Organized crime counteraction in Ukraine: prospects of criminal legislation improvement

Abstract

This article is dedicated to analysis of benefits and drawbacks of new criminal legal instruments of organized crime counteraction stipulated by the legislative draft “On amendments to Criminal Code of Ukraine concerning responsibility for crimes committed by criminal community” (No. 2513 dated from December 2, 2019). Introduction of the new type of complicity – criminal community, new special subject of crime (e.g. person which enforce criminal influence; person which has a status of an increased criminal influence subject, “code-bound thief”), criminalization of criminal influence, having recourse to organized criminal activity representative, assistance to organized criminal activity, presence of a person in a status of an increased criminal influence subject, including “code-bound thief” status, improving of foundations of criminal responsibility for criminal convention, introducing of new stimulating criminal legal norms for organized criminal activity representatives and assessorial persons are driven by this legislative draft.

A forecast on prospects of these instruments’ enforcing as well as suggestions to its further development has been made with regard to experience of Armenia, Georgia and Russia.

Grounds of new modern model of organized crime counteraction have been defined. It has been argued that complex approach to not only criminal but also criminal procedural, penal, administrative etc. legislation improvement is an absolute must concerning this matter.

A conclusion has been drawn that organized crime counteraction strategy should include first of all corruption counteraction because without the latter even ideal criminal legislation in not enough to ensure full (or, at least, rightful) criminal responsibility for organized criminal activity representatives.