Digital Code in Russia

2023

The Presidential Council did not support the digital code

In early December 2023, the Presidential Council for the Codification and Improvement of Civil Legislation opposed the Ministry of Digital Development project to create a Digital Code. The document is designed to systematize Russian legislation in the field of IT and telecommunications.

It is assumed that the code will apply to government agencies, state and other organizations, as well as to individuals and companies, including those that use state InformSystems. The concept covers a variety of digital services, including cloud platforms and big data processing systems, as well as communications. Ministry of Digital Development is developing a code as part of a draft strategy for the development of the industry until 2035. Market participants, in particular, "Rostelecom," believe that "the emergence of a code is necessary and useful for the industry."

The Presidential Council for the Codification and Improvement of Civil Legislation opposed the draft Ministry of Digital Development Science to create a Digital Code

However, the Presidential Council, according to Kommersant, did not support the project, explaining that the subject of regulation was defined "vaguely and controversially." It is noted that in the preamble of the concept we are talking about all "information relations," then about relations on the organization and use of digital platforms. As a result, confusion is created.

Information in civil law can be considered the content of almost all its institutions - from the conclusion of contracts to the preparation of a will containing information about the circle of heirs and the property of the testator, - says the decision of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation on codification.

In addition, there is no clarity on how the Digital Code will relate to other codes and federal laws. Against this background, the Ministry of Digital Development announced its intention to "find a compromise solution." The agency says that as of mid-December 2023, it has finalized the concept of the code together with the industry, stakeholders and the State Duma IT Committee.^[1]

Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation creates a working group on the preparation of the Digital Code

The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation is creating a working group on the preparation of the Digital Code. On October 9, 2023, the head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy Alexander Khinshtein, who will become a member of this group, wrote about this in his Telegram channel.

The deputy recalled that he took the initiative to create such a code in June 2023 during a strathsession on the development of the communications industry until 2035, which was conducted by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on behalf of President Vladimir Putin.

Ministry of Digital Development creates a working group on the preparation of the Digital Code

Of course, the idea of ​ ​ the Digital Code did not appear yesterday, but right now this document is more relevant than ever. Today's industry legislation is not only outdated, but also fragmented. We now and then have to rule it. The Code - a systematic code of laws - will allow you to comprehensively prescribe all basic concepts and phenomena in each of the directions: communication, information, personal data, Internet, media. By adopting it, it will be possible to then carry out an end-to-end revision of industry laws. In addition, for the first time it will be possible to consolidate the rights and obligations of all parties in the code: states, industries, users, - said Khinshtein.

The idea of ​ ​ creating a digital code was also supported by the executive secretary of the Commission of the Association of Lawyers of Russia for the development of professional competencies Alexei Nikishenkov. In a conversation with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, he said that codification is characteristic of Russian legislation, so it is not surprising that they took the same path in the digital segment. The initiative is also relevant because digitalization is actively penetrating into various industries, in respect of which the relevant legislation begins to operate.

However, the lawyer warned that on the initial path, until the code is finally formed, it may not facilitate, but on the contrary, complicate enforcement, since there are many regulations in the legislation affecting various industries.^[2]

The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation has prepared a draft concept of the "Digital Code"

A "Digital Code" will appear in Russia - a draft of its concept has already been prepared by the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation. Its main task is to unify the existing regulators in the field of IT and telecom, a comprehensive modernization of the legislation of the Russian Federation related to digitalization, as well as the unification of legal norms governing the processes of using information and communication technologies and communications. This was announced on September 19, 2023 by the press service of the State Duma deputy RFAnton Nemkin.

As information and communication technologies penetrated into all spheres of public life, various legal norms governing the foundations of digitalization were gradually implemented into the legislation of the Russian Federation, which led to a fragmented legal regulation of the issues under consideration. The draft Code being developed, unlike the existing regulation, should form a legislative field that allows the emergence and dominance of information and communication technologies and communications, the authors of the document note.

The Code should also establish a unified conceptual apparatus for the industry, which as of September 2023 is presented in numerous regulatory legal acts. The approach to digital identification of citizens should also unify the document. In addition, comprehensive regulation of cloud technologies, big data, artificial intelligence should appear, many aspects of the use of which have not yet been described by law, the project notes.

Affects the document and electronic document management, which is not yet regulated in the Russian Federation by a single document.

In the absence of a federal law on electronic document management, taking into account the need to digitalize procedures related to the creation, exchange, storage of electronic documents, it is proposed to consolidate in the draft Code the basic principles of electronic document management and its development in state authorities, including within the framework of information interaction with citizens and organizations, the document says.

The implementation of the bill has the potential to improve the efficiency and quality of life of citizens, develop the economy and modernize the state, the project emphasizes.

The Ministry of Digital Development notes that the "Digital Code" is needed in order to connect existing norms in a single act and get rid of internal contradictions in acts, if any, as well as outdated norms. The document will cover the regulation of the entire communications and information technology industry and will become the legal basis for industry and intersectoral interaction between market participants, Izvestia quoted the Ministry of Digital Development as saying.

The Digital Code is being created in Russia to regulate the communications industry

The Strategy for the Development of the Russian Communications Industry until 2035 includes the Digital Code for regulating relations in the field of communications and information and communication technologies (ICT). This was announced on August 15, 2023 by Interfax with reference to this document.

The optimal type of legislative act that allows you to form a harmonious mutually related system of sectoral legal norms is the Digital Code, which provides comprehensive regulation of the development and use of information technologies and communication infrastructure, the authors of the initiative believe.

The Digital Code for the Regulation of Relations in the Field of Communications and ICT was included in the Strategy for the Development of the Russian Communications Industry

According to them, the state regulation of the communications industry, which is in force by August 2023, is characterized by:

• the presence of a large number of regulatory legal acts (inconsistency of a number of acts with the degree of technological development of the industry), their haphazard and multidirectional, point change;
• excessive detail of communication services when licensing activities that are based not on the ultimate value for consumers, but on the transmission or reception of information, the scale of communication networks;
• growth of control and supervisory functions of industry regulators;
• assigning additional responsibilities to telecom operators related to the regulation of related industries.

Thus, the regulatory legal framework of the Russian Federation in the field of communications is represented by disparate legislative and by-laws governing certain types or groups of relations arising in connection with the implementation of activities in the field of communications, the media, the use of ICT, the circulation of information, the draft notes.

In the short term, it is proposed to solve these problems "by introducing amendments to the legislation of the Russian Federation aimed at ensuring compliance with regulatory regulation with the pace of development of the communications industry and eliminating administrative barriers."^[3]

Khinshtein announced the development of a digital code in Russia

In April 2023, the head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Alexander Khinshtein, announced the development of a digital code in Russia. According to him, thanks to this document, there will be no need to constantly amend the current acts, it will help to holistically revise approaches to legislative norms in the digital field.

Now, together with experts, we are discussing the creation of a digital code. This will stop constantly amending the current acts, which can already duplicate or even contradict each other, and comprehensively revise approaches to legislative norms in the field of numbers, "Khinshtein wrote on his Telegram channel.

Alexander Hinstein

Igor Ashmanov, a member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC), also told Rossiyskaya Gazeta that a digital code will appear in Russia. He noted that the imbalance of the transition to "digital" raises serious questions.

Today, large government agencies and private companies are digitizing our lives. At the same time, almost no one talks about the risks, they are taken into account and are not stopped. First is the risk of data breaches. Secondly, today we are not talking about duplicating analog documents with digital ones, but about completely replacing them. Any digital originals live while there is electricity, the expert recalls.

Ashmanov notes that we are talking, in particular, about such documents as diplomas, medical records and property documents. However, according to him, digital formats become obsolete quite quickly, which can lead to additional problems.

As a result, today we can read inscriptions on birch bark or cuneiform, but we will face difficulties if necessary to obtain data from floppy disks or videotapes, which everyone used in the 1990s, Ashmanov notes.

The Ministry of Digital Development reported that they support the position of Alexander Khinshtein on the creation of a digital code:

It's time to tackle this big challenge.[4]

Notes