To the question of installation or spreading criminal influence under Article 255-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine

Abstract

The article deals with topical issues regarding the changes introduced by the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Criminal Responsibility for Crimes Committed by a Criminal Community" dated June 4, 2020, to the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The Law provides for new norms relating to criminal liability for the activities of organized crime as a special form of complicity. Namely: significant changes have been made to Art. 255 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, as well as criminalized norms provided for by Articles 255-1, 255-2, 255-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This law also provides for criminal liability for new forms and manifestations of organized crime, such as: "criminal community", "thief in law", "criminal influence", "subject of increased criminal influence", "criminal assembly" and others. Today, the genesis of these norms, their definition, interpretation and specification remain problematic issues, since they affect not only the criminal law, but also the criminological characteristics of the criminal's personality, which, in turn, complicates the qualification and differentiation from related types of criminal offenses. To determine the person under Art. 255-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, it is necessary to establish not only mandatory features inherent in the general subject of a criminal offense, but also a more extended range of these features. It is on the basis of these characteristics of the subject of the criminal offense and on the characteristics of the objective party that it is necessary to distinguish between adjacent compounds, which was the focus of the research. An analysis of the subject was carried out according to optional features that are not clearly formulated in the article and require interpretation. The article pays special attention to the concept of "criminal influence" under Art. 255-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. A review of the latest scientific publications on this topic was carried out, as well as a review of judicial practice under Art. 255-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine made it possible to establish one's own vision of the concept of "criminal influence", taking into account the outlined problematic issues. In addition, the article highlights the distinction between the organization or the direct distribution of funds, property or other assets (income from them), as an alternative structural part of the concept of "criminal influence", from the financing of a criminal organization or criminal community.