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  5. Propaganda inciting criminal acts VS freedom of expression and the right to privacy

Almanac of law. Issue 17 (2026), pages 622–628.

DOI: 10.33663/2524-017X-2026-17-622-628

Pylypets A. Yu.
Propaganda inciting criminal acts VS freedom of expression and the right to privacy

The article examines the issue of the expediency of recognizing the concept of the primacy of national security in the context of the Russian Federation’s armed aggression over human and civil rights and freedoms, in particular, the right to privacy and freedom of expression in the form of establishing criminal liability for certain forms of propaganda as criminal behavior. It is stated that the concept of national security should not prevail over the observance of human and civil rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine and international treaties, the binding nature of which has been approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. This also applies to such fundamental rights as freedom of expression (Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights) and the right to privacy (Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights) at the individual level in conditions of martial law. The main criteria used in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights to determine the balance between national security interests and the right to express one’s views, guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, have been established. These include: the nature of the statement, the context in which the statement was made, 3) the context in which the interference took place, the existence of actual or potential harm from the expression, the influence of the person to whom the expression belongs, the means of disseminating information and its impact on the audience, the nature of the punishment and its severity. Restrictions on freedom of expression and the right to privacy must be sufficiently justified and significant, pursue a legitimate aim, and meet the requirements of proportionality. In cases where the accused engages in propaganda within the private sphere, conveying information of a criminal nature exclusively to a person close to him, bringing him to criminal responsibility, in particular under Article 4362 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, constitutes excessive interference with and excessive restriction of his rights, which cannot be justified by the conditions of martial law.

Keywords: propaganda, national security, right to privacy, freedom of expression, criminal liability, criminal offence, European Court of Human Rights, justification, recognition as lawful, denial of the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine, glorification of its participants.

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Дата першого надходження рукопису до видання: 10.03.2026
Дата прийнятого до друку рукопису після рецензування: 09.04.2026
Дата публікації: 30.04.2026

     

     

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