ENHANCED PUNISHMENT FOR MILITARY SERVANTS

It is no secret that thousands of citizens volunteered for military service from the first days of the full-scale war. As of now, there are quite a few mobilized people. And for each of them, care, understanding and support from the state and command is important. But unfortunately, the situation is the opposite. We are talking about increasing punishment for military personnel.

Normative base

On December 13, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law according to which the criminal liability of military personnel increases. In other words, on the basis of this law, a number of articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine changed their sanctions to stricter ones, and some articles were supplemented with new offenses.

Major changes in criminal liability

Criminally punishable actions such as desertion, leaving a military unit without the knowledge of the command, failure to perform combat tasks, and others came under increased responsibility. In fact, military personnel were called to have the right to vote in one or another situation.

Punishment

The said Law provides for punishment in the form of deprivation of liberty as for serious crimes, i.e. from 10 to 15 years. Of course, there are articles with a shorter term, 5-8 years. But for a defender who defended the country in the most difficult time, this is quite a long term. The other side of these punishments is that probation and the right to early release cannot be applied to these crimes.

The main changes in administrative responsibility

The said Law did not bypass the strengthening of administrative responsibility, in particular, the amount of fines for drinking alcoholic beverages while on duty was increased.

What does this Law change?

If we look at this issue, in fact, the Criminal Code of Ukraine previously contained norms that provide for responsibility for the specified actions. This Law did not introduce anything new, but only strengthened the punishment for already existing crimes.

Risks

This Law has its own risks to a certain extent, as it expressly prohibits the application of mitigating punishments. That is, if the sanction of the article provides imprisonment for 5 years or more, then regardless of the previous service, the conditions under which the offense was committed, the court cannot impose a lesser punishment.

Recommendations

Therefore, in connection with the above, it is necessary for a serviceman to know the scope of all rights and the possibility of protecting them in a legal way. And this should be done not at the stage when the case is initiated, but at the stage of fulfilling one's duties.

It will also not be superfluous to have and know the contacts of a proven specialist in military law, to whom you can turn in case of such a need. Of course, no one knows what can await us ahead, but it is worth knowing how to protect your rights in any situation and in any place.