Criminal Code of Ukraine

Criminal Code of Ukraine (Кримінальний кодекс України; Kryminal'nyi kodeks Ukraïny). Based on the Constitution of Ukraine and the generally recognized principles and rules of international law, the Criminal Code of Ukraine codifies the Ukrainian legislation on criminal liability. It establishes the grounds and principles of criminal liability; stipulates penalties for criminal offenses; and specifies grounds for exemption from criminal liability and punishment. The current Criminal Code of Ukraine was adopted on 5 April 5 2001 and came into force on 1 September 1 2001. It replaced the 1960 Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR.

The objective of the Criminal Code of Ukraine according to its Article 1 is to provide legal protection against criminal encroachments of the rights and liberties of persons and citizens, property, public order and public safety, the environment, and the constitutional order of Ukraine; to secure peace and safety of the people; and to prevent crimes.

The Criminal Code of Ukraine consists of the general section (articles 1–108), the special section (articles 109–447), and final and transitional provisions. The general part of the code contains the general provisions of criminal law, such as grounds for criminal liability, territorial and temporal limitations, the concept of crime and classification of criminal offenses, types of punishment, the general principles of sentencing, etc. The general section consists of 15 chapters that contain 108 articles: ‘General Provisions,’ ‘Law on Criminal Liability,’ ‘Criminal Offence, Its Types and Stages,’ ‘Criminally Liable Person,’ ‘Guilt and Its Forms,’ ‘Complicity,’ ‘Repetition, Cumulation of Criminal Offences, and Recidivism,’ ‘Circumstances Excluding Criminality of the Act,’ ‘Discharge from Criminal Liability,’ ‘Punishment and Its Types,’ ‘Imposition of Punishment,’ ‘Discharge from Punishment and from Serving It,’ ‘Conviction,’ ‘Compulsory Medical Measures and Compulsory Treatment,’ and ‘Specific Features of Criminal Liability and Punishment of Minors.’

The norms of the special section of the Criminal Code of Ukraine specifies which socially dangerous acts are designated as crimes and what punishments are laid down for their commitment. This part consists of 20 chapters and more than 300 articles; the title of each chapter identifies a category of crimes discussed in this chapter, for example, ‘Chapter I. Crimes against National Security of Ukraine,’ ‘Chapter VI. Criminal Offences against Property,’ ‘Chapter XII. Criminal Offenses against Public Order and Morality’, ‘Chapter XVIII. Criminal Offenses against Justice,’ etc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kryminal'nyi kodeks Ukraïny [5 April 2001]: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2341-14#Text
Criminal Code of Ukraine [5 April 2001]: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2341-14?lang=en#Text

Kateryna Shunevych

[This article was written in 2022.]