Issues of Establishing of the International Legal Regulation System to

Combat Cybercrimes

Viktor Shestak

and Artur Adigamov

Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO University), Moscow, Russia

Keywords: Criminal law, cybercrimes, cyber threats, international regulation, Internet.

Abstract: Relevance of studying issues of establishing of the international legal regulation system in the digital space is

related to the division of the world into different socio-political systems, unions of states, controversies

between world powers. In this regard in the article is analyzed present international legal basis of combating

cybercrimes and regulation of cyberspace. The main aim of the study is the evaluation of the level of legal

regulation adequacy at the level of international organizations, unions of states, issues, which are caused by

proliferation of cybercrimes in the world, new challenges, which are connected with the use of cyberweapons

in international conflicts between states, evaluation of the role of the UN in searching of main directions of

cybersphere regulation. Objects of the research are analysis from the historical perspective of the actions of

the UN in the sphere of cyberspace regulation, сcoordination of cybercrimes control at the level of UN

decisions, identification of the most effective forms of international legal regulation of cybercrimes control at

the level of unions of states. The conducted research on the basis of dialectical methods of learning of social

processes, which are related to the use of the cyberspace in the modern world, allowed to determine main

directions for the UN actions from the point of finding of compromise solutions, which can create unified

international mechanism of legal regulation of processes in the digital sphere. Experience of the EU is a

successful example of legal regulation at the level of unions of states on the basis of harmonization of

international law in the sphere of cybercrimes combating. Studying of experience of other unions in this sphere

allowed to draw conclusions of inefficiency of legal regulation at the level of certain unions, which don’t have

such a high level of integration as EU has. Significance of the objectives in the research is determined by the

fact that in the article issues of international legal regulation of cybercrimes control are firstly studied at the

level of certain states and at the level of harmonization of criminal law for the purpose of international unions

and unions of certain groups of states.

1 INTRODUCTION

Scale of computer technologies implementation

almost in all spheres of human life are so huge that

without them it is impossible to imagine functioning

of the modern world. Possibilities, which emerge in

the use of digital technologies make them at the same

time quite attractive to the criminal world and

persons, who prone to commit crimes.

Countermeasures against use of digital technologies

for criminal purposes are related to legal

countermeasures, which are aimed against

imperfection of law in this sphere at the international

and national level. The main issues of legal regulation

of cybercrimes control is its transborder nature, easy

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0903-8577

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1087-7274

and fast commission of such crimes in contrast to

traditional crimes.

Crimes, which are committed in cyberspace are

defined different by the researchers (Nomokonov V.,

2012): cybercrimes; computer crimes; crimes in the

sphere of digital data; digital crimes; crimes in the

digital space, which are modulated by computers.

(Fedorov F., 2006); crimes differing by their

character (Baturin Yu., 1991). Modern Russian

criminal law uses term «crimes in the sphere of

computer data», which according to our point of view

restricts opportunities of the enforcers in the sphere

of qualification of socially dangerous, guilty, illegal

acts, which are committed in the cyberspace by the

persons, who have attained age of criminal liability.

Shestak, V. and Adigamov, A.

Issues of Establishing of the International Legal Regulation System to Combat Cybercrimes.

DOI: 10.5220/0010630200003152

In Proceedings of the VII International Scientiﬁc-Practical Conference “Criminal Law and Operative Search Activities: Problems of Legislation, Science and Practice” (CLOSA 2021), pages

123-127

ISBN: 978-989-758-532-6; ISSN: 2184-9854

123

The situation is also complicated by terminological

controversy, which emerges due to lack of accounting

of new phenomena related to computer technologies.

Generally accepted and new technological terms as

site, hosting, provider of hosting, search engine etc.

are being legally implemented and without them

criminal qualification of committed crimes is

impossible. (Federal Law No. 149-FZ, 2006).

We consider cybercrime as set of crimes, which

are committed in the cybersphere by or with computer

systems and nets and also against computer systems,

computer nets and digital data (Tropina T., 2005;

Chekunov I., 2013). Also we should take into account

that cybercrimes -–is the consequence of

globalization of telecommunication technologies and

emergence of international communication nets.

In this study is examined legal practice of the UN,

which has been trying to coordinate efforts of certain

states as the USA and the Russian Federation for a

long time, in the sphere of creation of general,

uniform regulation of digital space. As a successful

means of legal regulation at the level of unions of

states on the basis of harmonization of national law

against cybercrimes is studied experience of the EU,

CIS and also it this paper are analyzed directions of

actions in the sphere of cybercrimes countering.

2 METHODS AND MATERIALS

Methodological basis of the research of international

legal experience of cybercrime control is dialectical

method of social processes and phenomena

examining, which are connected with the emergence,

proliferation and turning into global problem

international crime, which is related to

computerization of economy, social life, emergence

of internet and social nets. This helped to receive and

summarize objective information about proliferation

of cybercrimes, which are of transborder nature in

modern circumstances, to determine legal methods

and tools, which are related to criminalization of acts

committed in the cyberspace, to recognize patterns of

international cooperation as the main condition of

effectiveness of penal legal countermeasures against

cybercrimes. Received information was construed

taking into account aims and objectives of the

research, requirements of validity and credibility.

System analysis was used in the studying of certain

international legal acts, which were adopted at the

level of the UN, Council of Europe Conventions,

Agreements of CIS and other regional legal acts. The

use of theoretical provisions of criminalistic,

criminology, penal and penal procedure law

predetermined scientific validity, representativeness

of digital data in the basis of conclusions.

As materials of the research have been used

papers of Russian and foreign researchers, who

specialize in scientific directions related to

international legal regulation of the digital space and

computer crimes control, criminal legal regulation of

acts committed in the cyberspace at the level of

national law. Documents devoted to different aspects

of digital space regulation, countermeasures against

cybercrimes adopted under UN auspices,

international regional legal acts and statistics (Series

of university modules, 2020).

3 DISCUSSION AND RESULTS

Creation and production of electronic computers

marked new a new stage of development of

international economy – transition from mechanical

to computer processing of data.

The use of computers, which allowed to process

large amounts of economic data also increased the

risk of manipulation of such databases for criminal

purposes – by falsification, theft of computer data,

which contains trade secrets. The lack of defense of

digital data processing programs allowed dishonest

users use flows of social-economic information for

the commission of crimes. (Liu, Z. et al, 2020).

However prior to the emergence of computer nets,

which had globally formed by telecommunication

technologies the world net – Internet, crimes with the

use of electronic computers had been committed at

the local level – in certain companies, states, this

means they had not been of transborder nature and

had not been so proliferated in the economic life and

in the criminal world. (Gura D. Et al, 2020).

In the age of internet digital computer

technologies even in the early 21st century have

started to turn into global system of communication

of the human society. Its’ feature is the idea of free

transmission of data between receiving, broadcasting

and transmitting persons through arbitrary ways by

specially created joints on the basis of self-regulation

and decentralization model (Stepenko V., 2021).

In the ensuring of internet functioning the main

role plays security of its use and countermeasures

against the use of the Internet for illegal purposes.

This is related to the fact that with the development

of new communication technologies have emerged

new threats of global, regional and national nature.

With the use of cybertechnologies emerges

intergovernmental confrontation in the cybersphere –

cyberwars, emerge new terroristic unions, which use

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internet for cyberattacks, international and national

criminal groups and individuals, who use computer

technologies more often for the commission of

crimes. Particular concern of the international

community causes the use of cyber technologies and

devices for the destabilization of international

relationships, undermining security of certain states.

At the end of the 20th century and in the early 21st

century were realized a number of initiatives aimed at

the creation of international legal security mechanism

against the threat of misuse of cybertechnologies in

the digital space. The proponent of the use of UN

authority for the digital security problem solving in

the circumstances of comprehensive development of

new digital technologies was the Russian Federation.

In 1998 the Russian Federation prepared and

submitted to the UN General Assembly draft

resolution, which raised the problem of security of

states related to possible misuse of achievements in

the sphere of digitalization and telecommunication.

This document, which was adopted as UN

resolution on 4th December1998 included

recommendations about creation at the level of

international community general principles to combat

new threats and challenges in the digital sphere.

Further development of this direction of international

security regulation in the sphere of digital

technologies became resolution A/RES/54/49 1999,

which admitted reality of possible use of new digital

technologies for causing damage to states in civil and

military areas (Broadhurst, 2006).

The next stage of the development of international

efforts to create comprehensive international system

of digital security should be considered the year 2009.

In 2009 was created the new group of governmental

experts of the UN about issues of studying new

threats in the information and communication

technologies sphere, which managed to submit the

final report to the General Secretary of the UN on the

basis of compromises on controversial issues.

In 2013 was prepared the new report of the group

of governmental experts, whose main objective was

to determine directions of states cooperation in order

to create and to strengthen safe digital space. Taking

into account recommendations of the group of

governmental experts in December 2013 was adopted

new UN Resolution A/RES/68/243, which created

the new group of governmental experts in the number

of 20 representatives of states. In the developed report

of this group were underlined studying of issues of

possibility of the use of international legal provisions

for such sphere as information and communication

technologies.

In 2015 during the 70th session of the UN General

Assembly on the initiative of 84 UN member-states

was created a new group of 25 governmental experts.

The main aim of this groups as believed Secretary of

the Security Council of the Russian Federation N.P.

Patrushev, was to elaborate «universal provisions of

responsible behavior of states in the digital sphere and

adoption of such provisions under UN auspices,

(Patrushev, 2020).

In all reports of the group of governmental

experts, which were supported by the majority of

states, are underlined base principles of organization

of safe, peaceful, free from threats digital space. To

the are related firstly such principles as the use of

information and communication technologies only

for peaceful purposes, purposes of prevention of

conflicts in the digital sphere with the use of

information and communication technologies. In

2018 UN General Assembly adopted proposed by the

Russian Federation draft resolution «Developments

in the field of information and telecommunications in

the context of international security». This resolution

was supported by 119 states.

In 2019 the Russian Federation submitted to the

UN General Assembly resolution about the necessity

of elaboration of the new Convention about

cybercrimes control. As mention special

representative of the President of the Russian

Federation Andrey Krutskih, the idea of the

resolution «is to fight this evil together, which causes

huge, trillion damage to the world economy and

individuals (UN General Assembly, 2020).

The problems of cybercrimes at the level of UN

have been also discussed at the level of UN

congresses. So, at the X UN Congress in 2000 in

Vienna was adopted resolution «Vienna Declaration

on Crime and Justice: Meeting the Challenges of the

21st Century». In this declaration was stated the

taking the decision on elaboration of

recommendations about crimes prevention, related to

the use of computers and combating such acts, «and

strengthening of opportunities about prevention,

investigation and prosecution of crimes with the use

of high technologies and computers».

At the 12th Congress of the UN was created

special intergovernmental group of experts, and their

main objective were defined as research of

cybercrimes problems and elaboration of

countermeasures at the level of states against crimes

in this sphere.

At the 13th UN Congress in Doha 2015 in the

paragraph b pf the Declaration was paid special

attention to the role of the UN in the creation of

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sustainable and secure cyberspace, prevention of

crimes with the use of Internet (Tarasov, 2019).

Analysis of documents adopted at the level of the

General Assembly of the United Nations at the

congresses shows that issues of cybersecurity at the

international arena became one of aspects of political

struggle of the USA and the Russian Federation.

We consider that the main condition of effective

countering of cybercrimes at the international level is

development at the UN level of international

Convention on struggle against cybercrimes on the

basis of the adopted Resolution of the UN General

Assembly proposed by the Russian Federation on 28

December 2019.

When considering problems of creation of the

international legal security system, it turns out that on

the European Continent haven been conducted first

efforts of international legal regulation of countering

cybercrimes.

So, the OECD in 80s has started to create legal

mechanism of countering the use of electronic

computers for criminal purposes.

In the Council of Europe issues of cybercrimes

have been firstly considered in 1983. Such document

became Recommendation № R89 of the Council of

ministers, member-states of the Council of Europe.

The first union of states, which implemented into

its program documents issues of computer security of

member-states was the European Union. The main

international legal act regulating at the supranational

level of countering cybercrimes in the EU became

European Convention on cybercrimes adopted in

Budapest in 2001. 47 states signed it – all members of

the European Union, certain states of the Council of

Europe, Japan, Canada, South Africa, USA.

Convention determines provisions about liability

for cybercrimes, which shall be implemented into the

national law of member-states.

Further harmonization of criminal law of EU

member-states was conducted on the basis of the

Lisbon Treaty.

Over the past years after the adoption of the

Convention, the European Union could create

harmonized legal basis, establishing at the national

level liability for crimes in the cybersphere, creating

for this system of generally accepted principles of

countering cybercrimes, which can regulate criminal

law and also criminal procedure. [9].

This historical experience is an example for the

creation of legal system of regional cybersecurity for

the other states (MacDonald, 2014).

Issues of legal regulation of countering

cybercrimes are thoroughly considered at the level of

the CIS. In 1999 was adopted model law on

information exchange, which reveals main terms

related to information and communication

technologies and digital security.

One of the most crucial documents of the CIS in

this sphere is the agreement of member-states on

cooperation in the sphere of realization and creation

of information resources and systems, adopted in

1999. In 2001 Agreement was devoted to the

cybercrimes countering (Menthe, 2020).

Another union of states is Shanghai Cooperation

Organization in 2006 made a statement expressing

concern of member-states about possible use of

cybertechnologies for criminal purposes.

Created by the SCO group of intergovernmental

experts prepared adopted in 2009 Agreement between

SCO member-states on international data security.

This agreement is one of the first agreement in the

international practice, which providing

terminological, conceptual framework for such terms

as information weapons, information war,

information terrorism, reveals terms related to cyber

threats, determines main directions, principles of

cooperation in the area of digital security (MacLean,

2004; Major, 2015).

In 2015 the SCO submitted as an official

document to the UN «Rules of behavior in the

international data security».

Another important international document in the

sphere of prevention and countering of cybercrimes is

the Convention of the League of Arab States on the

countering of crimes in the sphere of information

technologies 2010. The main aim of this Convention

is coordination of cooperation between member-

states in the sphere of cybercrimes countering.

(Hakmeh, 2018).

4 CONCLUSIONS

The analysis of the historical aspect of the creation of

the legal system of countering cybercrimes shows that

solving of problems in the sphere of harmonization of

national law about countering cybercrimes is depends

on international and regional acts against

cybercrimes. In the XXI century work on elaboration

and adoption of international legal acts has intensified

(Kshetri, 2019).

Currently the main subject at the level of the UN

nations in the sphere of creation of international legal

mechanism of combating crimes in the digital sphere

is the Russian Federation, which has been proposing

for 20 years initiatives on coordination of efforts of

all states of the world in the aspect of countering the

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use of developments in the sphere of informatization

and telecommunication for criminal purposes.

Regularly adopted Resolutions of the UN General

Assembly about issues of the use of international law

in the sphere of cybercrimes, including the use of

cybertechnologies in military areas are supported by

the majority of the UN member-states. At the same

time there is a group of states including the UN states,

which don’t support Russian initiatives in this sphere.

It is generally explained reluctance of the United

States to transfer to the international responsibility

coordination of the Internet, including creation at the

international level of the Internet security system.

The non-regulation at the international level of the

issues of cyberattacks and cyberwars between states

is the matter of concern. The lack of criteria of

evaluation of work of international authorities in the

cybersphere allows on the one hand to conduct

unpunished, non-condemned at the level of

international documents cyberattacks in the digital

sphere, and on the other hand such actions without

possibility of international legal regulation at the UN

level lead to escalation of intergovernmental

conflicts.

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