Counteracting Illegal Immigration to Poland on the Polish-Ukrainian Border in 2009-2019

Illegal migration is one of the most frequently committed border crimes. The cooperation of states and specialized services in the field of combating and counteracting illegal migration is an expression of the implementation of the overriding goal, which is the security of the state and its citizens. As shown by the statistics of the Border Guard, the Polish-Ukrainian border is characterized by the greatest personal traffic. In 2009-2019, most illegal immigration was recorded on this section of the border. The article discusses the scale and scope of the phenomenon of illegal immigration on the Polish-Ukrainian border, and highlights the cooperation of services and organizations competent in this field.

The article touches upon a set of issues related to the cross-border crime definition and features. Cross-border crime can be defined as a criminal-legal, criminological and criminalist concept. The author’s approach is that it is exactly criminal-legal dimension of this problem that is primary one. A criminal-legal understanding of cross-border crimes is suggested. It is analyzed by comparing the provisions of a number of international and national acts in the context of cross-boundary as a legal concept and characteristics of offences. There is emphasized that cross-border crimes constitute a relatively stable set of crimes that threaten the interests of states in the sphere of border and national security. The cross-border crimes objective features are considered. They include public interests, offender’s modus operandi, the victim, items transferred across the border. It is concluded that the cross-boundary nature in the criminal law of Ukraine stems from the peculiarities of the offender’s actions. The classification of crimes into unconditionally and conditionally cross-border is suggested. Such a division is associated with the obligatory/optional nature of such an objective feature as border crossing.