THE VICTIM IN CRIMINAL AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURAL LEGISLATION: CURRENT ISSUES OF THEORY AND PRACTICE

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study current theoretical and practical problems of the victim ratio in criminal and criminal procedural legislation in order to harmonize the relevant provisions of the legislation and increase the effectiveness of their application. The article examines the relevant issues of the victim ratio in criminal and criminal procedural legislation. It is established that the modern definition of the victim enshrined in Art. 55 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, does not fully meet the needs of criminal law regulation of social relations, and therefore cannot be applied in criminal legislation. Criteria/grounds on the basis of which the victim may be distinguished in criminal and criminal procedural law are proposed to be divided into general ones – those that should be characteristic of the criminal and criminal procedural definition of the victim (membership of certain categories of subjects, as well as harm or actual threat of causing a criminal offence), and exceptional ones – due to the different subject of legal regulation of the relevant branches of legislation (at a minimum, their status and the time of acquisition are at stake). It is argued that the legal status of victims in the Criminal Code of Ukraine differs from their status in the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. However, the provisions of the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine should be unified with regard to the category of persons recognized as victims and the harm or actual threat. Only natural and legal persons should be recognized as victims both in the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. The provision on the bond administrator, who, in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Securities and Stock Market”, acts on behalf of bondholders who have suffered a criminal offence, should be separated into an independent part of Art. 55 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. It is concluded that the criminal procedure concept of the victim should be based on the criminal law definition. The definition proposed in Art. 2.2.2. of the Draft Criminal Code seems the most optimal for this of those that exist today in the theory of criminal law.