Prohibition Law Research Articles

Социальный спрос на уголовно-правовую охрану исторического и культурного наследия как фактор, оказывающий влияние на уголовно-правовую политику в указанной сфере

The article is devoted to the social demand for criminal law protection of historical and cultural heritage, which, in systemic unity with other factors listed in the publication, has had and continues to have a direct impact on criminal law policy in this area. When revealing the content side of social demand, the author suggests using the term historical and cultural complementarity. Thanks to him, a social assessment of existing criminal law prohibitions can be given, the contradictory attitude of the law enforcement officer to the protection of historical and cultural monuments and cultural values can be explained. Using the example of criminalization of illegal search and seizure of archaeological objects from places of occurrence (art. 2432 of the Criminal code), attention is drawn to the lack of social demand for legal regulation of the activities of persons using special technical search tools (metal detectors) and engaged in illegal search for archaeological objects.

Аксиологические основы уголовно-правовых запретов

Аксиологические основы уголовно-правовых запретов

Causes Of Rising Drug Trafficking In India And Ways To Stop Drug Trafficking

Abstract Drug trafficking is the worldwide practice of distributing drugs and other substances which are legally banned under narcotics and associated laws. It includes the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale of controlled substances. In India, the use of drugs in society especially among the younger generation has increased in the past decade and continuous to increase. This has direct and hidden effects on the future growth of the country. This paper discusses the problem of drug trafficking in India, their entry inside the country through the country's border and the various drugs which are seized in the country. It also discussed on how the investigation of drug-related cases can be improved by implementing different approaches to reduce the illegal trade of drugs. Drug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. UNODC is continuously monitoring and researching global illicit drug markets in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their dynamics. The consequences of drug abuse can never be overemphasized as it has birthed a lot of problems not only in family but in the nation as well as the international community. Some medical issues associated with drug abuse include – mental disorder, liver cirrhosis, lethargy, irritability, heart disorders, among others. Studies also reveal that drug addiction contributes largely to social consequences such as internet fraud, gang formation, disruption of normal educational activities, cultism, violence, armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, sexual abuse, reduced productivity. Drug and alcohol abuse are serious problems and has contributed largely to the sorry state of our dear nation. It has birthed a lot of social and medical problems, including school dropout, armed robbery, violence, mental disorder, irritability, heart disorders, to mention but a few. Talking about the way out the government alone cannot eradicate this social menace. It is a joint task of you and me – individuals, communities, families, schools, civil society, religious organizations, the media, business entities. Drug trafficking is a key part of this research. The author delves into analysing the current protective legislations in India in the light of drug trafficking and conclude by suggesting the necessary changes that can be implemented to stop drug trafficking.

Social and legal conditionality of customs duties evasion criminal liability

The subject of this article is the socio-legal conditionality of establishing liability for criminal evasion of customs and other payments. This article aims to answer the question of the validity of the elevation of the specified illegal act in the field of economic activity to the category of criminally punishable acts by analyzing relevant statistical data, recent legislative changes in the criminal law, studying the author's positions on the expediency of criminal law protection of calculation and collection of customs and other payments, and also taking into account technical transformations in the customs infrastructure. The author used dialectical, systemic, sociological, statistical, comparative legal methods to study the patterns of changes in the field of customs relations and subsequent legislative transformations in criminal legislation, the impact of these legislative decisions on statistical indicators of countering customs crime. As a result of the analysis of current statistical data related to the dynamics of the number of registered crimes, economic harm caused, recent legislative changes in the criminal law sphere, the study of author's positions on the expediency of criminal law protection of public relations related to the calculation and collection of customs and other payments, as well as taking into account information and technical transformations in the customs infrastructure the author concludes that it is advisable to establish a criminal law prohibition on evasion of customs payments, special, anti-dumping and (or) countervailing duties levied on organizations, as well as individuals. The relevance of this article is also due to the fact that over the past almost 10 years there have been no works devoted to the analysis of the socio-legal conditionality of establishing liability for evasion of customs and other payments paid in connection with the movement of goods across the customs border.

Object of illegal activity of organizing or conducting gambling games, lotteries and its place in the system of criminal law norms

The article is devoted to the study of the object of the criminal law norm on illegal activities of organizing or conducting gambling games, lotteries, the results of which proved the correctness of the location of Art. 203-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in Chapter VII entitled “Criminal offenses in the sphere of economic activity”. The article analyzes the specifics of the definition of the main direct object of the criminal offense provided for in Art. 203-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which in the third form of the objective side has a controversial interpretation, in particular, it is considered as social relations of morality. In the part related to this issue, the regulatory legislation was analyzed, namely the Law of Ukraine “On State Lotteries in Ukraine” dated 09/06/2012 No. 5204-VI and the Law of Ukraine “On State Regulation of Activities Regarding the Organization and Conduct of Gambling Games” dated 07/14/2020 No. 768-IX.
 It was established that the act is provided for in the third form of the current edition of Art. 203-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine covers the organization and operation of the institution with the aim of providing access to gambling and lotteries. Along with this, it was found that certain types of such activities, despite the criminal law prohibition, are allowed by the regulatory legislation, in particular it was proved that the organization and ensuring the functioning of the establishment with the aim of providing access to gambling games, lotteries should be considered non-equestrian and therefore prohibited only in the case when it concerns:
 
 a physically existing establishment (Internet clubs or internet cafes);
 a virtual institution, the organization and functioning of which is carried out without the appropriate permission documents (license).
 
 Organizing or ensuring the functioning of a virtual establishment for the purpose of providing access to gambling games or lotteries conducted on the Internet in the presence of an appropriate license is not subject to a complete criminal law ban.
 This causes confusion in the definition of the object of this criminal offense, which is justified in the article to consider public relations in the sphere of economic activities related to the organization of gambling and lotteries
 In order to eliminate conflicts and inconsistencies between the current criminal and regulatory legislation, it is proposed to make changes to the current wording of Art. 203-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in particular, in the third form of the objective party, the actions described in it are justified to be described at the legislative level by the concept of “illegal”.

История возникновения и развития российского уголовного законодательства об ответственности за неисполнение приговора суда, решения суда или иного судебного акта

Understanding the legal value of justice as a type of state activity, during which the function of social control is carried out and the proper degree of uniform behavior of citizens is ensured, was achieved only during the evolutionary development of society in the process of improving the legislative mechanism and increasing the value of normative regulation of relations in the field of administration of justice. At the same time, an important guarantee of the effective implementation of judicial power is the principle of universally binding judicial acts. This principle ensures the ordering of social relations through the enforcement of legal norms. In this regard, the current law provides for criminal liability for non-execution of judicial acts (sentences, decisions, etc.). This criminal law prohibition is not an arbitrary act of the legislator; its formation and development are directly related to the process of formation of social relations. At the same time, criminal legal ensured the protection of a judicial act from non-execution means not at all stages of the historical development of society. The emergence of this norm is due to a number of interrelated and interdependent factors, among which the most important are, firstly, the level of organization of the mechanism of state power, and secondly, the complication of the system of state bodies and the separation of justice bodies in it. It is through the prism of these factors that an analysis of legislation on criminal liability for non-execution of judicial acts is necessary. The subject of research within the framework of this article is the historical background of the process of formation and development in the pre-Soviet and Soviet periods of criminal legislation, providing for liability for failure to comply with a court verdict, court decision or other judicial act. It is concluded that the criminal legal protection of relations arising in the sphere of execution of judicial acts largely depended on the mechanism for the implementation of judicial power and the models of execution of court decisions determined by this mechanism. In the process of historical development of Russian statehood and legislation, the nature and methods of exercising judicial and executive (administrative) power underwent changes, the established procedure for the execution of judicial acts in civil and criminal cases, as well as the criminal law mechanism for its (procedure) protection, underwent corresponding changes.

Some ways of countering fraud committed using digital payments according to the legislation of Russia and China

The relevance of the study is due to the increase in crimes on funds operating in non-cash form. In the future, the development of the digital economy will be associated with an increase in such risks. In this regard, the authors have made a comparison of the Russian and Chinese experience of their minimization. In both countries, there is a steady increase in the number of thefts committed using illegal access to digital payment systems. At the same time, criminal law norms designed to counteract fraudulent actions have certain drawbacks. The judicial interpretation of these norms is also ambiguous. In conditions of limited functioning of international payment systems, theft of non-cash funds can be committed in new ways. In the future, non-cash payments will increase in volume, so it is necessary to improve the security of their conduct. The authors used a comparative legal method, as well as analysis and synthesis, which made it possible to give the study a complete character. The article summarizes the Russian and Chinese experience in countering the theft of funds deposited in non-cash form. Since the share of non-cash payments in Russia and China is significant, not only economic entities, but also citizens are involved in their turnover. The latter, not having financial literacy, can become victims of fraudsters. The state policy regarding the regulation of non-cash payments is built in the direction of establishing control over the functioning of electronic platforms. However, this does not seem to be sufficient, since it does not reduce financial risks. The criminal legal field remains virtually the only lever to counteract this type of theft. At the same time, the structure of the criminal law prohibition does not reflect the nature and degree of public danger of fraudulent actions and does not clearly distinguish them from secret theft.

Certain issues of responsibility for human trafficking under the criminal law of Ukraine and Poland

The purpose of the study is to analyze certain issues of responsibility for human trafficking under the criminal law of Ukraine and Poland, as well as to develop proposals aimed at improving the criminal legislation in the relevant part.
 The methodological basis of the research is the comparativist method.
 Results. The article proves that human freedom and dignity should be recognized as the object of human trafficking. The omission of the Polish legislator is that in the title of Chapter XXIII of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Poland, unlike the title of Chapter III of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, human dignity is not mentioned.
 The article argues that it does not make sense to single out an independent article in the Criminal Code of Ukraine on responsibility for child trafficking, because the relevant actions may well be qualified under the current Article 149, which among the forms of human trafficking singles out human trafficking as such committed without the purpose of human’s exploitation. The problem of criminal legal countermeasures against child trafficking committed without the purpose of exploitation remains relevant for Poland. Possible options for its solution may include amendments to Art. 115 § 22 of the Polish Criminal Code or the inclusion to the criminal law of an independent article on responsibility for the specified offense.
 The opinion expressed in the legal literature about the expediency of completely refusing to indicate the methods of committing human trafficking should be recognized as unfounded. It is in view of deception, blackmail, being in a vulnerable state, etc., that a person gives his/her consent to the work offered to him/her, to engagement in prostitution, etc., and it is in view of this, and also in view of the purpose of further exploitation, that even his/her voluntary consent does not exclude criminal liability of the perpetrator.
 The article argues that indicating the purpose of exploitation allows to distinguish a criminal act from actions that are not criminally punishable. Persons who recruit, move, hide or transfer a person are, of course, primarily interested in the material benefit they wish to receive as a result of their actions. At the same time, they act in this way, realizing that the person recruited (moved, etc.) by them will be exploited by others in the future. The realization of the goal of exploitation lies outside the scope of human trafficking, and therefore human exploitation must be additionally qualified under other articles of the law on criminal liability.
 Conclusions. The article establishes that despite some differences in the wording of the criminal law prohibition of human trafficking the legislators of Ukraine and Poland have by now approximated their understanding of the essence of this act with its definition formulated in the Palermo Protocol and the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.
 The analysis of scientific works devoted to the issue of human trafficking proved that many questions raised by Ukrainian and Polish researchers are identical. The solutions they offer are often similar too.

Mapping the Common Law Development of Physician- Administered Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide against the Background of the Application of the Bill of Rights

The Pretoria High Court is considering whether to recognise a right to physician-assisted death. This is a right to request a physician to administer a lethal prescription which a terminally ill patient can use to end their lives or to be allowed to obtain a lethal prescription which they will self-administer. In deciding the matter, the court will have to determine whether it should remove the common law prohibition on both ways of bringing about a quick and painless death. The question that will have to be answered is whether the common law prohibition is consistent with the Constitution. If it is not, the court will either develop the common law or leave it to Parliament to remove the inconsistency. However, before the court can begin this work it would have to decide on the correct approach to the application of the Bill of Rights to the common law principles of murder and culpable homicide. In effect it would have to decide how sections 8(1), 8(3) and or section 39(2) of the Constitution apply to the dispute. This research explores how these operational provisions should apply when assessing the constitutionality of the right to physician-assisted death. In effect it argues that during this process the court must always have regard to section 39(2), irrespective of whether there is a direct application or an indirect application of the Bill of Rights to the common law. Its application arises under section 8(1), where the court is asked to declare the common law invalid on the basis of being in direct violation of a constitutional right. It also applies in situations where the court is asked to develop the common law under section 8(3). Lastly, it is applicable where the common law is challenged for being in indirect conflict with the spirit, purport and object of the Constitution. Having established the role of section 39(2) in both the direct and indirect application of the Bill of Rights, the paper concludes by critically analysing the remedies that attend each of the operational provisions in relation to the common law prohibition on physician-assisted death.

Criminal responsibility for crimes against children in USA

Children require special legal protection, including criminal law protection, in all countries since they are one of the most vulnerable categories of population. Crimes against children inflict harm not only to victims but also affect further development of society as a whole. The US experience in the field of criminal law protection of children has significant specifics and is of scientific interest. The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe characteristic features of American criminal law in this area and its applicability in Russia. To reach the goal formal-legal, comparative-legal and other methods are used. American laws create legal duty to report acts that constitute child abuse. Failure to report constitutes crime. Statutes of several US states contain special chapters devoted to crimes against children. Parents or other caregivers may not inflict harm the child directly but also, by inaction, allow third party to do so. Such inaction is deemed a crime. Using reasonable force to discipline children is legal in the USA if the punishment does not inflict harm greater than transient pain and other legal requirements are met. Parents or other caregivers must control children and never leave them unattended at home if they are younger than state`s law or recommendations of state`s authorities prescribe. «Hot car» laws prohibit to leave children unattended in a vehicle if they have not reached the age prescribed by law. Violation of such duties is a crime in some cases. The applicability of such experience in Russia is analyzed for each criminal law prohibition. It is concluded that many rules of the US criminal law are redundant. The features that are of certain interest for our country have been identified and studied.

Formation and development of criminal liability for crimes infringing on fair competition

The subject of the study is the legal foundations of Russia's criminal law policy in the field of fair competition protection in their historical development, namely the sources of Russian legislation of the XVIII-XXI centuries, containing grounds for criminal liability for encroachments on fair competition, legal acts regulating competitive relations, as well as scientific research by scientists of the XIX-XXI centuries, including dissertations, scientific publications on aspects of legal regulation of competitive relations, criminal prosecution for encroachments on them.The purpose of the work is to identify the historically conditioned attitude of the Russian state towards encroachments on fair competition, their criminalization, penalization and differentiation of responsibility for their commission, systematization of crimes against fair competition, as well as to study the legislative technique used in the formulation of criminal law prohibitions. The main method of research was the historical method, which allowed us to study the genesis of domestic criminal legislation, which provided for liability for encroachments on fair competition. The logical, comparative method, the method of system analysis, and classification were also used. The main result of the work is the conclusion about the usefulness of taking into account domestic legislative experience in determining the criteria for criminalizing acts that infringe on fair competition, systematizing crimes against fair competition, methods and techniques for formulating criminal law prohibitions against their commission. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the conducted analysis of domestic legislation can help in substantiating and making decisions of criminal and political significance in relation to understanding the system of crimes against fair competition, criminalization of socially dangerous acts directed against fair competition, their penalization, differentiation of responsibility for their commission, the application of existing criminal legislation and their improvement. The findings can be especially useful in legislative and scientific activities, as well as in the field of education.

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.

زواج القاصرات المعاصر وبيان الاختلاف عليه في ضوء الشريعة الإسلامية

Contemporary child marriage has become a noticeable phenomenon in recent times, spreading rapidly and extensively. This research aims to clarify the concept of minors and elucidate the reasons and motivations behind the prevalent phenomenon of child marriage, both in the past and in contemporary society. The study reveals that there are social, economic, health, and psychological factors contributing to this issue. The research adopted a descriptive and inductive approach to investigate the reasons for marrying minors, based on an analysis of books and studies that discussed the motives for such marriages and the legal rulings on marrying minors. Additionally, the negative consequences of child marriages were examined. The research yielded findings, including the definition of a minor as someone who has not reached the legal age for marriage and is incapable of assuming marital responsibilities. The economic circumstances of the guardian sometimes force them to marry off their daughters to avoid the financial burden. Some parents resort to informal marriages, which the law prohibits, thus denying minors their rights. The study also highlighted the physical and mental health risks associated with child marriages, such as weakened immunity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other health issues. Research has also documented cases of minors dying within a year of marriage. In conclusion, this research contributes to clarifying the concept of minors, uncovering the reasons for child marriages, and explaining the legal rulings regarding such unions.

Обусловленность уголовно-правового противодействия преступлениям с признаками экстремистской деятельности при обеспечении основ конституционного строя и безопасности государства

The article presents the author’s vision of one of the most pressing problems of modern criminal law and criminology – the conditionality of criminal legal counteraction to crimes with signs of extremist activity while ensuring the foundations of the constitutional system and the security of the state. The content of the concepts of «conditionality» and
 «counteraction» is revealed. It is noted that the eternity and social variability of crime are signs that are the basis for creating the entire springboard of criminal law response, including promising, in the field of countering criminal forms of behavior burdened with the motive of hatred or enmity. The terminological tools formed in the doctrine are presented, revealing the content of the conditionality of countering crime, through such categories as: «social conditionality», «socio-legal conditionality», «socio-legal conditionality». It is proved that any format of conditionality of countering crime is aimed at establishing legally significant circumstances proving the public danger of an act, which constitute the basis for making a state-governmental decision to establish a particular criminal law prohibition. Within the framework of the conducted research, it is proposed to use a broader, collective concept – «conditionality of criminal legal counteraction to crimes with signs of extremist activity that encroach on the foundations of the constitutional system and the security of the state», its content is disclosed..

Криминализация и декриминализация как инструменты социального контроля за лицами, совершившими преступление

Annotation: The relevanceof the research topic is determined by the complexities of modern trends in criminalization (decriminalization) within the framework of the emerging criminal law policy.
 Generalization of the approaches formed in the doctrine (and the positions of the authors) to the ongoing changes in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, expressed in the increase in the number of criminal
 law prohibitions and law enforcement practice, demonstrates the qualitative changes in the emerging prohibitions in relation to the designs of the relevant offences, sanctions, as well as the actually developing law enforcement practice in this area.
 The object ofthe study is social relations linking criminalization processes with the stage of the implementation of criminal punishment and other measures of criminal law nature and further individualized crime prevention.
 The aim of the study was to define the mechanism of criminalization (decriminalization) not only within the framework of criminal law prohibitions, but of further law enforcement practice as well.
 As a result of the study, the author states that there is a correlation between the trend towards the increase in the number of criminal law prohibitions with the simultaneous introduction of instruments to reduce the punitive potential of sanctions contained in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as well as the practical reduction in the use of repressive measures. The partial use of measures of social control over the behavior of convicts as an instrument of private prevention is noted and the need to expand such means and their specification based on the characteristics of the crime committed and the personality traits of the criminal is pointed out.
 The findings can be used in the legislative process, as well as law enforcement practice when assigning and executing punishment and other criminal law measures.

(Un-)rape and involuntary manslaughter as examples of aberration of legal information in criminal law in Ukraine

The article examines the phenomenon of aberration (distortion of the content) of regulatory and legal information in the field of criminal law on the example of certain basic elements of criminal offences (Part 1 of Article 152 “Rape”, Article 119 “Manslaughter by negligence” of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), as well as certain wording, in particular, the use of perfect and imperfect verbs, focusing on related activities instead of a certain activity, etc. The author proves that the aberration significantly distorts the meaning of certain criminal law prohibitions, which grossly violates the principle of legal certainty as an integral part of the rule of law. To improve the current wording of Part 1 of Article 152 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which does not define rape as penetration, nor as an act aimed at penetration, but only an act related to penetration, it is proposed to set out its disposition in the following wording: “Committing vaginal, anal or oral penetration into the body of another person using any part of the body or object without the voluntary consent of the victim, or penetration into the body of any person by the genitals of a man without the voluntary consent of the latter (rape)”. The article substantiates in the relevant articles of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in particular, part 2 of Article 150-1, part 1 of Article 238, part 2 of Article 296, part 3 of Article 314, part 5 of Article 321, part 4 of Article 321-1, part 2 of Article 353, part 1 of Article 365-2, Article 377, part 1 of Article 378, Article 379, Articles 398, 400, 434 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, etc., the focus should be on a certain activity, but not on any other activity (tangential, adjacent, auxiliary, service, etc.). To improve the current wording of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for liability for “murder committed through negligence”, i.e., in fact, for intentional unlawful infliction of death to another person committed through negligence”, the following alternative options are proposed 1) toinclude an indication of the form of guilt beyond the direct definition of murder in part 1 of Article 115 ofthe Criminal Code of Ukraine, or 2) to replace the wording of the disposition of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine from “murder committed through negligence” to “unlawful infliction of death to another person committed through negligence”. The previous proposal to replace certain imperfect verbs in the articles of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine with perfect verbs, if they retain the status of a criminal offence with a material element, has been improved.

Criminal liability for the creation of a criminal organization and criminal community, as well as their leadership

The article is devoted to the study of actual theoretical and practical problems related to the most dangerous forms of the objective side of the crime provided for in Art. 255 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, – the creation of organized criminal associations and their management.
 It has been established that the manifestations of the creation of a criminal organization and criminal community, as well as their leadership, can be different, depending on the purpose of these organized criminal associations, their structure, other individual characteristics and the environment of operation. A criminal organization can be created by one or several persons. At the same time, it is usually managed by two or more subjects, including the head of the structural unit. A person who created a criminal organization usually remains its leader until conviction, death or replacement by another leader. In addition to organizational and managerial functions, it usually commits crimes covered by the purpose of association, and therefore its actions require additional qualification according to the set of criminal offenses.
 It is argued that the management of a criminal organization does not cover the management of individual criminal offenses committed by its members, and requires additional qualification under the relevant part of the article containing grounds for criminal liability for these torts. Therefore, the management of a criminal organization or criminal community is primarily the management of their criminal activities in general.
 In order to eliminate discrepancies in uniform criminal law prohibitions, it is proposed to unify the provisions on the leadership of the structural part of organized criminal associations in the Criminal Code of Ukraine and its draft.
 Separation of the manager in Part 6 of Art. 255, as well as other articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Part 5 of Article 110-2, Part 2 of Article 258-3, Part 4 of Article 258-5) was recognized as a mistake by the legislator, which needs to be resolved by amending the law on criminal liability.

The contribution of anti-abortion law on maternal mortality: A case study in Nigeria

Background: Abortion in Nigeria has been controversial, and both the proponents (protagonists) and opponents (antagonists) have good arguments. Proponents of the abortion prohibition law of Nigeria (the pro-life group) argue that human life is sacred and the right to life is basic; hence, on no account should one be deprived of that fundamental human right, not even the fetus in-utero. Objectives: This review aims to discuss the concepts of abortion and maternal mortality, analyze the Nigerian abortion laws, discuss issues and controversies with abortion in Nigeria as it relates to maternal mortality and morbidity; and discuss the contributions of this Law on maternal mortality and morbidity in Nigeria. Method: The relevant materials for this article were obtained from search engines such as PubMed and Google Scholar respectively. Conclusion: Reviewed literature reveals that many of the contributory factors to maternal mortality could be avoided if preventive measures were taken and adequate care was available. In view of this, efforts should be made by governments and policy makers towards the provision of safe, available and effective abortion care to Nigerian women at all levels of health care, most especially at the grass-root level, primary health care. The study also revealed a poor level of awareness of the Nigerian Abortion Law among women. It is therefore necessary to ensure the wide dissemination of the abortion law and its provisions to the Nigerian public in order to arm them with the necessary information to participate actively in campaigns on abortion law reforms.

The content and scope of the concept of «corruption criminal offense» in the criminal law of Ukraine

The article states that both in the doctrine of criminal law and in law enforcement practice, there are still unresolved problems related to the content and scope of the concept of «corruption criminal offense». After the introduction of the concept of corruption crime into the Criminal Code of Ukraine in the footnote to Art. 45 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, scientific discussions have changed their emphasis on the analysis of the validity of the definition of the relevant concept in the form of an exhaustive list of crimes belonging to the elements of corruption; concentrated on the list itself, defined by the legislator, on its addition or, on the contrary, reduction. The purpose of this article was to generalize scientific positions regarding the content and scope of the concept of corruption criminal offense and to define on this basis the author’s definition of the corresponding concept.It has been established that the main vectors to which the scientific results of the studies covered in the special literature are aimed are three: 1) addition, expansion of the list defined in the footnote to Art. 45 of the list of corruption criminal offenses; 2) reduction, narrowing of such a list. The list of corruption criminal offenses, and it acts in this case as the scope of the concept of «corruption criminal offense», directly depends on the content of this concept. In this context, attempts to define the concept of corruption criminal offense using a certain set of features that characterize the two concepts that meaningfully make it up: «corruption» and «criminal offense» seem productive. Both of these concepts are normatively defined: the Law of Ukraine «On Prevention of Corruption» and Art. 11 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine contain relevant definitions.The article proposes to leave in the definition a list of «unconditionally corrupt» criminal offenses, the constitutive features of which are signs of corruption offenses: abuse of official position in the broad sense and the presence of unlawful gain as the purpose, object or means of committing the offense. Article should be excluded from the current version of such a list. 210 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. However, this will not mean that an act that falls under this criminal law prohibition cannot be corrupt. It should be considered in the context of the second group of encroachments - corruption «under condition». When formulating the definition of this group, it seems worth abandoning an exhaustive list, indicating in the normative provision the signs of the actual composition of the encroachment.

Why Is It Better to Treat Every Provision of EU Directives as Having Horizontal Direct Effect?

The provisions of EU directives do not have horizontal direct effect. This contribution explains how that initial choice and statement made by the Court of Justice of the European Union in Marshall came to be gradually undermined by the numerous exceptions to this rule. If viewed together, they make one wonder about the nature of the present-day rule and the exceptions, in particular in areas like employment law or various aspects of prohibition of discrimination. This leads to the advice that could be given to national practitioners, puzzled about the present-day normative impact of directives in horizontal relationships: after the lapse of the transposition period, it is prudent to treat every provision of a EU directive as having horizontal direct effect. Court of Justice of the European Union, Marshall, Normative Impact of Directives, Employment Law, Horizontal Direct Effect