THE PROBLEMS OF CRIMINALIZATION OF THE SIMILAR CRIMES INVOLVING THREATS TO PUBLIC HEALTH (ARTICLE 8 OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONVENTION ON THE COUNTERFEITING OF MEDICAL PRODUCTS AND SIMILAR CRIMES INVOLVING THREATS TO PUBLIC HEALTH)

Abstract

The aim: Medicrime Convention is a first international treaty against counterfeit medical products and similar crimes involving threats to public health. There are problems in criminalization of those acts that are listed in Art. 8 of the Medicrime Convention because the term of "similar crimes" is absent in the current criminal legislation of Ukraine. Materials and methods: The conducted study is based on the analysis of the provisions of the Medicrime Convention, the criminal legislation of Ukraine. The following methods: dialectical method; hermeneutic method; system-and-structural method; comparative-and-law method were used. Results: Comparison of the provisions of the Medicrime Convention allows to state that crimes in its Articles 5-8 that are different from those provided for in Art. 5-7 of this Convention and form independent types of actions, are at least "placing on the market" of medicinal products and medical devices provided in subparagraph "a" of paragraph 1 of Art. 8 and "commercial use of original documents" specified in subparagraph "b" of paragraph 1 of Art. 8. It's an assumption that Art. 5-8 of the Medicrime Convention provide for such independent types of crimes involving threats to public health as: 1) manufacturing of counterfeit medical products, active substances, excipients, parts, materials and accessories as well as medicinal products, medical devices, active substances and excipients; 2) the supplying, the offering to supply, the brokering, the trafficking, the keeping in stock, importing and exporting of counterfeit medical products, active substances, excipients, parts, materials and accessories; 3) the making of false documents or the act of tampering with documents; 4) placing on the market of medicinal products, medical devices; 5) the commercial use of false documents. Conclusions: The term of "similar crimes" in Art. 8 of the Medicrime Convention covers multi-ordinal intentional acts that constitute different types of independent crimes involving threats to public health, as well as special kinds of some of them. These types of crimes are not the same (identical).