Hrynyshyn O. Criminal Protection of Contractual Freedom

The thesis is the first comprehensive study of the problems of criminal protection of contractual freedom in the domestic science of criminal law. In the thesis, contractual freedom is considered for the first time as one of the general social legal values, which are put under protection by criminal law – along with the highest social value, which is a person (Art. 3 of the Constitution of Ukraine), and other values enshrined in Art. 1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (such as property or public order). Criminal protection of contractual freedom has its own specifics, because it is implemented indirectly, occasionally, at the level of a direct additional object of a number of essential elements of crimes found in different sections of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In this regard, the main attention and scientific novelty of the work is associated with accentuation, systematization and characterization of the essential elements of crimes involving infringement on contractual freedom. Freedom of contract exists at both stages of the contract – its conclusion and execution. Depending on the time of committing a socially dangerous act, all investigated essential elements of crimes shall be divided into those encroaching on freedom of the contract at the stage of its conclusion, and those encroaching on freedom of the contract at the stage of its execution. Essential elements of crime that infringe on freedom of the contract at the stage of its conclusion include: «Extortion» (Art. 189 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), «Fraud» (Art. 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), «Counteraction to legitimate economic activity» (Art. 206 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), «Fraud with financial resources» (Art. 222 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).