Review

The article examines the problem of systematizing crimes against the foundations of Ukraine’s national security, defining their generic object, functional purpose, and the legal limits of criminalization of such acts. The study emphasizes the interrelation between theoretical and praxeological aspects of the criminal law protection of state security and the practice of counterintelligence and operational-investigative documentation (CIAD and OIAD). The author analyzes the evolution of legal approaches to differentiating these crimes, identifies the shortcomings of the current classification, and proposes its improvement taking into account contemporary challenges such as hybrid aggression, information and cyber threats, and the financing of terrorism.

A comparative legal analysis of the legislation of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Scandinavian countries allows assessing the effectiveness of various models of criminalization and their adaptability to the Ukrainian legal framework. Particular attention is paid to the issues of proving and documenting crimes against the foundations of national security, to the significance of the subject of proof for organizing CIAD and OIAD, and to the role of procedural legalization of factual data in pre-trial investigation. The study reveals the impact of digital technologies and cyberspace on the state’s criminal law policy and on the boundaries of permissible interference with privacy in the investigation of crimes against sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The purpose of the article is to form the author’s conceptual vision of crimes against the foundations of Ukraine’s national security, to determine the specific features of their criminal law classification, and to outline directions for improving legislation in light of contemporary threats, international experience, the theory of evidence, and the practice of counterintelligence activity.

The research employs a complex of general scientific and special legal methods of cognition, including dialectical, historical-legal, comparative-legal, formal-legal, as well as methods of systemic analysis and structural-functional generalization.

As a result, the author identifies three approaches to understanding the concept of crimes against the foundations of national security: the elemental approach (through the system of elements of the corpus delicti), the praxeological approach (through the activity of authorized bodies and the procedures of proof), and the comprehensive approach (combining legal, organizational, and evidentiary dimensions). Supporting the comprehensive approach, the author defines crimes against the foundations of Ukraine’s national security as socially dangerous acts prescribed by criminal law that encroach upon the fundamental state and social interests in the spheres of sovereignty, territorial integrity, defense capability, information, and political stability of the state.

From the author’s standpoint, criminal law activity in the field of national security includes the following elements: subjects (state security and law enforcement agencies), objects (social relations in the sphere of protection of state sovereignty), legal basis (norms of criminal legislation), methods and means (criminalization, prevention, sanctions, and proving), and the result – ensuring the security of the individual, society, and the state. A distinctive feature is that society and the state act simultaneously as subjects and objects of this activity, while the effectiveness of criminal law enforcement depends on the quality of documentation, admissibility of evidence, and compliance with human rights during investigation.

Keywords: crimes against the foundations of national security, national security of Ukraine, state security, criminal law protection, criminalization, generic object of the crime, international experience, comparative analysis, pre-trial investigation, counterintelligence activity, operational and investigative activity.