CRIMINAL LEGAL PROTECTION OF NATIONAL SECURITY IN CONDITIONS OF MARTIAL STATE

Abstract

The article examines the features of the criminal-legal protection of Ukraine’s national security under martial law. It is indicated that currently in Ukraine there are no effective criminal-legal measures to counter crimes against the foundations of Ukraine’s national security, which is confirmed by the empirical material studied. The authors draw attention to the fact that most of the problems that caused the negative criminological situation in this area are in the plane of chaos of changes and additions made to the national criminal legislation after the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine. The lack of systematicity also negatively affected the state of coherence of the norms of the General and Special Parts of the Criminal Legislation, the principles of the institutions of punishment and exemption from punishment, and the general principles of criminal law and law-making activity. Special attention is paid to the need to bring the provisions of the national criminal legislation in terms of criminal liability for crimes against the foundations of Ukraine’s national security into line with the requirements of international and European documents. This is also important in connection with Ukraine’s European integration and the gradual alignment of national legislation with the legislation of the European Union. It is concluded that in conditions complicated by aggressive military actions, the improvement of criminal law policy in general and national criminal legislation in particular requires a systematic approach aimed at ensuring the possibility of eliminating current and projected threats to national security, in particular in the deoccupied territories. Of particular importance is the need to eliminate gaps that lead to errors in the qualification of crimes against the foundations of national security and in bringing persons to criminal liability for committing other, less serious, acts.