Criminal sanctions in articles on public appeals to commit criminal offenses against the foundations of national security of Ukraine

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of penal sanctions of criminal law provisions on public calls for committing criminal offences against the foundations of national security of Ukraine (part 2, 3 of article 109, part 1, 2, 3 of article 110, part 1, 5 of article 1111 of the Criminal code of Ukraine). The author identifies the shortcomings of the penal sanctions of these criminal law provisions.
 The author classifies the penal sanctions of the articles for public calls to commit criminal offences against the foundations of national security of Ukraine. It is established that the sanctions of the elements of public calls for committing criminal offences against the foundations of national security of Ukraine (except for the sanction provided for in part 1 of article 1111) are cumulative and provide for the possibility of additional punishment in the form of confiscation of property (part 2, 3 of article 109, part 1, 2, 3 of article 110, part 5 of article 1111 of the Criminal сode). At the same time, part 5 of article 1111 of the Criminal сode of Ukraine contains two cumulative penal sanctions (mandatory and optional).
 The article analyses the proposals of Ukrainian legal scholars concerning the improvement of penal sanctions under the provisions on public calls for criminal offences against the foundations of national security of Ukraine. In particular, the author provides the arguments which demonstrate the need to provide for imprisonment as the main punishment in part 1 of article 1111 of the Criminal сode of Ukraine. In addition, the author supports the proposal of scholars to provide for deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities as an additional punishment in part 1 of article 1111 of the Criminal сode of Ukraine.
 The analysis of the existing sanctioning provisions proves that the legislator uses a non-systematic approach when assessing the public danger of public calls for criminal offences against the foundations of national security of Ukraine. Given the need to strengthen the protection of Ukraine’s national security in the context of Russia’s full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine, the author identifies the ways to improve the system of penal sanctions under criminal law provisions on public calls for criminal offences against the foundations of Ukraine’s national security.