Law enforcement function of customs authorities of Ukraine in wartime: challenges and prospects for development

The article analyzes the main problems of implementing the protective (law enforcement) function by customs authorities of Ukraine during the legal regime of martial law and the prospects for its development. Modern scientific approaches to defining the law enforcement function of customs authorities and international practice of its role in the activities of customs administrations are studied. The ignoring of the specifics of the functioning of customs authorities of Ukraine, which is not limited to the implementation of purely fiscal tasks, which led to the destruction of key areas of their activity – protective and regulatory, is critically assessed. The main problems of implementing the law enforcement function of Ukrainian customs are identified, which consist in the ambiguous regulatory and legal regulation of the law enforcement status of customs authorities, excessive fiscal orientation of customs activities, and also the violation of the principles of independence and autonomy of customs, and the exclusivity of its powers. The existence of a full-fledged law enforcement status of the customs authorities of enemy states (russia and belarus), the customs authorities of self-proclaimed republics in the occupied Ukrainian territories, has been established, which confirms the need to provide the Ukrainian customs with the appropriate status in the future of potential bordering with these states and territories. Based on the research conducted, it is proposed to legally enshrine the right of the customs authorities of Ukraine to carry out operational and investigative activities and conduct pre-trial investigations of crimes in cases of smuggling, and in cases of detection of illegal activities of customs officials. A proposal is substantiated to change the configuration of criminal prosecution based on the concentration of measures to detect smuggling and violations of customs rules, documenting and investigation of the facts of such crimes and offenses within the competence of one specialized state body - the State Customs Service of Ukraine. It is also proposed to create a special investigative department within the structure of the units for combating smuggling and violations of customs rules of the central apparatus and territorial bodies of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, authorized to carry out operational and investigative activities. Separately, the need to introduce non-fiscal criteria for assessing the effectiveness of the implementation of the protective (law enforcement) function of customs authorities is emphasized.