Review

The article is devoted to the study of ways to improve the criminal law mechanisms for protecting the right to freedom of expression and journalism in Ukraine. The author notes that the right to freely express their views and beliefs is a guarantee of the independence of members of civil society of the state, the subordination of the state to civil society. Obviously, without this right, society is not able to withstand the information expansion of the state, to defend their own views on the events that take place. Freedom of speech creates a significant guarantee of public control over state power.

The author draws attention to the fact that in addition to the shortcomings of the normative regulation of liability for violation of the right to freedom of speech and for violations of the law against journalists, there are a number of problems of procedural, organizational and methodological provision of an adequate level of effectiveness of the fight against offenses in this area of ​​public relations. Decriminalizing certain minor forms of interference with the access of journalists to information will accelerate the prosecution of offenders and serve to prevent future violations of journalists' rights. An important author believes it is necessary to harmonize among themselves methodological recommendations for investigating crimes against journalists, approved by the National Police of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine. It is also necessary to bring the text of these recommendations in line with international standards in the field of freedom of speech, the protection of the right of the person to access information and protection of journalistic activities. The urgent issue is the holding of coordination meetings between representatives of journalists' circles, unions and public organizations with the Coordination center for providing free legal aid in order to establish a mechanism for providing professional legal aid to the victims of the crime.

Key words: freedom of speech, freedom of expression, journalistic activity, investigation of crimes against journalists, mass media.