QUALIFICATION OF CRIMINAL OFFENSES: THE PROBLEM OF DEFINITION AND METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE RESEARCH

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the qualification of criminal offenses. It has been established that this concept is used in criminal and criminal procedural legislation, but there is no formal definition of it. In the science of criminal law, there are different approaches to understanding the concept of qualifications. Based on the analysis of these approaches, the definition of the qualification of criminal offenses has been formulated. According to the author, the qualification of criminal offenses is a process of knowledge and evaluation by the authorized subject of the factual features of a socially dangerous act, isolation of legally significant ones and establishing their compliance with the legal features of a particular corpus delicti of criminal offense, including its distinction from other criminal offenses and from acts that are not criminally illegal, as a result of which the conclusion on the criminal law norm to be applied is substantiated and documented. The main methodological aspects of the study of the qualification of criminal offenses, such as praxeological, epistemological, axiological, hermeneutical, logical, practical, are highlighted. From the point of view of praxeology, the qualification of criminal offenses is considered as a special kind of human, and in particular legal, activity. In the epistemological aspect, the qualification of criminal offenses is the cognitive activity of the law enforcer. In the axiological aspect in the process of qualification the assessment of factual signs and the committed act as a whole is carried out, and also in the presence of estimation concepts in criminal law their maintenance is defined. The hermeneutic aspect of the study of the qualification of criminal offenses is to study the understanding and interpretation of criminal law. The comparison of the factual features of the committed act and the features of the specific composition of the criminal offense should be carried out using the laws, forms and methods of logic. The practical aspect of the study of the qualification of criminal offenses covers the material and procedural problems of accuracy, correctness of qualification in terms of content and form. It is concluded that the study of these aspects contributes to a deeper understanding of the concept under study. The multidimensional approach to the qualification of criminal offenses contributes to the further comprehensive development of qualification rules and substantiation of proposals for improving the practice of applying the criminal law.