CHARACTERISTICS OF THE QUALIFICATION OF THE CRIME OF ILLEGAL ACQUISITION OR DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION CONSTITUTING A COMMERCIAL SECRET WITHIN THE SYSTEM OF CRIMES CAUSING UNFAIR COMPETITION

Abstract

Abstract: Although the phenomenon of “crimes causing unfair competition” is not explicitly expressed in the criminal legislation of many countries, this concept, which is included in the legislation of certain countries, including the Republic of Turkey, defines the scope of crimes related to unfair competition. In this context, there has arisen a need to classify the chapter of “crimes causing unfair competition” within the criminal law provisions on crimes in the field of economic activity and to determine the range of crimes that belong to this group.

In the chapter on crimes in the field of economic activity in the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the crime of illegal acquisition or disclosure of information constituting a commercial secret is particularly distinguished. Market participants protect information that has economic value related to their commercial activities and possesses confidentiality characteristics by establishing a commercial secret regime for it in one form or another. Actions aimed at acquiring such information by other competing market participants through various means can cause significant harm to the subjects to whom the commercial secret belongs. The qualification and the analysis of the criminal-legal characteristics of the crime of illegal acquisition or disclosure of information constituting a commercial secret, as one of the acts causing unfair competition, is one of the pressing issues of modern criminal law.

This article examines the place of the concept of “unfair competition” as a legal category in competition law and criminal law, the understanding of the concept of “commercial secret” in the legislation of different countries, the historical roots of this concept, the determination of the range of information constituting a commercial secret, the place and criminal-legal characteristics of the crime of illegal acquisition or disclosure of information constituting a commercial secret in the criminal legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan and other countries, the objective elements of this crime as expressed in the relevant legal norms, as well as the shortcomings in the way this act is formulated in criminal law. The article also provides proposals for amendments to the relevant criminal law provisions.

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Received: 10.02.26 / Revised: 26.02.26 / Accepted: 18.03.26 / Published:30.03.26