ON THE PROSPECTS OF IMPROVING THE LEGISLATIVE DESCRIPTION OF THE SIGNS OF THE SUBJECT OF THE CRIME PROVIDED FOR IN ART. 245 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article is devoted to a critical understanding of the used in Art. 245 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine approach to determining the features of the subject of this crime, studying the relevant experience of foreign countries, on the basis of which scientifically based recommendations are formulated aimed at improving the relevant provisions of the current domestic criminal legislation. In particular, the work proved that in Art. 245 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine justifiably provides for responsibility for the destruction or damage of not only forest areas, but also other types of vegetation, which is explained, on the one hand, by the obvious social danger of these actions, and, on the other, by the fact that they are different from the considered prohibition of the current national criminal law the legislation does not allow to give a proper criminal-legal evaluation of these manifestations. It is noted that there are no grounds for limiting the range of objects of the analyzed crime to only those green spaces that are located outside populated areas and along railways, since the degree of violation of the corresponding object of criminal law protection does not depend on the location and legal status (belonging to the forest fund) of the objects, but environmental damage that can be caused by their destruction or damage by fire. Because of this, in the improved Art. 245 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, it is proposed to point out any green spaces, in particular those located within the boundaries of settlements (parks, gardens, public squares, boulevards, etc.) and not classified as forests in the established order. It is also argued, in particular with reference to the relevant provisions of foreign criminal legislation, that in the improved version of the analyzed norm it should be about the destruction of any vegetation (as well as its remains) regardless of the place of such actions, and not only on agricultural land. At the end of the article, promising directions of research in the relevant field are defined.