Federal Act No. 24-FZ of the Russian Federation
ON INFORMATION, INFORMATIZATION AND PROTECTION OF INFORMATION
 

Adopted by the State Duma on 25 January 1995.

20 February 1995
 

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS
 

Article 1

Scope of Application of Federal Act
 

(1) The present Federal Act shall regulate relations arising in:
 

• constitution and use of information resources on the basis of the creation, collection, processing, accumulation, storage, retrieval, dissemination and provision of documented information to consumer; and
   
• creation and use of information technologies and means to secure operation thereof; and
   
• protection of information and of the rights of subjects involved in information processes and informatization.
   

(2) The present Federal Act shall not apply to relations regulated by the Copyright Act of the Russian Federation.
 

Article 2

Definition of Terms Used in Federal Act
 

The following concepts are used in the present Federal Act:
 

• the information -- data on persons, objects, facts, events, phenomena and processes, irrespective of the form of presentation;
   
• the informatization -- socioeconomic and scientific-and-technical process of organization in creating optimal conditions for satisfaction of the information requirements and realization of the rights of citizens, organs of state power, organs of local self-government, organizations and public associations, through the constitution and use of information resources;
   
• the documented information (document) -- information fixed on material medium, with the requisites allowing its identification;
   
• information processes -- processes in the collection, treatment, accumulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information;
   
• the information system -- organizationally regulated collection of documents (arrays of documents) and information technologies, with the use of computer hardware and means of communication realizing information processes;
   
• information resources -- separate documents and separate arrays of documents, documents and arrays of documents in information systems (libraries, archives, funds, databanks, and other information systems);
   
• the information on citizens (personal data) -- data on facts, events and circumstances in a citizen's life helping to identify him/her as a person;
   
• the confidential information -- documented information access to which is limited, in conformity with the effective legislation of the Russian Federation;
   
• facilities for maintenance of automated information systems and their technologies -- program, technical, linguistic, legal and organizational means (software for electronic computers; computer hardware and means of communication; dictionaries, thesauruses and classificators; instructions and method aids; provisions, statutes, official instructions; charts and description thereof, other operative and covering documentation) used or created in the design of information systems and ensuring the operation thereof;
   
• the owner of information resources, information systems, technologies and facilities for maintenance thereof -- a person fully realizing the powers of possession, use and disposal of the aforesaid facilities;
   
• the holder of information resources, information systems, technologies and facilities for maintenance thereof -- a person exercising possession and use of the aforesaid facilities and realizing the powers of disposal within the limits established by law;
   
• the user (consumer) of information -- a person applying to an information system or to an intermediary to obtain and use the requisite information.
   

Article 3

Duties of the State In Constitution of Information Resources and Informatization
 

(1) State policy in the constitution of information resources and informatization shall be designed to create conditions for the efficient and high-quality information backup of the fulfillment of strategic and operative tasks in the social and economic development of the Russian Federation.
 

(2) The following shall be the main lines of state policy in the field of informatization:
 

• provision of conditions for the development and protection of every form of ownership of information resources; and
   
• constitution and protection of state information resources; and
   
• creation and development of Federal and regional information systems and networks, making these compatible within a common Russian Federation information space; and
   
• creation of conditions for the high-quality and efficient provision of information to citizens, organs of state power, organs of local self-government, organizations and public associations on the basis of state information resources; and
   
• guarantee of national security in the field of informatization, and guarantee of exercise of the rights of citizens and organizations in the conditions of informatization; and
   
• assistance in the formation of a market of information resources, services, information systems, technologies, and facilities for maintenance thereof; and
   
• formation and conduct of a common scientific, technical and industrial policy in the field of informatization, with due account of the modern world level in the development of information technologies; and - support of informatization projects and programs; and
   
• creation and improvement of a system of investments and of a mechanism for stimulating the development and implementation of informatization projects; and
   
• development of legislation in the field of information processes, informatization and protection of information.
   

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CHAPTER II

INFORMATION RESOURCES
 

Article 4

Principles of Legal Regime of Information Resources
 

(1) Information resources shall be objects of relations between natural persons, legal persons and the state, and shall make up the information resources of Russia to be protected by the law equally with other resources.
 

(2) The legal regime of information resources shall be determined by norms establishing:
 

• the rules for documentation of information; and
   
• the right of ownership to separate documents and separate arrays of documents, and documents and arrays of documents in information systems; and
   
• the category of information according to the level of access thereto; and
   
• the rules for legal protection of information.
   

Article 5

Documentation of Information
 

(1) Documentation of information shall be a mandatory condition for the inclusion of information in information resources. Documentation of information shall be effected in the manner established by the organs of state power responsible for the organization of clerical work in the standardization of documents and arrays thereof, and for the security of the Russian Federation.
 

(2) A document obtained from an automated information system shall acquire legal force upon its signature by a person in office, in the manner established by effective legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

(3) The legal force of a document stored, processed and transmitted by means of automated information and telecommunications systems may be confirmed by an electronic digital signature.
 

The legal force of the electronic digital signature shall be recognized where the automated information system contains technical-program means making it possible to identify the signature in the regime established for the use thereof.
 

(4) The right to certify the identity of the electronic digital signature shall be exercised under license. The rules for the issue of licenses shall be determined by the effective legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

Article 6

Information Resources as Element of Property and Object of Right of Ownership
 

(1) Information resources may be state-owned and non-state-owned, and, as an element of property, may be in the ownership of citizens, organs of state power, organs of local self-government, organizations and public bodies. Relations involving the right of ownership to information resources shall be regulated by civil legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

(2) Natural and legal persons shall be owners of the documents and arrays of documents created at their own expense, purchased by them on lawful grounds, or received by way of gift or inheritance.
 

(3) The Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation shall be owners of information resources created, purchased or accumulated out of the funds of the Federal Budget or the budgets of subjects of the Russian Federation, or obtained in other legitimate ways.
 

The state shall have the right to buy out documented information from natural and legal persons where such information is classified as a state secret.
 

The owner of information resources containing facts and figures classified as a state secret shall be entitled to dispose of this property only with the permission of the appropriate organs of state power.
 

(4) Persons making mandatory submission of documented information to the organs of state power and organizations shall not lose their rights to these documents or to the use of the information contained therein. Documented information subject to mandatory submission to the organs of state power and organizations by legal persons, irrespective of their legal-organization form or form of ownership, and also by citizens, on the basis of Article 8 of the present Federal Act, shall constitute information resources held in the joint possession of the state and the persons supplying such information.
 

(5) Information resources held in the ownership of organizations shall be included in their property, in conformity with the civil legislation of the Russian Federation.
Information resources held in the ownership of the state shall be in the management of organs of state power and organizations in accordance with their competence, and shall be subject to accounting and protection as part of state property.
 

(6) Information resources may be commodities, except in the cases specified by the effective legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

(7) The owner of information resources shall exercise all the rights specified by the effective legislation of the Russian Federation, including the rights:
 

• to appoint the person exercising economic governance of the information resources or operative management thereof; and
   
• to establish, within the limits of his competence, the regime and rules of processing and protection of the information resources and access thereto; and
   
• to determine the conditions of disposal of the documents at the copying or dissemination thereof.
   

(8) The right of ownership to information-processing facilities shall not create the right of ownership to information resources belonging to other owners. Documents processed by way of provision of services or in the joint use of these processing facilities shall belong to their holder. The appurtenance and regime of the derivative products created in such case shall be regulated by agreement.
 

Article 7

State Information Resources
 

(1) The state information resources of the Russian Federation shall be constituted in accordance with fields of operation, as:
 

• Federal information resources; and
   
• information resources held in the joint management of the Russian Federation and Russian Federation subjects (hereinafter "joint-management information resources"); and
   
• information resources of Russian Federation subjects.
   

(2) Constitution of state information resources in conformity with Clause (1) of Article 8 of the present Federal Act shall be effected by citizens, organs of state power, organs of local self-government, organizations and public associations.
The Federal organs of state power and the organs of state power of Russian Federation subjects shall constitute the state information resources held in their management, and shall ensure their use in accordance with established competence.
 

(3) The activity of the organs of state power and organization in the constitution of Federal information resources, joint-management information resources, and information resources of Russian Federation subjects shall be financed out of the Federal Budget and the budgets of Russian Federation subjects under the expenditure head "Informatics" ("Information supply").
 

(4) Organizations specializing in the constitution of Federal information resources and/or joint-management information resources under contract shall have the duty to obtain a license for this type of activity from the organs of state power. The rules of licensing shall be determined by the effective legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

Article 8

Mandatory Supply of Documented Information for Constitution of State Information Resources
 

(1) Citizens, organs of state power, organs of local self-government, organizations and public associations shall have the duty to supply documented information to organs and organizations responsible for the constitution and use of state information resources.
 

Schedules of documented information due for mandatory supply and schedules of organs and organizations responsible for the collection and processing of Federal information resources shall be confirmed by the Government of the Russian Federation.
 

(2) The rules and conditions of mandatory supply of documented information shall be brought to the knowledge of citizens and organizations.
 

The rules of mandatory supply (receipt) of information classified as state secret or confidential information shall be established and applied in conformity with the legislation on these categories of information.
 

(3) At registration of legal persons, registry agencies shall provide them with schedules of mandatory-supply documents and addresses for supply thereof. A schedule of mandatory-supply documented information shall be annexed to the bylaws (statute) of each legal person.
 

Non-provision by registry agencies of legal persons undergoing registration with a schedule of mandatory-supply documents and addresses for supply thereof shall be no ground for refusal to register. Officers of registry agencies failing to provide legal persons undergoing registration with schedules of mandatory-supply documents and addresses for supply thereof shall be held to administrative liability, including dismissal from office.
 

(4) Documents belonging to natural and legal persons may be included, at the owner's discretion, within state information resources under rules established for inclusion of documents in the respective information systems.
 

Article 9

Classification of Information Resources as Part of All-Russia National Heritage
 

(1) Some items of Federal information resources may be declared to be part of the all-Russia national heritage.
 

(2) Classification of concrete items of Federal information resources as part of the all-Russia national heritage and determination of their legal regime shall be established by Federal law.
 

Article 10

Information Resources by Categories of Access
 

(1) Russian Federation state information resources shall be open and generally accessible. Documented information referred by the law to the category of limited access shall be an exception.
 

(2) Documented information with limited access shall, according to the conditions of its legal regime, be subdivided into information classified as state secret and as confidential information.
 

(3) Reference to information with limited access shall be prohibited for the following:
 

• legislative and other normative acts establishing the legal status of organs of state power, organs of local self-government, organizations and public associations, and also the rights, freedoms and duties of citizens and the rules for the exercise thereof; and
   
• documents containing information on emergency situations, ecological, meteorological, demographic, sanitary, epidemiological and other information required to ensure the safe functioning of populated localities and production facilities, and the safety of citizens and of the population as a whole; and
   
• documents containing information on the activity of organs of state power and organs of local self-government, on the use of budget funds and other state and local resources, on the state of the economy and the needs of the population, except information classified as state secret; and
   
• documents collected in open stocks of libraries and archives, information systems of the organs of state power, organs of local self-government, public associations and organizations which are of public interest or which are required for the exercise by citizens of their rights, freedoms and duties.
   

(4) Classification of information as state secret shall be effected in conformity with the State Secrets Act of the Russian Federation.
 

(5) Classification of information as confidential shall be effected in the manner established by the effective legislation of the Russian Federation, except in the cases specified in Article 11 of the present Federal Act.
 

Article 11

Information on Citizens (Personal Data)
 

(1) Lists of personal data included in Federal information resources, joint-management information resources, information resources of Russian Federation subjects, and information resources of organs of local self-government, and also data obtained and collected by nonstate organizations must be established on the Federal-law level. Personal data shall be referred to the category of confidential information.
 

Collection, storage, use and dissemination of information on the private life, and of information disclosing personal secret, family secret, secret of correspondence, telephone conversations, postal, telegraph and other communications of natural person without his or her consent, except under court decision, shall not be allowed.
 

(2) Personal data may not be used for the purpose of inflicting property or moral harm on citizens or hampering the exercise of Russian Federation citizens' rights and freedoms. Restriction of Russian Federation citizens' rights through the use of information on their social origins, racial, national, language, religious or party affiliation shall be prohibited and shall be punishable in conformity with legislation.
 

(3) Legal and natural persons in possession, in accordance with their powers, of information on citizens, and obtaining and making use thereof shall bear liability in conformity with the effective legislation of the Russian Federation for breach of the regime of protection, processing, and rules of use of this information.
 

(4) The activity of nonstate organizations and private persons involved in the processing and provision of personal data to users shall be subject to mandatory licensing. The rules of licensing shall be determined by the effective legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

(5) Unlawful activity by the organs of state power and organizations in the collection of personal data may be established in judicial proceedings on the appeal of persons acting under Articles 14 and 15 of the present Federal Act and legislation on personal data.
 

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CHAPTER III

USE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES
 

Article 12

Exercise of Right of Access to Information from Information Resources
 

(1) Users -- citizens, organs of state power, organs of local self-government, organizations and public associations -- shall have equal rights of access to state information resources, and shall not have the duty to justify to the owner of these resources the need for obtaining the information requested by them. Information with limited access shall be an exception.
 

Access of natural and legal persons to state information resources shall be ground for the exercise of public control of the activity of organs of state power, organs of local self-government, public, political and other organizations, and also of the state of the economy, ecology and other spheres of public life.
 

(2) The holders of information resources shall provide users (consumers) with information from information resources on the basis of legislation, the bylaws and statutes of the aforesaid organs and organizations, and also of contracts for services in the supply of information.
 

Information received on lawful grounds from state information resources by citizens and organizations may be used by them to create derivative information for the purposes of its commercial dissemination, with obligatory reference to the source of information.
 

In such case, the result of labor and resource inputs in the creation of derivative information, but not the original information received from state resources, shall be the source of profit.
 

(3) The rules of receipt by user of information (indication of place, time, responsible officers, requisite procedures) shall be determined by the owner or by the holder of information resources, in compliance with the requirements established by the present Federal Act.
 

Schedules of information and information-supply services, information on the rules and conditions of access to information resources shall be made available to users free of charge by the holders of information resources and information systems.
 

(4) The organs of state power and organizations responsible for the constitution and use of information resources shall ensure the conditions for full and operative supply to the user of documented information, in accordance with the duties established by the bylaws (statutes) of these organs and organizations.
 

(5) The rules of accumulation and processing of documented information with limited access, the rules of its protection and access thereto shall be determined by the organs of state power responsible for certain types and arrays of information, in conformity with their competence, or directly by the owner thereof, in conformity with legislation.
 

Article 13

Guarantee of Information Supply
 

(1) The organs of state power and the organs of local self-government shall create generally accessible information resources on matters of the activity of these organs and organizations subordinate to them, and also, within their competence, exercise mass information supply of users in the matter of citizens' rights, freedoms and duties, their security, and other matters of public interest.
 

(2) Denial of access to the information resources specified in Clause (1) of the present Article may be appealed against in court of law.
 

(3) The Committee on Information Policy of the President of the Russian Federation shall organize the registration of all information resources, information systems, and the publication of facts and figures about these in order to ensure citizens' right of access to information.
 

(4) The schedule of information services made available to users from state information resources free of charge or for value not fully indemnifying the costs of services shall be established by the Government of the Russian Federation.
 

The costs of the aforesaid services shall be indemnified out of the funds of the Federal Budget and the budgets of subjects of the Russian Federation.
 

Article 14

Access of Citizens and Organizations to Information About Them
 

(1) Citizens and organizations shall have the right of access to documented information about them, to specification of this information for the purpose of making it full and authentic, and shall have the right to know who and for what purposes is using or has used this information. Restriction of access of citizens and organizations to information about them shall be allowed only on grounds provided for by Federal laws.
 

(2) The holder of documented information about citizens shall have the duty to provide the information free of charge, on demand by the persons involved therein. Restrictions shall be possible only in the cases provided for by the effective legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

(3) Persons making available information about themselves for constituting information resources under Articles 7 and 8 of the present Federal Act shall have the right to use this information free of charge.
 

(4) Denial by the holder of information resources to the person of access to information about him or her may be appealed against in judicial proceedings.
 

Article 15

Obligations and Liability of Holder of Information Resources
 

(1) The holder of information resources shall be under an obligation to ensure observance of the regime of processing and the rules of provision of information to the user, as established by the effective legislation of the Russian Federation or by the owner of these information resources, in conformity with legislation.
 

(2) The holder of information resources shall bear legal liability for breach of the rules of handling information, in the manner specified by the effective legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

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CHAPTER IV

INFORMATIZATION
INFORMATION SYSTEMS, TECHNOLOGIES AND FACILITIES FOR MAINTENANCE THEREOF
 

Article 16

Development and Production of Information Systems, Technologies and Facilities for Maintenance Thereof
 

(1) All types of production of information systems and networks, technologies and facilities for maintenance thereof shall constitute a special branch of economic activity whose development shall be determined by the state's scientific, technical and industrial policy of informatization.
 

(2) State and nonstate organizations, and also citizens shall have equal rights to the development and production of information systems, technologies and facilities for maintenance thereof.
 

(3) The state shall create conditions for implementation of R&D projects in the field of development and production of information systems, technologies and facilities for maintenance thereof.
 

The Government of the Russian Federation shall determine the priority lines in the development of informatization and shall establish the ways and means for financing thereof.
 

(4) The development and operation of Federal information systems shall be financed out of the funds of the Federal Budget under the head of expenditures "Informatics" ("Information supply").
 

(5) The organs of state statistics, together with the Committee for Informatization Policy of the President of the Russian Federation shall establish the rules of accounting and analysis of the state of the branch of economic activity whose development is to be determined by the state's scientific, technical and industrial policy of informatization.
 

Article 17

Right of Ownership of Information Systems, Technologies and Facilities for Maintenance Thereof
 

(1) Information systems, technologies and facilities for maintenance thereof may be held in the ownership of natural and legal persons, and of the state.
 

(2) A natural or legal person at whose expense an information system, technology and facilities for maintenance thereof are produced, purchased or obtained by way of inheritance, gift or in other lawful ways shall be deemed the owner of the information system, technology and facilities for maintenance thereof.
 

(3) Information systems, technologies and facilities for maintenance thereof shall be included in the property of the person exercising the rights of owner or holder of these facilities. Information systems, technologies and facilities for maintenance thereof shall be used as commodities (products), given compliance with the exclusive rights of the developers thereof.
 

The owner of an information system, technology and facilities for maintenance thereof shall determine the conditions for the use of these products.
 

Article 18

Copyright and Right of Ownership to InformationSystems, Technologies and Facilities for Maintenance Thereof
 

The copyright and right of ownership to information systems, technologies and facilities for maintenance thereof may belong to different persons.
 

The owner of an information system, technology and facilities for maintenance thereof shall have the duty to protect the rights of their author, in conformity with the effective legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

Article 19

Certification of Information Systems, Technologies and Facilities for Maintenance Thereof, and Licensing of Activity in Constitution and Use of Information Resources
 

(1) Information systems, databases and databanks designed for the provision of information services to citizens and organizations shall be subject to certification in the manner established by the Act of the Russian Federation "On Certification of Products and Services".
 

(2) Information systems of the organs of state power of the Russian Federation and of the organs of state power of subjects of the Russian Federation, other state agencies, and organizations processing documented information with limited access, and also means of protection of these systems shall be subject to mandatory certification. The rules of certification shall be determined by effective legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

(3) Organizations performing works in the field of design and production of facilities for protection of information and processing of personal data shall take out licenses for this type of activity. The rules of licensing shall be determined by the effective legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

(4) The interests of the consumer of information where use is made of import products in information systems shall be protected by Russian Federation customs agencies on the basis of the international system of certification.
 

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CHAPTER V

PROTECTION OF INFORMATION AND RIGHTS OF PERSONS IN INFORMATION PROCESSES AND INFORMATIZATION
 

Article 20

Purposes of Protection
 

The purposes of protection shall be:
 

• prevention of leakage, stealing, loss, distortion and forgery of information; and
   
• prevention of threats to the safety of the individual, the society and the state; and
   
• prevention of unauthorized acts in the destruction, modification, distortion, copying or blocking of information; and
   
• prevention of other forms of illegal interference in information resources and information systems, assertion of a legal regime of documented information as an object of ownership; and
   
• protection of the constitutional rights of citizens to the preservation of personal secret and confidentiality of personal data available in information systems; and
   
• preservation of state secret and confidentiality of documented information, in conformity with legislation; and
   
• assurance of persons of their rights in information processes and in the development, production and application of information systems, technologies and facilities for maintenance thereof.
   

Article 21

Protection of Information
 

(1) Any documented information unlawful treatment of which may inflict harm on its owner, holder, user or other person shall be subject to protection.
 

The information-protection regime shall be established:
 

• with respect to facts and figures classified as state secret by authorized agencies, on the basis of the Russian Federation State Secrets Act; and
   
• with respect to confidential documented information by the owner of information resources or by duly authorized person, on the basis of the present Federal Act;and
   
• with respect to personal data -- by the Federal Act.
   

(2) The organs of state power and organizations responsible for the constitution and use of information resources subject to protection, and also agencies and organizations developing and applying information systems and information technologies for the constitution and use of information resources with limited access shall be guided in their activity by the effective legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

(3) Control of compliance with the requirements of protection of information and operation of special technical-program protection facilities, and also provision of organizational measures for the protection of information systems processing information with limited access in nonstate structures shall be exercised by the organs of state power. Control shall be exercised in the manner determined by the Government of the Russian Federation.
 

(4) Organizations processing information with limited access which is held in the ownership of the state shall create special services ensuring protection of the information.
 

(5) The owner of information resources of duly authorized persons shall have the right to exercise control of fulfillment of requirements in the protection of information, and to prohibit or suspend the processing of information in the event of nonfulfillment of these requirements.
 

(6) The owner or holder of documented information shall be entitled to request the organs of state power to assess the correct fulfillment of the norms and requirements in the protection of his information in information systems. The respective agencies shall be designated by the Government of the Russian Federation. These agencies shall act in compliance with the conditions of confidentiality of the information itself and of the results of the audit.
 

Article 22

Rights and Duties of Persons in Protection of Information
 

(1) The owner of documents, of an array of documents or of information systems or duly authorized persons shall, in conformity with the present Federal Act, establish the rules of providing users with information, with a statement of place, time and responsible officers, and also of the requisite procedures, and shall ensure conditions for access of users to information.
 

(2) The holder of documents, of an array of documents or of information systems shall make sure of the level of protection of information, in conformity with the effective legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

(3) The risk arising from the use of uncertified information systems and facilities for maintenance thereof shall be borne by the owner (holder) of these systems and facilities. The risk arising from the use of information obtained from an uncertified system shall be borne by the user of the information.
 

(4) The owner of documents, of an array of documents or of information systems may request an organization engaged in the certification of facilities for the protection of information systems and information resources to carry out an analysis of adequacy of measures for the protection of his resources and systems, and for obtaining consultations.
 

(5) The holder of documents, of an array of documents or of information systems shall have the duty to notify the owner of information resources and/or information systems about every breach of the information-protection regime.
 

Article 23

Protection of Persons' Rights in Information Processes and Informatization
 

(1) Protection of the rights of persons in the sphere of constitution of information resources, use of information resources, development, production and application of information systems, technologies and facilities for maintenance thereof shall be effected for the purpose of prevention of breaches of the law, suppression of illegal acts, restoration of violated rights, and indemnification of any inflicted damage.
 

(2) Protection of the rights of persons in the aforesaid sphere shall be exercised by court of law, arbitration court or mediation court, with due account of the specifics of the breach of the law and of the inflicted damage.
 

(3) For breaches of the law in handling documented information, the organs of state power, organizations and their officers shall bear liability, in conformity with the effective legislation of the Russian Federation.
 

Ad hoc and standing courts of mediation may be set up to consider situations of conflict and to protect the rights of participants in the sphere of constitution and use of information resources, and creation and use of information systems, technologies and facilities for maintenance thereof.
 

The court of mediation shall hear conflicts and disputes of the parties in the manner established by legislation on courts of mediation.
 

(4) Liability for breach of international norms and rules in the sphere of constitution and use of information resources, and creation and use of information systems, technologies and facilities for maintenance thereof shall be vested in the organs of state power, organizations and citizens, in conformity with contracts concluded by them with foreign firms and other partners, with due account of the international treaties ratified by the Russian Federation.
 

Article 24

Protection of Right of Access to Information
 

(1) Denial of access to open information or provision of user with information known to be false may be appealed against in judicial proceedings.
 

Nonperformance or improper performance of obligations under contract of delivery, sale or other forms of exchange of information resources between organizations shall be considered by court of arbitration.
 

In all cases, persons denied access to information and persons receiving false information shall have the right to indemnification of any damage incurred by them.
 

(2) Courts shall hear disputes on unjustified reference of information to the category of information with limited access, lawsuits on indemnification of damage in the event of unjustified denial of provision of information to users or as a result of other infringements of users' rights.
 

(3) Senior executives and other employees of the organs of state power and organizations guilty of or at fault in the restriction of access to information and violation of the information-protection regime shall bear liability in conformity with criminal and civil legislation, and legislation on administrative offences.
 

Article 25

Entry into Force of Federal Act
 

(1) The present Federal Act shall enter into force upon its official promulgation.
 

(2) The President of the Russian Federation shall be requested to bring the legal acts issued by him into conformity with the present Federal Act.
 

(3) The Government of the Russian Federation shall be instructed on the following:
 

• to bring the legal acts issued by it into conformity with the present Federal Act; and
   
• to draw up and put before the State Duma, within the period of three months, in the established manner, proposals on amendments and addenda to the legislation of the Russian Federation, in connection with the adoption of the present Federal Act; and
   
• to adopt normative legal enactments ensuring implementation of the present Federal Act.

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