Criminal liability for collaborationism: analysis of current legislation, practice of its application, and proposals for amendments

After the large-scale armed aggression against Ukraine broke out, lawmakers faced the need to introduce additional types of criminal liability which would define a specific “watershed” between permitted and acceptable behaviour of Ukrainian citizens and the behaviour which poses a threat and is unacceptable, in particular, of those who stayed in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine or the territory temporarily controlled by the army of the Russian Federation.

The adoption of amendments to the criminal legislation and the introduction of new elements of crimes, such as “collaborationism” (Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), “aiding and abetting the aggressor state” (Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), led to numerous appeals filed by residents of the occupied territories of Ukraine to non-governmental human rights organisations with a request to clarify whether the activities they continued to carry out in the occupied territory constitute collaborationism.

Therefore, human rights defenders presented conclusions and recommendations in the analytical note, which reflect the consolidated position of the Coalition.

Download the analysis in Ukrainian and English.