Legal regulation of recruitment for military service under a contract in the Security Service of Ukraine

The article examines the specifics of the legal regulation of recruitment for military service under a contract in the Security Service of Ukraine, in particular under martial law. The regulatory framework regulating the specified sphere is analyzed in detail, including national legislation, decrees of the President of Ukraine and internal regulatory acts of the Security Service of Ukraine. It is determined that recruitment for contract military service in the SSU is a complex multi-level legal process. The study reveals the features of concluding a contract as the primary legal source of forming the legal status of a serviceman of the SSU, which includes the scope of his rights, obligations, restrictions and social security guarantees. The absence of a probationary period for candidates for military service under a contract in the SSU, in contrast to general practice for servicemen, is emphasized, which is explained by the implementation of a comprehensive selection system, including a medical examination, special training and internal assessment. Special attention is paid to the updates in the personnel policy of the SSU in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 733/2024, which introduced a flexible approach to contract terms, in particular for young people, medics and officers. The functioning of the Institute of Special Training, which performs the role of internal accreditation of persons applying for military service, is separately characterized. A list of features of the legal regulation of acceptance for military service under a contract in the Security Service of Ukraine is formulated and the essence of each of them is characterized in turn. Based on the analysis, it is concluded that the legal regulation of acceptance for contract service in the SSU requires further systematization and elimination of fragmentation, which will increase legal certainty, the effectiveness of selection and guarantees for military personnel. The provisions of the current legislation have been analyzed, which show that the procedure for accepting contract military service in the SBU has the nature of an administrative-legal act of selection and contains elements of a preventive legal filter aimed at preventing the admission to the system of persons who do not meet the criteria of professional and moral reliability.