The paper investigates criminal liability for illegal vehicles trafficking.
The scientific novelty of the obtained results is that the thesis is the first comprehensive scientific research on criminal liability for the illegal vehicles trafficking, which substantiates a number of conceptual notions, theoretical provisions, practical recommendations for the improving legal regulation of the vehicle trafficking and counteraction to the crimes in this sphere.
This term is mentioned only in the Customs Code of Ukraine (Article 377) and in the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of April 11, 1996 № 421 "On measures to combat legalization of stolen vehicles in Ukraine, compliance with legislation in their field." However, none of the mentioned normative legal acts provides a definition of the concept under study and its content is not disclosed. Administrative and criminal liability may arise for a violation of the customs legislation. In this paper, the illegal vehicles trafficking is considered only within the framework of criminal legislation.
Based on the analysis of the very concept of "traffic" and forms of its implementation in relation to certain items, it is concluded that illicit traffic is a deliberate illegal act involving the creation of a vehicle with fake identification numbers or license plates or registration certificate (registration certificate belonging to another vehicle), committed to give such a vehicle a "legal" appearance, and its use or sale.
Illegal circulation of vehicles includes such forms as illegal creation of a vehicle, its illegal use and illegal sale, i.e., its certain "legal" movement, the transition from one owner to another.
The illegal vehicle is essentially created by processing (technical change, changing the legal status) of the “legal” car. In this case, there are two possible ways of origin of such a vehicle: theft (Article 289 of the Criminal Code) or import into the territory of Ukraine without customs clearance (Article 485 of the Customs Code of Ukraine). Then the identification numbers are changed on the car (Article 290 of the Criminal Code) and (or) counterfeit registration documents (Article 358 of the Criminal Code) are made. Often such acts are accompanied by abuse by officials (illegal customs clearance of stolen vehicles abroad, their illegal registration, etc.), which contains signs of a criminal offense under Art. 366 of the Criminal Code. There is no criminal liability for the very fact of the illegal vehicle use in Ukraine, although in this dissertation research we have substantiated the necessity of its establishment. In accordance with the current legislation criminal liability can only occur for the sale of an illegal car if the seller hides the criminal history of the vehicle (Article 190 of the Criminal Code). If, however, such vehicles are registered and/or are withdrawn from the register which is impossible without the officials’ assistance, the latter are the subject to criminal liability under Art. 366 of the Criminal Code.
The study of the aforementioned crimes will be sufficient for the criminal legal analysis of the main forms of illegal vehicles trafficking and the formulation of the criminal legal definition of this notion.
In dissertation identifies the direct objects of crimes which form the illegal vehicles trafficking on the basis of which the object of this group of crimes is formulated. It is proposed to mean as these a group of social relations that ensure the safety of traffic and the operation of transport through proper state control over the procedure for registration (re-registration) of vehicles, authenticity of the numbers of their main units and registration documents. It was established that additional property objects of the investigated crimes can be property relations, relations in the field of taxation and relations providing for normal service activity in separate bodies of the state power.
The subject of the group of crimes that constitute the illegal vehicles trafficking may be a vehicle itself and its identification number, engine number, chassis, body, plate number with the identification number, registration or other, necessary for the registration of a vehicle documents.
