А. Pavlovska PROBLEMS OF DETERMINING AGE INSANITY IN CRIMINAL LAW OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article is devoted to the criminal responsibility of the minors. Special attention is paid on research of the concept of the age-dependent diminished responsibility. The outlined problem is related to the correlation of maintenance of the age-dependent diminished responsibility and the limited responsibility in general. The criminal law theory and the law enforcement practice have certain difficulties in determining the legal consequences of the socially dangerous actions com-mitted by the minors, who have the lag in psychical their development, which are unrelated to their psychical disorders. So, such minors could not fully realize and manage their actions. Some researchers suggest to acknowledge such minors as limitedly responsible. Thus, it is possible to make the conclusion, that the «age insanity» means the following: a person, who has the age of criminal responsibility in the moment of committing the socially dangerous action as a result of the lag in his/her psychical development, which is not related to their psychical disorders, an such minor can not fully realize and manage his/her action. The intellectual signs of the limited responsibility and the lag in the psychical development are characterized by the incapability of a person to realize fully and manage his/her dangerous actions. The substantial difference between the legal criteria of the age insanity and the limited responsibility consists in the psychi-cal development lag of the person during committing the socially dangerous action. So, the person has the intellectual qualities, which make him/her unable to realize fully his/her dangerous actions. The "age insanity" is envisaged in the cases of absence of anomalies in the psychological development. Taking into account the above mentioned, it should be noted that the current criminal legislation of Ukraine does not protect the rights and freedoms of such category of persons and does not envisage application of the concept «age insanity».