Almanac of law. Issue 17 (2026), pages 487–494.

DOI: 10.33663/2524-017X-2026-17-487-494

Fedytnyk V. M.
Exemption from criminal liability of military personnel on the basis of Part 5 of Article 401 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in light of the legal positions of the Supreme Court

The article analyses the rulings adopted by the Cassation Criminal Court within the Supreme Court regarding the application of the incentive provision in Part 5 of Article 401 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine to military personnel who, during martial law, committed a criminal offence for the first time, as provided for in Articles 407 and 408 of this Code, if they voluntarily applied to the investigator, prosecutor or court with a request to return to this or another military unit or place of service to continue their military service and with the written consent of the commander (head) of the military unit (institution) to continue such person’s military service. It has been established that the exemption from criminal liability of military personnel who evaded military service but who returned to continue their service, having fulfilled the conditions specified in both the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Part 5 of Article 401) and the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine (Part 2 of Article 286, Part 1 of Article 287, part 3 of Article 288) is a manifestation of the state’s right to show mercy to them, and the very appearance of this incentive norm has led to a change in the vector of the state’s criminal law policy towards military personnel who have evaded service from punitive to «merciful». An analysis of the existing legal positions of the Supreme Court shows that they comprehensively interpret the prerequisites and conditions for exemption from criminal liability on the basis of Part 5 of Article 401 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, as well as the procedural actions of the judge accompanying such exemption (Part 2 of Article 286, Part 1 of Article 287, Part 3 of Article 288 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine). In particular, this concerns the specifics of establishing the voluntary nature of the accused’s application to the investigator, prosecutor or judge with a request to return to this or another military unit or place of service to continue military service, the form of written consent of the commander (head) of the military unit (institution) for such a person to continue military service; the characteristics of such a prerequisite for exemption from criminal liability as the commission of criminal offences provided for in Articles 408 and 408 of the Criminal Code for the first time. It was concluded that the Supreme Court cannot assume the function of a legislator by adjusting the provisions of the above-mentioned incentive norms of a criminal law and criminal procedural nature and must apply them in accordance with the will of the legislator, objectified in the form of a criminal law prescription of an incentive nature.

Keywords: legal position, Supreme Court, interpretation, incentive provision, exemption from criminal liability, right of clemency, unauthorized absence from military unit or place of service, desertion, military personnel, criminal law policy, judicial practice.

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Дата першого надходження рукопису до видання: 04.03.2026
Дата прийнятого до друку рукопису після рецензування: 09.04.2026
Дата публікації: 30.04.2026