Liability for collaborationism: how has judicial practice changed?
The full-scale Russian aggression launched in 2022 pushed the legislator to criminalise the cooperation of Ukrainians with the occupation authorities. Thus, in March 2022, Article 111-1 (“Collaborative activity”) was added to the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Over the three years of existence of Article 111-1 “Collaborative activity” in the Criminal Code of Ukraine (hereinafter – CCU), a rather extensive practice has been developed, which is, at the same time, quite controversial. A systematic research of the issue of liability for collaborationism allows to trace a number of problems in the investigative and judicial practice, some of which are systemic in nature.
This research is aimed at monitoring the new trends in the enforcement of Article 111-1 of the CCU in the period from 15 June to 31 December 2024, which have already been identified in previous periods. A detailed analysis of the verdicts for the last six months of 2024, in comparison with previous periods, allows to assess the formation and consolidation of unified approaches to prosecuting collaborative activity, including the existing practice of the Supreme Court and its impact on solving or deepening the problems described in previous research.
This research was partially prepared with the support of the United States Agency for International Development and the generous support of the American people provided via the Healing & Accountability through Human Rights Activity Project (PravoZahist) The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.
