Problems Of Law Enforcement Research Articles

Problems of law enforcement in criminal cases on necessary defense in Russia: analysis of prosecutorial tendency and insufficient consideration of judicial decisions of higher instances

Problems of law enforcement in criminal cases on necessary defense in Russia: analysis of prosecutorial tendency and insufficient consideration of judicial decisions of higher instances

Features of Criminal Procedural Evidence in the Context of Digitalization

One of the important national development goals of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030 is the achievement of digital transformation, which objectively led to the expansion of the use of electronic information in criminal procedural evidence, which, however, is accompanied by a number of theoretical, legal and law enforcement problems. In the theory of criminal procedure law, acute discussions continue on the fundamental problems of improving criminal procedure evidence in the context of the further development of modern digital platforms and various types of technologies. The purpose of the study is to develop scientifically sound and practically significant recommendations aimed at ensuring criminal procedural evidence in the context of digitalization. Research objectives: analysis of the impact of ongoing digitalization processes on the system of criminal procedure law, law-making and law enforcement activities related to evidence; identification of promising areas for the transformation of criminal procedure evidence, including the admissibility of obtaining evidence using artificial intelligence technologies. Research methodology: dialectical method of cognition, general scientific methods of abstraction, analysis and synthesis, special legal methods (comparative legal, logical legal, etc.). Conclusion. Promising areas of transformation of criminal procedural evidence are: a) expanding the possibilities of accessing technological integrated platforms that facilitate obtaining the necessary data in the infrastructure of a single information space; b) changing existing ideas about the criminal procedure form, which contradicts modern methods of obtaining evidentiary information; c) the dynamic introduction of electronic document management in criminal proceedings; d) further legal regulation of the use of electronic evidence in proving the guilt (innocence) of a person in committing a criminal act, as well as other circumstances related to a criminal case; e) expanding the range of investigative actions that allow more productively obtaining evidentiary information in electronic format; f) specifying the competence and powers of subjects of criminal law procedural evidence. Conceptually, it is necessary to determine the limits of the use of artificial intelligence in the preparation and adoption of criminal procedural decisions and in proving facts in a criminal case).

Социологическое обеспечение деятельности органов внутренних дел

Modern realities of the information society actualize the problem of sociological support for the activities of Internal affairs bodies, since they oblige the latter to pay maximum attention to the issues of searching, analyzing and using various, including sociological, information, which today has turned from an auxiliary tool into the main component of the organization’s activities. As for representatives of other areas of government regulation, the objective field of activity of heads of internal affairs bodies includes a huge number of social aspects that require continuous study and analysis. Moreover, the specificity of the sphere of regulation of internal affairs is determined primarily by its social context, which requires, in most cases, sociological tools corresponding to it. Under these conditions, ignoring or reducing the importance of the role of sociological knowledge deprives the possibility of high-quality information and analytical support for management activities, which is the key to an effective solution to a huge range of emerging law enforcement problems. The article analyzes current trends in sociological support for the activities of internal affairs bodies and its current problematic state, mainly from the position of production in educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

THE LEGAL NATURE OF THE JOINT WILL OF THE SPOUSES

This article examines the peculiarity and legal nature of the joint will of spouses (joint will) in Russian law and modern legal doctrine. The author explores the problem of the legal characteristics of the joint will of spouses, analyzes the existing positions in the legal literature concerning the concept of joint will of spouses. Within the framework of this article, the author defines the problem of the ambiguity of the regulatory legal regulation of the joint will of spouses in domestic legislation and comes to conclusions about the correlation of problems of substantive law concerning the legal characteristics of the joint will of spouses with potential law enforcement problems.

Defects in the Mechanism of Prevention of Administrative Offenses in the Context of the Reform of Control and Supervisory Activities

The legislation on administrative responsibility establishes a special mechanism for the prevention of administrative offenses by introducing a submission on the elimination of the causes of administrative offenses and the conditions for their commission. The relevance of scientific understanding of this mechanism and assessing its relationship with other administrative-law preventive measures is dictated by the planned reform of administrative legislation, as well as by the fact that some issues related to the implementation of this mechanism have not been unambiguously resolved in statutes, law enforcement practice and doctrine. The purpose of the study is to identify regulatory and law enforcement problems of the mechanism for the prevention of administrative offenses in order to determine the prospects for its improvement, including taking into account the reform of control and supervisory activities. The objectives of the study include: analysis of the provisions of legislation defining the procedure for making the specified submission and its content; study of relevant law enforcement practice; determination of the place of the mechanism in question in the system of measures to prevent violations of regulatory requirements. Research methods: general scientific (analysis, synthesis, system method) and special (formal legal, comparative legal) methods. Much attention was paid to the analysis of the approaches developed in law enforcement practice, which are illustrated by specific examples. The conducted research has demonstrated that the mechanism for the prevention of administrative offenses provided for by the legislation on administrative responsibility is characterized by noticeable defects (uncertainty of the content of the submission, arbitrary choice of its addressees, etc.), which are generated by imperfect statutory regulation, contradictory law enforcement practice, as well as the lack of the necessary theoretical basis. In terms of assessing compliance with mandatory requirements, this mechanism essentially competes with preventive measures enshrined in the control and supervisory regulation. In this regard, in order to optimize the system of administrative enforcement measures, it is proposed to exclude the possibility of introducing a submission on the elimination of the causes of an administrative offense and the conditions for its commission to persons whose activities are evaluated within the framework of control and supervisory activity.

Enforcement of Law Against Corporations That Commit Environmental Crime and Transnational Crime

Objective: This research wants to explore the following. Analysis of Environmental Crime as a Transnational Crime Involving Corporations and Analysis of Law Enforcement Problems Regarding Company Responsibility as Perpetrators of Environmental Crime. Methodology: This research is a normative legal research based on empirical cases using a statutory approach. Techniques for obtaining through Normative law by researching legal material, primary, secondary legal material, and also tertiary legal material. In empirical legal research, data collection techniques exist 2 (two) techniques that can be used, either individually or together. An interview is a direct question-and-answer session between researchers and respondents or sources for getting information. Results: The results of this research show that the problems in law enforcement against corporations in environmental crimes can be grouped as follows: There is no legal provision that regulates the definition of corporations, or sanctions for corporations that commit environmental crimes; Law enforcement is still offender oriented without any legal protection for victims; Weak evidence and lack of expert witnesses. Document study is a method of collecting data use and study documentation or documents in the form of archives, notes, and tables, places used as research. Conclusion: Environmental crime is a transnational crime because most environmental crimes often involve corporations. Legal regulations for environmental crimes against corporations are still very difficult to implement and encounter various problems. The problem of law enforcement against corporations can be grouped with legal provisions governing corporations, for corporations that commit environmental crimes, due to weak evidence and a lack of expert witnesses.

Methods of protection and discretionary powers in administrative jurisdiction: problems of law enforcement

The article is devoted to the problems of the court’s discretionary powers in selected defenses that do not inform the law and are more effective. The article analyzes the peculiarities of the court going beyond the legal requirements and choosing other methods of protection than those requested by the requester. The purpose of the article is to explain the content and inter- judicial discretion in the context of the principle of the rule of law when deciding on the court’s choice of other ways of protecting rights and interests that are not legally binding and that are more effective.
 The article draws attention to the fact that the actual issue of judicial practice remains the problem of choosing methods of protection other than those requested by the person whose right has been violated. At the same time, it should be noted that the CAS of Ukraine and other legislation do not establish such limits. It is noted that when going beyond the limits of claims and choosing other methods of protection, the court must comply with the principles and international standards of judicial proceedings, the requirements of material and procedural law, the specifics of a specific case, put forward claims and their justification, administrative-legal status and powers of response, position the plaintiff , moral norms and other factors. At the same time, the administrative court must be guided by the principle of the rule of law, proceed from the goals and objectives of administrative proceedings, use judicial practice, reflect the analogy of the law or the analogy of the law. To conclude that the methods of protection of the subjective rights and interests of individuals in administrative proceedings are differentiated in the material- legal (consolidation in the law) and procedural component (judicial discretion). At the same time, applying judicial discretion and making discretionary decisions of the judge, guided by the rule of law, his reasoned choice between alternative types of ways to protect the violated subjective right or interest.

«Trading in influence» or «abuse of influence» is a problem of qualification

The article analyzes the legislative tools designed to combat corruption, Art. 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine «Abuse of influence» occupies a special place. On the one hand, this prohibition is actively demanded in practice, on the other hand, its inclusion in the Criminal Code increased the casuistic nature of the latter, partially created an excess of legislative description of criminal behavior related to corruption, and due to non-compliance in this case with the principle of legal certainty, seriously complicated the application of Criminal Law of Ukraine in practice.
 The criminal offense provided for in Art. 369-2 «Abuse of influence» of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is quite difficult to understand and apply. In addition, there are certain problems with the proper criminal-legal qualification of criminal behavior at the junction of such corruption components of criminal offenses as Art. 369-2 and Art. 368 «Acceptance of an offer, promise or receipt of an illegal benefit by an official», Art. 368-3 «Bribery of an official of a legal entity of private law, regardless of the organizational and legal form», Art. 368-4 «Bribery of a person providing public services» of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
 The norm of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is the result of the implementation of Article 12 of the Criminal Convention of the Council of Europe on the fight against corruption and Art. 18 of the UN Convention against Corruption. However, this implementation is far from perfect, which always creates problems for law enforcement.
 The origin of the concept of «abuse of influence» is interesting. Most likely, it is the fruit of creativity of the Ukrainian legislator. After all, the concept of «trading in influence» is used in international acts, which in translation means trading in influence, but not abuse.
 Thus, the specified composition of the criminal offense was permanently problematic in qualification and, accordingly, in understanding. For a long time, difficulties arose with the application of the note, which has lost its validity, and, accordingly, with the definition of the person authorized to perform the functions of the state. And although this problem was later settled by the legislator, the question of the nature of the influence still remains debatable: whether it must necessarily be connected with the official position or whether it is possible to use friendly, family and other ties - the appropriateness of fixing as a separate qualifying sign of extortion, as well as the type of subjects of the specified crime.

Personal Data in the Mechanism of Criminal Law Protection

Relevance. Ensuring the effective protection of an individual's personal data is of high and enduring importance. Despite the efforts made, in Russia the situation in this regard is deteriorating every year more and more incidents with the leakage of personal data of millions of citizens occur. All this not only generates distrust in the efforts of the state to build a digital economy and e-government, but also acts as a powerful determinant of a number of other crimes (primarily against property).The purpose is to obtain new scientific knowledge about the features, problems and prospects of the criminal law protection of personal data of an individual.The objectives of the study is to identify the problems of implementing the mechanism of criminal law protection of personal data of citizens.Methodology. The methodological base of the research is made up of general scientific and particular scientific methods of cognition of reality, such as analysis, synthesis, induction, formal-legal, abstract-logical and others.Results. In the course of the study, statistical data on the dynamics of infringement on personal data in Russia, law enforcement practice available in the public domain, doctrinal sources and analytical materials were analyzed, interviews were conducted with specialists. Taken together, this made it possible to formulate original provisions that develop the domestic theory of criminal law, to develop recommendations aimed at overcoming the problems of law enforcement in cases of infringement of personal data.Conclusions. Digitalization has led to an increase in social tolerance for violations in the field of inviolability of personal data and privacy. It seems promising to implement a model of differentiation of criminal liability depending on the number of victims of the disclosure of personal data. The mechanism of criminal law protection requires improvement in terms of the development of biometric data technologies. The significance of such personal information requires a differentiated approach to establishing responsibility for illegal actions in relation to biometrics.

Criminalization as an element of criminal law policy in the field of fair competition protection

The object of the study is the criminal law policy in the field of protection of fair competition, namely the criminalization of violations of antimonopoly legislation as its element. The subject of the study is normative legal acts providing for the protection of fair competition, legal acts justifying the priority directions of modern criminal law policy in the field of competition protection, principles of criminalization, statistical data of the antimonopoly authority and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, as well as scientific research, including dissertations, scientific publications on criminal law policy in general, issues criminalization, general theoretical criminal law phenomena, criminal liability for certain types of crimes. The purpose of the work is to study the criminalization of violations of antimonopoly legislation, taking into account the principles of criminalization developed in science in order to justify the introduction of a criminal law ban on their commission. The research methodology is based on general scientific and private scientific methods: system analysis, logical, comparative, formal dogmatic, historical methods, classification method. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that the analysis of the set of criminalization principles made it possible to establish the validity of criminalization of anticompetitive acts, on the basis of an economic approach, to conclude about the ratio of public danger of types of anticompetitive acts, potentially identical risks that they carry for the economic security of the country; by analyzing the practice of applying criminal law norms in the activities of law enforcement agencies, it was possible to identify the problems of law-making and law enforcement, which had not previously been carried out in the science of criminal law. The findings can be especially useful in legislative, scientific and educational activities. The result of the work is a conclusion about the validity of criminalization of anti–competitive acts, the need to improve the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, taking into account the prohibitions of a special law - the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition". At the same time, it was concluded that there are problems both in lawmaking and in law enforcement, which requires changing the relevant provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in order to increase the effectiveness of countering anti-competitive crimes.

Prohibition of the glorification of the crimes condemned by the verdict of the International Military Tribunal of the European Axis Countries: problems of interpretation and law enforcement

The subject of this study is the criminal law prohibition of the approval of crimes condemned by the verdict of the International Military Tribunal of the European Axis countries. This act of glorifying of such crimes is an element of the objective side of the corpus delicti provided for in Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The methodology of the research consists of such methods as formal-legal, logical, systematic, as well as the method of analysis. The author emphasizes the importance of considering the aspects of the qualification of this act in the context of the development of the information society, since due to the active processes of digitalization, the present crime is often committed in the Internet environment. Special attention is paid to such a feature of the subjective side of the crime as its goal: the author argues about the need to consolidate the goal as a constructive feature of the subjective side of the considered corpus delicti. The novelty of this study lies in the fact that this norm is analyzed in relation to the constitutional principle of freedom of speech. The author comes to the conclusion that in this matter it is advisable to be guided by part 3 of Article 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, according to which constitutional rights and freedoms can be restricted only to the extent necessary to protect the constitutional foundations and ensure the security of the state.

Legal bases of self-protection of labor rights by employees

The article examines the place of self-protection of labor rights by employees in Russian labor law. Particular attention is paid to the isolation of the institute of self- protection from the basic principles of labor law, which entails a number of law enforcement problems. In this regard, proposals are being put forward for the harmonization and development of this method of protecting employees’ labor rights.

On the Problems of Counteracting Insurance Fraud

Insurance fraud is a wide-spread crime in Russia. This type of publicly dangerous behavior is characterized by a variety of methods, forces and means. The specialists of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation conducted research aimed at identifying gaps in the normative legal regulation and other factors contributing to unlawful practices in the insurance market, and at developing countermeasures. The research made it possible to determine the most common ways of performing insurance fraud, to highlight modern trends of using cutting-edge technologies, a trend for the organized forms of committing criminal actions, and to identify key factors responsible for the insufficiently effective policy of counteracting insurance fraud. The latter include: problems of law enforcement, including those connected with the limited opportunities for the insurance companies to obtain necessary information; discrepancy between the time limit set for the government bodies to provide information at the request of an insurance company and the established time limit of making a decision regarding an insured event; factual lack of interest from the law enforcement bodies in either accepting documents for further examination and making a decision on the initiation of a criminal case, or in collecting the evidentiary basis through their own efforts; lenient legislation against insurance fraudsters, and an opportunity to terminate criminal prosecution at the stages of inquiry, investigation or court proceedings provided by it. The research results allowed the authors to formulate some suggestions on amendments to the legislation of the Russian Federation aimed at suppressing fraudulent actions at the insurance market, as well as other initiatives of organizational, institutional, information character.

Replacing the Unserved Part of the Punishment with a Milder Type of Punishment: The Practice of Application and Ways to Improve

Replacing the unserved part of the sentence with a milder type of punishment as a type of early release from further serving a sentence is relevant in the context of the humanization of domestic criminal and penitentiary policy, as well as in demand by modern judicial practice. This institution performs a number of important tasks to correct and stimulate the law-abiding behavior of convicts, which causes interest in the identified problems of law enforcement of its norms and the search for ways to solve them. The article uses the results of a sociological study conducted by the author from January to May 2023. The aim of the work is to study the practice of applying the replacement of the unserved part of the punishment with a milder type of punishment and to determine ways to improve it. The methodological basis of the study was the empirical method, the statistical method, the comparative legal method, the method of interpretation of legal norms, the methods of formal and dialectical logic. Based on the analysis of scientific literature, the doctrinal positions of scientists, the current regulatory framework, the criminal legislation of foreign countries, statistical data, materials of judicial practice, the results of a sociological study conducted by the author, specific ways are proposed to improve the replacement of the unserved part of the punishment with a milder type of punishment, including additions and amendments to Art. 80 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Solution of Disputes in Civil Relations Involving a Foreign Element: Law Enforcement Problems

Solution of Disputes in Civil Relations Involving a Foreign Element: Law Enforcement Problems

Всероссийская научно-практическая конференция «Введение пробации в Российской Федерации: взаимодействие государственных органов и общественных организаций» (10 марта 2023 года)

On March 10, 2023, the All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference “Introduction of Probation in the Russian Federation: Interaction of state bodies and public organizations” was held on the basis of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. It was dedicated to the Federal Law «On Probation in the Russian Federation», adopted on February 6, 2023. The Academy of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia and the St. Petersburg Theological Academy also co-organized this event. A feature of the event was a wide range of analyzed law enforcement, legal and theoretical problems that already take place depending on the specifics of various regions of our country, and will also arise in the near future in the interaction of state bodies and public organizations in the context of the use of all types of probation (penitentiary, executive and post-penitentiary).

Involvement of Prosecution Authorities in the Judicial Review of Cases on Challenging of Acts of Prosecutor's Response: Problems of Law Enforcement in Terms of Determination of the Fact of Interference of the Prosecutor's Office with Business Activities

Involvement of Prosecution Authorities in the Judicial Review of Cases on Challenging of Acts of Prosecutor's Response: Problems of Law Enforcement in Terms of Determination of the Fact of Interference of the Prosecutor's Office with Business Activities

An Individual as a Foreign Agent: The Legal Regulation

Foreign interference in Russia’s internal political processes is almost always disguised as the constitutional right of citizens to ideological diversity, forming public opinion, provoking panic, as well as influencing the attitude of society towards governmental authorities. The influence of individuals who form public opinion on the basis of their recognition and pseudo-authority has significantly increased. A large-scale spread of social networks has caused a dramatic increase in the popularity of artists, musicians, public figures, whose statements can encourage society to make certain decisions. The study is conducted in order to identify signs of foreign influence, as well as criteria for classifying individuals as foreign agents. Based on a comparative analysis of the legislation on foreign agents in Russia and the United States, the authors establish the conditions for the need to restrict the constitutional rights of citizens in order to maintain a balance of private and public interests. In the preparation of the article, formal and logical methods were used, as a result of which the authors analyze socio-legal phenomena that allowed to identify the relationship between increased foreign influence and consolidation of domestic legislation on foreign agents as a response. The authors come to the conclusion that in order for an individual to be acknowledged as a foreign agent under Russian law, three elements are needed: the presence of foreign influence, the participation of an individual in political activity and direct or indirect influence on state bodies or state policy. At the same time, the main problem of law enforcement is the distinction between real foreign agents and unpatriotic citizens who actively oppose the policy of the state, which can be used «blindly». In this regard, a wide application of the provisions of the Law on Foreign Agents is justified, and the assignment of the status of a foreign agent is subject to individualization.

LEGAL REGULATION OF ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE FUEL AND ENERGY SECTOR

The article analyzes the doctrinal foundations of technological connection as an institution of energy legislation, as well as its main features and problems of law enforcement. At the same time, the multidimensional nature of this institution is emphasized, in particular, including technological, economic and legal aspects. The expediency of legislative consolidation of the right of access to energy infrastructure for consumers of energy and energy resources, which must be distinguished from factual (technological) actions aimed at its implementation, is shown. The possible cases of denial of access to technological infrastructure and their consequences are analyzed, the need for regulation of such consequences for network and resource transportation organizations is shown. From the doctrinal and law enforcement positions, the question of the legal nature of the technological connection agreement is investigated, while the impossibility of its legal qualification as a sui generis contract is shown. The legal qualification of the contract for technological connection is related to the issue of the customer’s right to unilaterally refuse to execute the contract for technological connection, which is an important element of its legal status. When studying the issue of alienation of the right to the connected capacity, it is concluded that its alienation is permissible, provided that mechanisms are created to prevent abuse of the right in this area.

Monitoring of use in court decisions the concept-category to vehicle of tax criminal offences

The article assesses the compliance of the conceptual and categorical apparatus of tax criminal offences with court decisions in criminal proceedings on these offences. In particular, court decisions in criminal proceedings on tax evasion and duties (mandatory payments) over the past three years, issued by the courts of first instance and appellate courts, as well as legal positions of the Supreme Court were analysed. The tendency of unjustified reduction of attention to tax criminal offences by law enforcement authorities was revealed, which is manifested in the lack of explanatory materials and recommendations for court proceedings, as well as by lawmakers. The article points out theoretical problems related to the lack of a common understanding of concepts and terminology; regulatory and legal problems related to the ambiguity of criminal, criminal procedure and tax legislation; law enforcement problems caused by the complexity of proceedings in cases of tax offences and unequal interpretation of laws. The author’s vision of the ways to improve the use of the conceptual and categorical apparatus of tax criminal offences in court decisions is expressed. In particular, this concerns: the development of theoretical and methodological foundations of cross-sectoral terminology; consistency in the interpretation of concepts and categories of tax, criminal, and criminal procedure law; elimination of conflicts in cross-sectoral legal regulation; and raising the awareness of judges in the tax area (specialisation in tax cases in local courts (in particular, in administrative and criminal cases related to taxation)); the development of criteria for the quality of court decisions and the introduction of disciplinary liability of judges for systematically passing unmotivated decisions cancelled by a higher court; updating research on the quality of court decisions in criminal proceedings of all court instances in the context of criminal offences in the field of taxation.