The article addresses the theoretical issues of the protection of the state interests in the Ukrainian law. The protection of the state interests, being an objective necessity from the perspective of the development of the state and the civil society, requires legal measures to be applied by the state. The core aspect in the analysis of the process of the protection of the state interests by such measures is the theoretical understanding of the state interests concept, including their definition and the requisite qualifications. Based on the approaches of the domestic as well as of the international law on human rights the state interests are proposed to be viewed as objective interests, public in nature, comprising the underlying general social needs, acknowledged by the state. The state interest include, further, the appropriate legal means by which such interests are capable of being protected. Such measures should be relevant to the respective state interests as well as to the specific social relationships in which such measures are to be applied.

Opening up public data is foster the participation of citizens in political and social life and contribute to policy areas such as the environment. The 2003 Directive on the re-use of public sector information set out the general legislative framework at European level. The Directive provides for a minimum degree of harmonisation. The 2009 review of the Directive indicated that, in spite of progress since 2003, barriers to the cross-border use of public sector information still existed. Some of these barriers can be tackled within the existing legislation, others cannot. The general re-use policy is complemented by legislative or policy initiatives in specific sectors. The re-use of public sector data, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes, should fully respect European and national privacy legislation. The objectives of fostering open government data and protecting personal data can reinforce each other if based on pro-active and conscious information management by the public sector. Moreover, the implementation of open data policies should fully respect the intellectual property rights of third parties and the European Union’s obligations under international treaties on intellectual property rights.