CRIMINAL LAW SUPPORT OF STATE PROTECTION: CONCEPT AND CONTENT

Abstract

This article examines the concept of criminal-law safeguards of state protection and identifies its main characteristics within contemporary criminal-law doctrine. The study shows that, in Ukrainian criminal-law scholarship, the notion of criminal-law safeguards has been used extensively, while receiving comparatively limited targeted theoretical elaboration. The article argues that the concept has evolved from a narrow understanding as a set of criminal-law norms to a complex, multidimensional construct encompassing normative, status-related, functional, systemic, and preventive components.
It is further argued that, in the sphere of state protection, this category should be treated as an independent subsystem of general legal safeguards combining protective and guarantee-based dimensions. Criminal-law safeguards of state protection are considered a derivative yet autonomous subsystem within the broader legal framework governing state protection. Their scope is not confined to establishing criminal liability for attacks against protected persons, public authorities, or objects under state protection. Rather, it encompasses elements related to criminalisation, legal qualification, guarantees, and prevention, and is directly linked to defining the limits of lawful conduct by servicemen of the Department of the State Protection of Ukraine in the exercise of their official powers.
The article formulates criminal-law safeguards of state protection as a system of criminal-law norms and legal instruments aimed at protecting social relations, ensuring the normal functioning of public authorities, safeguarding persons and objects under state protection, and delineating the boundaries of lawful conduct for the relevant servicemen. The conclusion emphasises the need to further improve the regulatory model of state protection, taking into account the mixed legal status of the Department, the need for a clear demarcation of powers, adequate guarantees for their exercise, and the criminal-law consequences of exceeding the established limits.