Annotation

Purpose: study bringing to criminal liability for the creation and/or administration of the websites used for illegal activities, including drug trafficking, based on regulatory frameworks, judicial practice, and doctrinal provisions in civil law system, taking into account the Germanic branch and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Methodology: the study is based on content analysis of authentic documents, special-legal methods (interpretation and formal-legal method) and consider comparative in nature. Conclusions based on the results of the conducted research: in civil law system, there are two models of imposing criminal liability for illegal website creating or administrating, inter alia a general drug-related offense committed using information technology as a qualifying element, or a specialized one. The primary penalties are imprisonment and fines, and in some cases, confiscation of property. For effective criminal prosecution, German procedural law also provides for special investigative actions. Scientific and practical significance: studying foreign experience in matters of criminalization, penalization of the website creation and for criminal purposes and criminal prosecution for them allows forming a comprehensive understanding of the issue for developing effective counteraction to drug and cybercrime in domestic practice.