On the application of special principles of sentencing when sentencing for an act under part 1. art. 152 of the Criminal code of Ukraine

Abstract

The proposed article is devoted to the study of application of special principles of sentencing for an act under Part 1 of Article 152 of the current Criminal Code of Ukraine. The article states that in a significant number of modern scientific works devoted to the study of the institution of sentencing, the existence of a sub-institution of special principles of sentencing is scientifically substantiated. And despite this, a significant number of issues related to them still remain unaddressed by modern scholars in the field of criminal law. In this regard, the article determines that in the modern legal literature there is no analysis of the application of special principles of sentencing when it is applied for a specific criminal offense. One of them is the corpus delicti of a criminal offense under Part 1 of Article 152 of the CC of Ukraine. The purpose of the proposed scientific article is to analyze the practice of application of special principles of sentencing based on the study of law enforcement practice. The author proposes the main approaches to defining the concept of special principles of sentencing. The author emphasizes the importance of special principles for the implementation of the principle of individualization of punishment. The main approaches to determining the list or system of special principles of sentencing are outlined. It is determined that the basis for the study is 100 court verdicts on sentencing for committing an act under Part 1 of Article 152 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine during 2019-2024. The study is based on a broader list of special principles of sentencing proposed in the literature. In the course of the study, it was established that some special principles of sentencing were not applied when sentencing for the act specified in Part 1 of Article 152 of the CC of Ukraine, although the law provides for such a possibility. The author identifies the special principles of sentencing which cannot be applied due to the construction of the criminal offense under Part 1 of Article 152 of the CC of Ukraine. The author identifies a group of special principles which are most often used when sentencing for an offense under Part 1 of Article 152 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The author makes a conclusion about the significant individualizing potential of special principles of sentencing.