The First “Blocking” Statute Against Unlawful Foreign Law Enforcement and Judicial Activities in Cyberspace

Introduction. Federal Law No. 282-FZ of 31 July 2025 added a new article – 294¹ (“Unlawful performance of investigative, other procedural actions and operational search measures in the territory of the Russian Federation”) to the RF Criminal Code. This publication represents a commentary thereon, with an emphasis on its application to activities in cyberspace. It highlights the circumstances of the enactment and international legal aspects of the novel norm, analyzes the elements of the criminal offence, specificities of proceedings on it, as well as its effect in the context of the UN Convention against Cybercrime.

Materials and methods. The article explores the relevant treaties and customary international law, soft law, as well as domestic and foreign laws and regulations. It is also sourced from jurisprudence and legal practices of interstate, domestic and foreign law enforcement authorities, as well as scholarly literature. The applied methodology includes the formal legal and comparative methods, methods of systemic and structural analysis, and synthesis of social and legal phenomena.

Results of the study. The new legal norm constitutes a blocking statute aimed at precluding application in the territory of the enacting state of a law made by a foreign jurisdiction, and proceeds from the legal fiction of the “territorialization” of cyberspace. The spotlight on the problem of extraneous law enforcement on Russian soil was turned due to the special military operation and concomitant risks of the adversaries illegitimately exfiltrating evidence from its territory, for understandable reasons primarily in a remote virtual mode with no boots on the ground. The Russian law as a trailblazer goes beyond what its foreign counterparts have managed to regulate so far, which in the long term can be expected to contribute to the progressive development of international law as well.

Discussion and conclusion. The actus reus is accomplished directly by a foreign or international official themselves or indirectly through the agency of a proxy and should not be made conditional on the finalization of the action or ultimate use of its product in proof, or the availability of its written or audiovisual record. The defendant official’s immunity is examined, invoked or waived and determined according to the rules of domestic and general international law. However, customary international law tends to proceed from the absence of immunity in cases of such acts, which violate territorial sovereignty and are similar to offences of espionage. The mens rea premises that an offender acts with “triple” direct intent to perform the proscribed law enforcement or judicial measure and to breach the established procedure for its performance, as well as to pursue the purpose that runs counter to the interests of Russia; it also includes the mandatory scienter element of the location – knowingly within the Russian territory – of the individual targeted by the defendant's activity through the use of telecommunications. The offence can be detected and its perpetrators can be brought to justice by various methods and means described in the article. The neutralization of certain “extraterritorial backdoors” contained in the Hanoi Cybercrime Convention should be carried out primarily at the national statutory and law enforcement level, which Russia did by adopting the law at issue. Although the Convention does not cover the conduct or responsibility of states, its provisions regarding the obligations of states to cooperate with respect to acts criminalized by the Convention (in particular, illegal access or interception) may well be applied by states that have been injured by and are investigating the relevant illegal unilateral cross-border actions of specific state actors and their proxies, taking account of the applicable procedures for engaging international legal immunities.

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