizen is caused by various reasons. In particular, information about unworthy actions of a citizen may be dictated by considerations of an educational nature, social needs.

It is justified and permissible to make public the unseemly acts of a citizen that go beyond the personal sphere and affect the interests of any collective or society as a whole. Of course, one and the same immoral actions cannot be punished indefinitely.

Responsibility for the dissemination of defamatory information that does not correspond to reality occurs regardless of what form - oral, written, in the media, etc., was used to disseminate this information.

This responsibility may also arise in cases where defamatory information that does not correspond to reality was disseminated by a person in the performance of official duties.

When disseminating such information orally, the official bears responsibility, and when disseminating information in writing, the institution, enterprise or organization on whose behalf the official acts. In cases where such an institution, enterprise or organization does not have the rights of a legal entity, the responsibility is borne by their higher authority.

Contrary to the opinion of the majority of those uninitiated in the problem of people, copyright protection is possible even when it comes to unpublished works expressed in any objective form, including in written, oral form in the form of an image, in the form of sound or video recording, in volumetric-spatial form. Otherwise, the rights of the author of the idea, concept, principle, method, process, system, methods, solution of technical, organizational or other problems, discoveries, facts, programming language are protected. Copyright law does not apply to the objects of human activity listed above. Copyright extends to a part of a work, to its name, to the character of the work, if by their nature they can be recognized as an independent result of creative work.

A person who is the subject of copyright has a special right to a work. The heirs of the author will also be the subjects of copyright. In addition to the individuals who own copyright, legal entities (organizations that collectively manage the copyrights of various authors) are also copyright holders. Intellectual rights to works of science, literature and art are copyrights.

1) the exclusive right to a work; 2) the right of authorship; 3) the author's right to a name; 4) the right to inviolability of the work; 5) the right to publish the work. The author of the work or other copyright holder has the exclusive right to use the work in any form and in any way that does not contradict the law.

Distribution of copies of the work; - import of the work and its copies for distribution purposes; - public display of the work; - a message in broadcasts about your work; - reproduction of the work; - public performance of the work; - translation into different languages, etc.

The above copyrights and other exclusive copyrights are alienated copyrights, since can be transferred to third parties, respectively, in this case, an author's agreement is drawn up, which provides for the above copyrights. In this case, copyright protection is guaranteed to you.

The methods of copyright protection are enforcement measures, which are enshrined in law, thanks to these methods, copyright protection, recognition of the disputed copyright and the impact on the_ of the violator are carried out. There is a wide range of ways to protect copyright: compensation, damages. It is also possible to protect copyright by terminating actions that infringed copyright or threatened to infringe it, and much more. The above methods of copyright protection are not an exhaustive list.

- the name of the copyright holder (very effective copyright protection);
- the first publications of works, in particular their year.

If the works consist of several parts, then in this case it is permissible to list the years separated by commas.

Infringement of copyright (non-property) will be plagiarism, and infringement is called infringement of copyright (exclusive), or as it is also called “piracy”. By its nature, copyright is a subjective civil law, therefore, copyright protection can take place under the Civil legislation of the Russian Federation. The civil legislation of the Russian Federation states that for the implementation, emergence, as well as the protection of copyright, registration of a work and the observance of various formalities is not required. Copyright protection requires registration if required in relation to databases and computers. Such registration is carried out at the request of the copyright holder himself. Among other things, there are technical means to protect copyright, they are software and hardware, but mostly software, they complicate the process of making copies of those works that are protected by copyright and they prevent different copying. Since 01.10.2008, there have been changes in part IV of the Civil legislation of the Russian Federation (Art. 1299). From this point on, TSZAP (technical means of copyright protection) recognizes various technical devices and their components, as well as any technologies that prevent access to the work, restrict and prevent copying actions, if they are not authorized by the author or other copyright holder.

Copyright protection does not allow: - without the author's permission to carry out actions aimed at eliminating and limiting the use of a work using TSZAP; - to manufacture, rent, distribute, advertise any technology, use technical means in order to get all kinds of profit or provide the corresponding services.

If copyright is violated, the author has every right to demand compensation from the infringer at his own discretion, but additional sanctions may also be applied to protect copyright. At its core, the recognition of copyright is a means of protecting copyright, and it is implemented in a legal manner.

The current legislation of the Russian Federation defines a trademark and a service mark as designations capable of distinguishing, respectively, goods and services of certain legal entities or individuals from similar goods and services (hereinafter referred to as goods) of other legal entities or individuals. Designations are a kind of signs (symbols) that distinguish some objects from others and establish links between consumers and manufacturers and sellers of certain goods and services. In a competitive environment, the reaction of a consumer (buyer) to a symbol, respectively, through this symbol to a product or service, largely determines the place of a commodity producer or seller in the market environment. In accordance with the Law of the Russian Federation of September 23, 1992 N 3520-I "On Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin of Goods" (as amended and supplemented from December 27, 2000), a trademark that is not used continuously in within five years from the date of its registration or five years prior to the filing of the application of any interested person.

Legal protection of a trademark in the Russian Federation is provided on the basis of its state registration. The right to a trademark is protected by law. A trademark certificate is issued for a registered trademark, which certifies the exclusive right of its owner. No one can use a trademark protected in the Russian Federation without the owner's permission. Registration of a trademark is valid for ten years from the date of receipt of the application by the Patent Office. At the request of the owner, the period of validity of the registration of the trademark can be extended. In accordance with the Rules for recognizing a trademark as well-known in the Russian Federation, approved. By order of Rospatent dated March 17, 2000 N 38), a trademark and service mark well-known in the Russian Federation means:

a trademark protected on the territory of the Russian Federation on the basis of state registration,

a trademark protected on the territory of the Russian Federation without registration by virtue of an international treaty of the Russian Federation,

a designation used as a trademark, but not having legal protection on the territory of the Russian Federation, which, as a result of intensive use, have become widely known in the Russian Federation among the relevant groups of the population in relation to the goods of a particular manufacturer.

with appellations of origin of goods protected in accordance with the law of the Russian Federation, unless they are included as an unprotected element in a trademark registered in the name of a person entitled to use such a name;

with certification marks registered in accordance with the established procedure.

In order to protect public interests and protect public order, it is not allowed to register as trademarks or their designation elements:

that are false or capable of misleading the consumer regarding the product or its manufacturer, for example, the image of the Ostankino tower or the Kremlin cannot be declared by manufacturers from other regions or states, because these objects can cause certain associations with the consumer with the place of production and the quality of the goods;

contrary to public interests, the principles of humanity and morality, for example: describing or depicting violence, insults, degrading human dignity, as well as words and images of a pornographic nature.

Designations that cannot be registered include designations, the registration of which could affect the rights of third parties. These include signs that are identical or confusingly similar:

with trademarks previously registered or applied for registration in the Russian Federation in the name of another person in relation to similar goods;

with trademarks of other persons protected without registration by virtue of international treaties of the Russian Federation, which is fully consistent with the meaning of Article 6-bis of the Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property

In accordance with the Law "On Trademarks", designations that reproduce:

brand names known in the Russian Federation (or part of them) belonging to other persons who have acquired the right to these names earlier than the date of receipt of the trademark application for similar goods;

industrial designs, the rights to which belong to other persons in the Russian Federation;

the names of works of science, literature and art known in the Russian Federation, characters from them or quotations, works of art or their fragments without the consent of the copyright holder or his successors;

surnames, first names, pseudonyms and their derivatives, portraits and facsimiles of famous persons without the consent of such persons, their heirs, the relevant competent authority or the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation, if these designations are part of the history and culture of the Russian Federation.

These provisions of the law are aimed at protecting the property and non-property rights of third parties, as well as the reputation of the owners of rights.

Protection of trade secrets in accordance with Art. 139 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, information constituting a commercial secret is protected by the methods provided for by the Civil Code and other laws. The ability to protect information is the essence, the quintessence of the legal regime of commercial secrets. In fact, the trade secret regime itself is a system for protecting commercial information.

Methods for protecting trade secrets should not be confused with measures to protect the confidentiality of information. The latter are, firstly, one of the criteria for the protection of commercial secrets, and secondly, they relate to the right to their own actions in the structure of regulatory civil law; they can be considered as measures of protection of law in a broad sense, which in theory are usually considered "the whole set of measures that ensure the normal course of the realization of rights ... in their normal, undisturbed state."

Since the right to defense is an independent subjective civil law, two separate powers should be distinguished in it: the right to act on one's own and the right to demand certain behavior from obligated persons.

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides that protection of violated civil rights can be carried out in two forms: jurisdictional (Article 11) and non-jurisdictional (Article 12). The jurisdictional form refers to the activities of state-authorized bodies to protect violated or disputed subjective rights.

Within the framework of the jurisdictional form, a general and a special procedure for protection are distinguished. The general procedure is the protection of violated civil rights by a court: an arbitration court, a court of general jurisdiction or an arbitration court. The administrative procedure for protection is a special one.

Specific protection methods are listed in article 12 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In addition to civil law methods of protection, commercial secrets can be protected according to the norms of labor, criminal law, as well as the norms of unfair competition.

The methods of protection provided for by civil law are usually divided into measures to protect civil rights in a narrow sense and measures of civil liability. Legal liability in general, and civil liability in particular, in the literature is understood as "a sanction applied to the offender in the form of imposing an additional obligation on him or depriving him of his right."

It seems that from the methods of protection provided for by Art. 12 of the Civil Code, in case of violation of the rights of the owner of a trade secret, such methods of protection can be used as:

recognition of the right,

restoration of the situation that existed before the violation of the right and the suppression of actions that violate the right or create a threat of its violation,

invalidation of an act of a state body or local self-government body,

self-defense rights,

compensation for losses,

collection of a forfeit.

Of the possibilities provided by labor law, the rights of the owner of a trade secret can be protected by such actions as:

disciplinary action,

bringing to financial responsibility,

termination of employment.

In addition, if there are signs of an offense provided for by the relevant branches of law, it is possible that offenders can be brought to criminal liability, as well as to liability under the rules of antimonopoly law. So, in accordance with Art. 10 of the Law on Competition, a form of unfair competition is “the receipt, use, disclosure of scientific, technical, industrial and trade information, including trade secrets, without the consent of its owner.” Article 5 of this law defines unfair competition as “any aimed at acquiring advantages in business activities of the actions of business entities that contradict the provisions of the current legislation, business customs, the requirements of integrity, reasonableness and fairness and may cause or have caused losses to other business entities-competitors or damage their business reputation. "

Among the methods of protection against disclosure of trade secrets, the main place is occupied by the measures of responsibility applied to offenders. Unlike other cases of violation of the rights of the owner of a trade secret (such as illegal acquisition or use), where it is quite possible to prevent or suppress the corresponding offenses, in the event of disclosure of valuable information, the copyright holder, as a rule, is already faced with the fait accompli of disclosure, and, in in the best case, he can only count on material compensation for his losses.

The disclosure of a trade secret can primarily be committed by employees of the owner of the trade secret. This, of course, does not mean that every employee is a potential violator, however, the literature notes that the disclosure of trade secrets by employees is the most common case of trade secrets infringement.

Clause 2 of Article 139 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation contains a provision on the obligation of employees who divulged commercial secrets contrary to the labor agreement (contract) to compensate for the losses caused by this. This allowed some authors to conclude that since the entry into force of the first part of the Civil Code, the employee's liability for disclosing commercial secrets is governed by the relevant rules of civil, and not labor law. It seems that such conclusions are somewhat premature. In accordance with paragraph 3 of Art. 2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, civil legislation does not apply to relations based on administrative or other power subordination of one party to the other, unless otherwise provided by law.

Unlike civil law relations, the participants of which are independent, independent persons, in labor relations, employees are under the authority of the employer. Thus, in accordance with Art. 15 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, an employee must obey the internal labor regulations, which, in fact, are an expression of the employer's authority. Accordingly, until the relevant amendments are made to the Labor Code, the employee's liability for disclosing commercial secrets will be governed by labor, not civil law.

As already noted, in order for an employee to be held liable for disclosing commercial secrets, it is necessary that the employment contract with such an employee contains a clause on non-disclosure of commercial secrets that have become known to the employee in the course of work.

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes two types of liability to which an employee can be involved: disciplinary and material liability.

Disciplinary liability can be applied to an employee in all cases of violation of his labor duties. The basis for the application of a disciplinary sanction is unlawful, guilty failure to perform or improper performance by an employee of his job duties. Specific measures of disciplinary liability are listed in Article 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, they include:

comment,

severe reprimand

dismissal.

This list is exhaustive and can only be expanded by labor legislation.

When applying disciplinary measures, it is necessary to observe the procedure for imposing disciplinary sanctions established by Articles 136-137 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Another way to protect the interests of the owner of a commercial secret, provided for by labor legislation, is to bring the employee to financial responsibility. The conditions and procedure for bringing an employee to financial liability are regulated by Articles 118-123 of the Labor Code.

The basis for imposing material liability on an employee is the mandatory presence of the following conditions:

direct (actual) damage,

unlawfulness of the behavior of the employee who caused the damage,

the employee's fault for causing damage,

a causal relationship between the actions (inaction) of the employee and the resulting damage.

Meanwhile, in some cases, the interests of the owner of a trade secret can still be protected. We are talking about cases of full financial liability. Cases when an employee can be brought to full liability are listed in Art. 121 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. With regard to liability for disclosing commercial secrets, the following situations are of practical importance:

1) when the damage was caused by the employee's criminal actions established by a court judgment,
2) when damage was caused not in the performance of official duties,
3) when the damage was caused by an employee who was intoxicated.

Considering that Article 183 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for criminal liability for illegal disclosure or use of information constituting a commercial secret, bringing an employee to full liability in this case seems quite real.

The court decision is subject to mandatory execution. If the decision of the court is not fulfilled, the court has the right to impose a fine on the violator, which is collected in the state revenue. The payment of a fine does not relieve the offender from the obligation to perform the action provided for by the court decision. Justice cannot exist without an honest and independent judiciary. The notion of honor, dignity and business reputation of a judge administering justice in this category of cases is undoubtedly exceptional, since for committing defamatory offenses a judge may be imposed not only a disciplinary penalty, but also early termination of his powers.

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