The objective of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (CC of Ukraine) is to provide legal protection of the rights and freedoms of the human being and citizen, property, public order and public security, the environment and the constitutional order of Ukraine against criminal encroachments and, also, to secure peace and safety of mankind and prevent crime (part 1 of Article 1). To this aim, the Criminal Code defines which socially dangerous acts or omissions count as offenses, and which punishments are to be imposed upon persons who commit them (part 2 of Article 1). This is implemented by holding such a person liable under criminal law. Commission by a person of a socially dangerous act that has the elements of crime defined by CC of Ukraine gives grounds for criminal liability (part 1 of Article 2). Thus, elements of crime (from July 1, 2020 – elements of criminal offense) is one of the main, if not the primary institution of criminal law which “launches” the entire mechanism of implementation of criminal liability and incarnates the fulfilled objectives of criminal law. As it is known, there are four component elements of crime: object, objective side, subject and subjective side, and the presence thereof in the acts of a specific person should always be established to recognize such acts as criminal. If at least one of these elements is absent in the acts of a specific person (in a formal or qualitative form), there is no ground to assert that there is an element of crime in the acts of this person, and thus it is impossible to consider the possibility of holding this person criminally liable. Given this fundamental importance of elements of crime – corpus delicti, its definition, application, and the difficulties arising in this connection, scientific research of this institution always remains not only relevant, but also necessary, as can be seen in many studies by Ukrainian scholars. That is, in the doctrinal sense, the concept of corpus delicti of crime, its elements, features, etc. have the necessary scientific developments. At the same time, there is no legislative providing of the definition of corpus delicti of crime and its elements at the appropriate level. Thus, in the current Criminal Code of Ukraine, there is a legislative definition only for a few elements of crime, and the general definition of the concept of corpus delicti and all of its elements is lacking. In this regard, the article examines this problem and justifies the provisions regarding providing of corpus delicti of crime (from July 1, 2020 – criminal offense) and its elements in CC of Ukraine.

Bibliography

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Edited books

4. Myroshnychenko N, ‘Deiaki problemy Zahalnoi chastyny kryminalnoho prava Ukrainy’ [‘Some Challenging Issues of the General Part of Criminal Law of Ukraine’] v Kozachenko O ta Streltsov Ye (red), Pravovyi vplyv na nepravomirnu povedinku: aktualni hrani [Legal Impact on Illegal Conduct: Current Dimensions] (Ilion 2016) (in Ukrainian).

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Journal articles

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Conference paper

12. Streltsov Ye, ‘Polozhennia kryminalnoho zakonodavstva: polozhennia, yaki potribno vrakhovuvaty’ [‘Provisions of Criminal Legislation: Provisions to Be Taken Into Account’] v Kryminalne pravoporushennia: natsionalnyi ta zarubizhnyi vymiry: materialy Mizhnarodnoi naukovo-praktychnoi konferentsii (m. Odesa, 24 travnia 2019 r.) [Criminal Offense: National and Foreign Dimensions Materials of the International Scientific and Practical Conference (May 24, 2019, Odessa)] (Ie Streltsov ta in red kol, Yurydychna literatura 2019) (in Ukrainian).

Websites

13. ‘Osnovanie ugolovnoj otvetstvennosti’ [‘The Ground for Criminal Liability’] (Zaochnik. com) <https://zaochnik.com/spravochnik/pravo/ugolovnoe-pravo/osnovanie-ugolovnojotvetstven nosti> (accessed: 21.01.2020) (in Russian).