Current issues of criminal liability for terrorism training

The article discusses legislative novelties in the part concerning criminal liability for undergoing terrorist training. Thus, the Law of Ukraine «On Amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of Ukraine in Connection with the Ratification of the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, as well as to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Improving the Fight against Terrorism» of March 21, 2023, No. 2997-IX Art. 258-4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine has undergone significant changes. Based on the analysis of objective and subjective signs of the corpus delicti provided for in Art. 258-4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine «Assistance to the commission of a terrorist act, training in terrorism», we have made the following conclusions regarding the training of terrorism as one of the forms of a socially dangerous act. First, terrorism training should be seen as a process, not an outcome. Such an approach will mean that the moment of the end of the criminal offense will be the very fact of the beginning of training. Terrorist training can only be done with direct intent. This means that the person is aware of the goals for which he or she has started his or her studies. In this context, terrorism training is greater in scope than related criminal offences. It is the subjective side that makes it possible to distinguish the training of terrorism from related socially dangerous acts. First of all, we are talking about preparing to commit a terrorist act. Thus, it is established that preparation for terrorist training includes not only preparation for the commission of a terrorist act, but also cases that are not related to a specific manifestation of a terrorist act. The authors disclosed other features that distinguish criminal acts related to terrorist training. This work also discloses the legislative shortcomings of the formulation of the conditions for exemption from criminal liability of a person who voluntarily refused further criminally illegal activity and reported it to a law enforcement agency. Ways to improve the legal norm in this part are proposed.