Restrictions and prohibitions as a type of administrative coercion under the legal regime of martial law
Authors: Ostapenko Oleksii 
Published: August 2024

Prevention as a form of state coercion is one of the most important means of ensuring public order and security in Ukraine. The use of preventive restrictive measures in the conditions of the legal regime of martial law is provided for by the norms of the Constitution of Ukraine (Article 64) and other regulatory and legal acts [1]. Preventive restrictive measures are constituent elements of state coercion, which include termination, restoration of administrative and procedural support, and administrative responsibility. The word “coercion” means the necessity to act in a certain way even if you are unwilling to do that, being influenced by someone or something. [2, p.543]. In our case, we are considering the administrative and legal influence of the state, which, under the conditions of martial law, forces people who do not respond to its demands and violate restrictions and prohibitions that operate on the territory of the country. It is worth agreeing with the opinion of V.V. Gordeev. V.K. Kolpakova, A. T. Komzyuk, I. M. Sopilko and other scientists that the state embodies power, the use of which in relation to violators can be considered as violence [3, p. 228]. At the same time, it is worth considering the existence of the “preventive coercion” as one of the methods of legal influence on a subordinate subject, which is used by competent state bodies (officials) in the event of a violation of established legal norms to stop the relevant illegal activity or to prevent such a violation, as well as ensuring that the culprit is brought to justice [4, p. 34]. As we can see, the concept of coercion does not include its application to subjects (natural and legal entities) who are not subordinated to the authority of the subject, which to some extent indicates the need for a broader interpretation of the meaning of this concept. The use of these means is a peculiar reaction of the state to a possible commission or fact of violation of the restrictions acting under the conditions of the legal regime of martial law. It should be mentioned that the restrictions on the duration of the legal regime of martial law put into effect by the Decree of the President of Ukraine (from February 24, 2022) have socio-political and social significance because they are aimed at strengthening law and order in the state. The mandatory content of restrictions, which are of a preventive nature in the conditions of martial law and in the territory of its operation, can be conditionally divided into: 1) measures of administrative coercion that limit the personal inviolability of citizens. These include: verification of documents certifying the identity of a citizen, inspection of a person and his belongings, administrative detention, administrative expulsion of foreign citizens outside Ukraine or internment of citizens of a state that is at war with Ukraine. 2) measures of administrative coercion that limit the property rights of citizens. These include: confiscation of property and other material assets (weapons, ammunition, poisonous substances, vehicles) for the needs of the country's defence, followed by their compensation. Citizens may be also forced to work. 3) measures of administrative coercion that limit the political activity of citizens. This concerns the suspension of the activities of public national and foreign organizations, the creation of censorship bodies to control the activities of the mass media, as well as other constitutional restrictions on the citizens’ political rights and freedoms.