Article title The Ground for Criminal Liability Requires Legislation Providing
Authors

Doctor of Law, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine,  Honored Worker of Science of Ukraine, Head of the Criminal Law Department National University “Odesa Law Academy” (Odesa, Ukraine) ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4418-1275 streltsov@onua.edu.ua  

 

Ph.D. in Law, Associate Professor, Honored Lawyer of Ukraine, Professor of the Criminal Law Department National University “Odesa Law Academy” (Odesa, Ukraine) crimlaw@onua.edu.ua 

 

Name of magazine Legal journal «Law of Ukraine» (Ukrainian version)
Issue 2/2020
Сторінки [151-163]
DOI https://doi.org/10.33498/louu-2020-02-151
Annotation

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.

 

Keywords ground for criminal liability; concept and elements of corpus delicti of crime (criminal offense); types of intent; concept of double guilt; concept of casus; concept of legal and factual error; legal doctrine
References

Bibliography

Authored books

1. Savchenko A, Motyv i motyvatsiia zlochynu [Motive and Motivation of a Crime] (Atika 2002) (in Ukrainian).

2. Sukhonos Viktor ta Sukhonos Volodymyr, Sklad zlochynu: zakon, teoriia ta praktyka [Corpus Delicti of Crime: Law, Theory and Practice] (Universytetska kryha 2018) (in Ukrainian).

3. Veresha R, Poniattia vyny yak element zmistu kryminalnoho prava Ukrainy [The Concept of Guilt as an Element of the Content of Ukrainian Criminal Law] (Atika 2005) (in Ukrainian).

 

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).

5. Myroshnychenko N, ‘Problemy vyny v kryminalnomu pravi ta zakonodavstvi Ukrainy’ [‘Issues of Guilt in Criminal Law and Legislation of Ukraine’] v Myroshnychenko N ta Streltsov Ye (red), Suchasne kryminalne pravo Ukrainy: naukovi narysy [Modern Criminal Law of Ukraine: Scientific Essays] (Iurydychna literatura 2017) (in Ukrainian).

 

Journal articles

6. Myroshnychenko N, ‘Propozytsii shchodo vdoskonalennia Kryminalnoho kodeksu Ukrainy’ [‘Proposals to Improve the Criminal Code of Ukraine’] (2015) 5 Visnyk Pivdennoho rehionalnoho tsentru Natsionalnoi akademii pravovykh nauk Ukrainy 176–82 (in Ukrainian).

7. Panov N, ‘Ugolovnaja otvetstvennost’: ponjatie, principy, osnovanie’ [‘Criminal Liability: Concept, Principles, and Ground’] (2013) 5 Ezhegodnik ugolovnogo prava 543–56 (in Russian). 8. Streltsov Ye, ‘Deiaki rozdumy pro pravovu sutnist ta sotsialni zavdannia kryminalnoho prava’ [‘Some Reflections on the Legal Nature and Social Objectives of Criminal Law’] (2010) 9 Pravo Ukrainy 102–9 (in Ukrainian).

9. Streltsov Ye, ‘Kryminalno-pravova okhorona vlasnosti’ [‘Property Protection under Criminal Law’] (2011) 5 Pravo Ukrainy 87–95 (in Ukrainian).

10. Streltsov Ye, ‘Skladni protsesy reformuvannia kryminalnoho prava Ukrainy’ [‘Complex Processes of Criminal Law Reform in Ukraine’] (2018) 5 Visnyk Pivdennoho rehionalnoho tsentru Natsionalnoi akademii pravovykh nauk Ukrainy 82–91 (in Ukrainian).

11. Veresha R, ‘Pomylka v kryminalnomu pravi: poniattia ta osnovni vydy’ [‘Error in Criminal Law: Concept and Main Types’] (2005) 5 Pidpryiemnytstvo, hospodarstvo, pravo 35–42 (in Ukrainian).

 

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).

 

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