Social preconditions for the criminalization of the offense provided for in article 435-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine

The article is dedicated to analyzing the social preconditions for establishing criminal liability for insulting the honor and dignity of a serviceman, threatening a serviceman, and determining whether the criminalization of these actions corresponded to the interests of society amid the ongoing full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Justifying the need for the criminalization of insulting the honor and dignity of a serviceman and threatening a serviceman, experts primarily focused on issues of protecting the informational space in conditions of active aggressive activities by all possible forces, means, and informational resources of the aggressor state, aimed at destabilizing and dividing Ukrainian society during full-scale armed aggression. On March 3, 2022, the Criminal Code of Ukraine was supplemented with Article 435-1 through the adoption of Law of Ukraine No. 2110-IX «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine to Strengthen Criminal Liability for the Production and Distribution of Prohibited Information Products.» As revealed in the course of analysis, this article establishes criminal liability for actions that, prior to the introduction of this norm, could have been qualified under other articles. The author examines the social and socio-psychological factors that express the societal necessity and political expediency of establishing criminal liability for insulting the honor and dignity of a serviceman and threatening a serviceman (Article 435-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), including the public danger of such acts, their relative prevalence, the balance of positive and negative consequences of criminalization, and the criminal-political adequacy of this criminalization. Based on the results of the scientific analysis, it has been substantiated that the addition of Article 435-1 to the current Criminal Code of Ukraine, in general, meets the criteria of social conditionality of criminalization and is based on significant social preconditions. The actions for which criminal liability is established under Article 435-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine pose a public danger by negatively impacting servicemen engaged in national security and defense efforts, repelling and deterring the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, as well as their close relatives or family members. Such actions threaten legally protected interests at the level of Ukraine’s national security and its components. Moreover, in combination with other means of hybrid and armed aggression, such influence undermines defense capabilities and grants the enemy advantages in various areas of its destructive aspirations.