Legal regulation of combating organised crime in Ukraine: Сurrent state and areas of improvement

Abstract

The relevance of this study is conditioned by the need to develop concrete proposals for improving the legislation in the field of combating organised crime at the present stage. The purpose of this study was to identify, based on the identified gaps in the legal regulation of combating organised crime, the ways of its improvement with due regard to current socio-political realities and international practices. The study addressed these issues using a system of general scientific and special methods of scientific cognition: analysis, synthesis, analogy, comparison, generalisation, content analysis, as well as formal legal, comparative legal, and systemic methods. The results of the analysis of the legal regulation of combating organised crime in Ukraine show that there are substantial gaps in the national legislation, which creates preconditions for further criminalisation of the key areas of the state’s functioning, especially in the context of the ongoing military operations in the country. The study focused on several draft laws, the provisions of which are aimed at strengthening the capacity of actors to combat organised crime and will have a positive impact on eliminating the causes and conditions of its existence. It is proved that modernisation of criminal, criminal procedural, anti-corruption, law enforcement intelligence, and counter-intelligence legislation, as well as improvement of legal acts in the areas of counterterrorism and sanctions policy are of great importance. The study argued that it is necessary to accelerate the implementation of the Europol methodology for assessing the threats of serious and organised crime in Ukraine to provide a strategic vision of the socio-political spheres vulnerable to criminal influence. It was proved that an important prerequisite for effective counteraction to crime is the implementation of the provisions of the Strategy for Combating Organised Crime concerning the creation of stable and systematic legislation for the introduction of new methods and mechanisms of counteraction. The practical significance of this study is that the findings of the study may serve as a basis for improving the legal regulation of combating organised crime in Ukraine as a threat to its national security, primarily during the martial law regime

Current trends in international organised crime combating cooperation

“…The Russia-Ukraine war combines both conventional and cyber warfare, and this cyber dimension provides an extremely interesting insight into what modern warfare may look like in the future (Guitton & Fréchette, 2023). It is worth noting that organised crime is not the preserve of nonstate actors in international relations but can also include structures within state actors (Vatral, 2023).…”

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“…Hambali and Z. Zainuddin (2023), considering diversion (diverting) from criminal justice not only as a legal institution but also as a component of the police strategy to combat local crime and to shift the focus from punishing the offender to restoring the state that existed before the offence was committed, concluded that the effectiveness of this legal mechanism by the police was low. At the same time, this statement can hardly be considered a general rule for the institution of diversion (diverting) of children from criminal justice in general, but rather indicates the need to take into account local specifics Vatral, 2023).…”

Peculiarities of the formation and application of the institute of diversion (diverting) of children from criminal justice in the Kyrgyz Republic

“…Hambali and Z. Zainuddin (2023), considering diversion (diverting) from criminal justice not only as a legal institution but also as a component of the police strategy to combat local crime and to shift the focus from punishing the offender to restoring the state that existed before the offence was committed, concluded that the effectiveness of this legal mechanism by the police was low. At the same time, this statement can hardly be considered a general rule for the institution of diversion (diverting) of children from criminal justice in general, but rather indicates the need to take into account local specifics (Shevchuk et al, 2022;Vatral, 2023). Also, relevant is the question of the limits of the use of diversion (diverting) of children from criminal proceedings.…”