DETERMINATION OF THE SUBJECT OF THE LEGAL CRIMINALISTICS RESEARCH OF OFFENCES COMMITTED ON THE OCCUPIED TERRITORY OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of scientific approaches to determining the essence of criminal law and forensic characteristics of offenses committed in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Attention is paid to the need to distinguish such scientific concepts as “criminal and legal characteristics of a certain type of criminal offense”, “criminal and legal characteristics of a group of crimes” and “forensic characteristics”. The problem of forming a criminal-legal characteristic as a system of generalized data on typical signs of criminal offenses, taking into account the connections between elements, is considered. The practical significance of the specified characteristic in the organization of the investigation of offenses committed in the occupied territories of Ukraine, in the construction of methodological recommendations for the pre-trial investigation of this group of criminal offenses is emphasized. Military operations on the territory of Ukraine have been ongoing since 2014. On the morning of February 24, 2022, the troops of the Russian Federation began full-scale military operations against Ukraine. In previous years and immediately after the start of the full-scale invasion, the President of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted legislative acts necessary for citizens and the activities of state authorities, in particular the Decree of the President of Ukraine “On General Mobilization”, the Law of Ukraine “On Approval of the Decree of the President of Ukraine «On the Introduction of Military of the State of Ukraine»”, Law of Ukraine “On the Approval of the Decree of the President of Ukraine «On General Mobilization»”, Law of Ukraine “On the Basics of National Resistance”, Law of Ukraine “On the Introduction of Martial Law in Ukraine”, Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law”. One of the manifestations of a negative trend in the population centers of Ukraine temporarily occupied by terrorist groups and Russian military units is a significant increase in crime, in particular, particularly serious crimes against the individual, such as intentional murders, robberies, thefts, extortion, etc. The number of murders registered in Ukraine during the period of hostilities over the past 8 years has almost tripled. A criminal case was registered by the military prosecutor’s office, but the site of the incident was not examined, the victims were not examined, and the whereabouts of more than 600 people have not yet been determined. Since February 2022, the number of all categories of offenses has increased sharply. Before the de-occupation of the territory of Ukraine, part of the offenses were considered latent. More than 2 300 personnel of military formations are in captivity of militants, the military of the Russian Federation, and the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine do not know anything about their condition. Comprehensive studies of internal processes, which determine the development of the foundations of the construction of specific methods of investigation of offenses, were not conducted in domestic criminology. Since this process is of a natural nature, there was an objective need to develop methods for solving tasks that are typical for all cases of investigation. Given the complex of perception and fixation, the discovered information should be perceived by the subject of the search in the following directions: a) its potential or real involvement in the cognitive event is clarified; b) its nature and source of acquisition are clarified (people as carriers of ideal and material traces, objects, documents); c) the form of its presentation is determined (verbal, alphanumeric, digital, graphic, magnetic recording, video recording, etc.); d) is decoded in necessary cases, that is, its content and meaning are clarified, translated from one sign system to another using special knowledge and technical means. The received information must be recorded for further storage, analysis and use. In operative investigative activities, recording of information is carried out with the help of procedural means in a mandatory manner and with the help of technical means according to the decision of the investigator. Therefore, the recording of information includes the actions of the relevant subject of the investigation, aimed at procedural, technical-forensic or operational consolidation and certification of the received information (in some cases, together with its carrier) in accordance with the procedure established by law and by-laws for the purpose of further research, preservation and use.