On the grounds for criminalization of the act provided for in art. 366-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the existence of grounds for the criminalization of such an act as failure by the subject of the declaration to submit a declaration of a person authorized to perform the functions of the state or local self-government (Article 366-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Based on the results of the research, a scientifically based conclusion is made about the existence of such grounds for classifying the considered offenses as criminal.
It is noted that among the multitude of grounds for establishing the implemented within the limits of Art. 366-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine criminal liability for the failure of the subject of the declaration to submit the declaration of the person authorized to perform the functions of the state or local self-government (unfavorable dynamics of a certain type of socially dangerous acts, the emergence or significant development of a new group of social relations, scientifically based conclusions about the effectiveness of countering those or another act by criminal legal means), the main reasons should be considered such as the need to fulfill obligations under international agreements and a change in society’s point of view regarding the degree of social danger of the act and a change in its generally accepted moral assessment. In particular, it is noted that although neither in general international documents nor in decisions of the European Union, which apply exclusively to Ukraine, there are no direct indications of the need to criminalize such an act as the failure of the subject of the declaration to submit a declaration of a person authorized to perform the functions of the state or local self-government, however at the same time, Ukraine is required to introduce measures and systems that oblige public officials to provide declarations to relevant bodies. And last but not least, due to the fact that the legal mechanisms existing before the entry into force of the Law of December 4, 2020 did not provide the mentioned effectiveness, the national parliamentarians decided to add a new article to the Criminal Code of Ukraine 366-3.