Victim Of Criminal Offense Provided For By Art. 399 Of The Criminal Code Of Ukraine

Abstract

The article is devoted to determining the essence and characteristics of the victim in the act provided for in Art. 399 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine «Intentional destruction or damage to the property of a defender or representative of a person». It was determined that the victim of the specified criminal offense may be the defender or representative of the person or their close relatives.
The understanding and powers of the defender are analyzed, different categories of representatives of the person are highlighted and characterized. Criticized by the proposal that the victim of criminal offenses provided for by Art. 398, 400 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, may be a person who carries out human rights activities. Taking into account the lack of legislative consolidation of the term «person who carries out human rights activities», as well as its superficial content, the position expressed regarding the inexpediency of introducing him as a victim in Art. 399 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
It was concluded that the current version of Art. 399 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine includes all the necessary categories of persons who provide legal assistance and may therefore need enhanced criminal protection.
The understanding of the category «close relatives» was analyzed. It was found that the current legislation is characterized by a confusion of concepts: close relatives and family members, close relatives or in-laws, close persons and family members. The inadmissibility of such a phenomenon is emphasized, especially when designing and making changes to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, when the legislator should take into account the norms of regulatory branches of law. It was established that in the draft of the new Criminal Code of Ukraine, it is stated that a close person is a family member or another person whose interests are of significant importance to the person; by family members, which are proposed to be recognized: a) spouses and their children until they reach the age of majority - regardless of joint residence; b) any persons who live together, regardless of whether they are married, are bound by common life and have mutual rights and obligations (except for rights and obligations that are not of a family nature).
A proposal to replace part 1 of Art. 399 of the Criminal Code and in the provisions of other articles relating to the criminal protection of the lawful activity of a defender or representative of a person related to the provision of legal assistance, the term «close relatives» is replaced by the term «close person».