Special Confiscation as a Measure of Criminal Law under Ukrainian Legislation

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of special confiscation as a measure of criminal law, other than punishment, which was introduced into the legislation of Ukraine on the way of transformation and reformation of the institution of confiscation of property. The study found that the emergence of special confiscation was dictated primarily by Ukraine's choice of European integration and the need to fulfil its obligations to bring domestic criminal law in line with European standards and international legal practice in combating crime. 
 
 The article notes that today the confiscation of property remains one of the most controversial measures of criminal law in both domestic and foreign law. Traditionally, in the criminal law of Ukraine, this measure played the role of one of the types of punishment. However, at the present stage of development of criminal law, the legal regulation of forced confiscation of property has undergone significant changes. Currently, this is not only a form of criminal liability, but also different from the latter, another measure of criminal law, which manifests itself in three forms, namely as: 1) special confiscation of property of an individual; 2) confiscation of property of a legal entity; 3) special confiscation of property in respect of a legal entity.
 
 The article analyzes the provisions of the current criminal legislation of Ukraine on the regulation of special confiscation as another measure of criminal law and considers the main problematic aspects of this institution in the doctrine of criminal law of Ukraine. 
 
 The correlation between general confiscation and special confiscation was revealed in the article. The conclusion was drawn that these two types of confiscations are different in legal nature. Confiscation of property is a type of additional punishment, and special confiscation of property is an independent type of other measures of a criminal law nature. The main difference between the investigated institutions is that their application seizes property of different nature, namely: the subject of confiscation of property is property that belongs to the convict on the right of ownership, and in the case of special confiscation, property related to the commission of a crime is subject to confiscation.