ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF A VEHICLE IN THE CONDITIONS OF MARITAL STATE

Abstract

The article analyzes the features of criminal liability for illegal possession of a vehicle under martial law. Taking into account the importance of vehicles and road transport as a whole for the state on the territory of which hostilities are taking place, the increased public danger of illegal possession of a vehicle in conditions of war or emergency is substantiated. It is noted that the legislator, increasing the responsibility for committing criminal offenses against property, mistakenly did not add the qualifying sign "in the conditions of war or state of emergency" to Article 289 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Taking into account the doctrinal positions regarding the object of the criminal offense provided for in Article 289 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, it is concluded that illegal possession of a vehicle and criminal offenses against property encroach on a common object. Therefore, it is proposed to supplement part 3 of Article 289 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine with the words "whether in the conditions of a state of war or a state of emergency." The specified qualifying feature should be applied in all cases of illegal possession of a vehicle under the conditions of martial law in force on the territory of Ukraine, regardless of whether such conditions influenced the commission of the specified criminal offense. Forced alienation or seizure of the vehicle from the owner or user, committed under martial law, is under consideration. Attention is drawn to such an aspect of the introduction of martial law on the territory of Ukraine as the possibility of forced alienation or seizure of a vehicle to meet the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine or other military formations. It is indicated that in the conditions of martial law, the forced alienation or seizure of a vehicle from the owner or user, carried out on legal grounds, in compliance with the procedure provided for by law and with the appropriate documentation, is not illegal possession of a vehicle. The same applies to extreme necessity. Seizure of a vehicle against the will of the owner in a state of extreme necessity does not entail criminal liability, provided that the legality conditions stipulated by law are observed, which excludes the criminal illegality of the act: there is a danger of harming the rights and interests of a person, society or the state protected by law; certain nature and direction of the damage caused; its proportionality and the absence of an alternative to averting the danger.