Almanac of law. Issue 15 (2024), pages 96–103.
DOI: 10.33663/2524-017X-2024-15-96-103
Zahynei-Zabolotenko Z. A.
Rule-making in the field of criminal law: dynamics of wartime
The article analyses the dynamics of Ukrainian legislation on criminal liability after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. The author identifies the following main blocks of amendments to the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: criminalisation of criminal offences (during the war, the current Code was supplemented with eight new corpus delicti), restatement of the articles of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine or their structural parts, inclusion of certain parts thereof, amendments to the articles of the Special Part of this Code, differentiation of criminal liability for certain criminal offences by means of the legislator’s use of qualifying factors. The provisions of the General Part of this Code have also been amended and supplemented, in particular, with provisions on the circumstance that excludes criminal unlawfulness of an act, such as the performance of the duty to protect the Motherland, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine (Art. 43-1), provisions aimed at regulating the procedure for the exchange of persons as prisoners of war, namely Art. 84-1 «Release from serving a sentence in connection with the decision of the authorised body to transfer a convicted person for exchange as a prisoner of war», as well as adjustments to the text of these articles. It is stated that the rule-making activities in the field of criminal law were aimed primarily at adapting the current Criminal Code of Ukraine to the conditions of war and improving the criminal law provision for the protection of those social values which are primarily more vulnerable during this period. It is established that the demand for certain wartime novelties introduced after 24 February 2022 had been in place long before these events. This includes, for example, the criminalisation of collaboration. The author identifies certain contradictions in the new criminal law provisions and suggests ways to eliminate them. For example, the author points out that it is inappropriate to supplement the Criminal Code of Ukraine with a provision on aiding the aggressor State (Art. 111-2), since the socially dangerous acts provided for therein are themselves covered by high treason (Art. 111) or collaboration (Art. 111-1). The author establishes the content of the qualifying feature of certain criminal offences, namely, the commission of relevant acts under martial law. It is proposed to change the wording of the qualifying features in the criminal offences under Art. 185, 186, 187, 189, 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, using such wording as committing these offences under martial law.
Key words: criminal law; dynamics of criminal law; amendments and additions; criminalisation; differentiation of criminal liability; criminal law provision; collaboration; treason; committing a criminal offence under martial law; exchange of persons as prisoners of war.
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Zoya Apollinariivna Zagynei-Zabolotenko,
Head of the Department of Criminal Law, Criminology and Judicial System
of the V. M. Koretsky Institute of State and Law, NAS of Ukraine,
Doctor of Law, Professor
ORCID: 0000-0002-8679-124X