The thesis is a scientific work in which corpus delict and punishment of a criminal offense against justice, committed in the form of bringing a deliberately innocent person to justice (Art. 372 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), is established. Also, its mandatory and optional signs are established, and the features of bringing to justice are revealed guilty and innocent persons. The author provided recommendations on improving the current criminal legislation and the project of the new Criminal Code of Ukraine, taking into account foreign and international experience.
The first section is devoted to the determination of the object of bringing to justice a deliberately innocent person. The general object of criminal offenses against justice is formulated, within which the author distinguishes species, subspecies and direct (main and additional) objects of bringing a deliberately innocent person to justice. At the same time, the subspecies object has been defined as public relations in the sphere of compliance with constitutional principles of activity and the possibility of proper performance of functions by the prosecution – bodies of inquiry, pre-trial investigation and prosecutor's office. It has been formulated for the first time. The concept and the physical, social and legal characteristics of the subject of a criminal offense have been outlined as a notification of suspicion. This have been defined as an official document drawn up in accordance with the requirements of Art. 277 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, and must be delivered to the person such prescribed by the criminal procedural legislation. Special types of victims have been established under Art. 372 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (persons who have been notified of suspicion of committing a serious or particularly serious crime; minors; persons subject to coercive measures of a medical nature).
The second section has connected with analysis of the actus reus of the criminal offense provided for in Art. 372 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The forms of committing a dangerous act have been distinguished according to the subjective criterion: for the prosecutor – preparation by himself, signing and delivery of a written notification of suspicion, as well as approval of a notification of suspicion drawn up by an investigator or inquirer; for the investigator – preparation and handing over a written notification of suspicion; for the inquirer – only the preparation of a written notification of suspicion.
New dangerous actions have been identified for this type of criminal offense in the form of an appeal to the court with an indictment, with a request for release from criminal responsibility against such a person. A new dangerous action in relation to a legal entity is proposed – notification to an innocent person of suspicion of committing crimes on behalf and in the interests of a legal entity, which entails the entry of relevant information into the Criminal Code, the indictment and the application of criminal law measures to the legal entity, provided by Art. 96-6 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
A complex modus operandi of bringing a deliberately innocent person to justice has been formulated as an abuse of office by a person authorized to report suspicion, which is committed in the form of written intellectual deception. The situation of the crime "during the pre-trial investigation" is defined as a mandatory feature of actus reus.
Circumstances that aggravate criminal responsibility have been investigated. The need to indicate additional circumstances that aggravate criminal responsibility has been argued, namely: committing "in relation to a minor, or applying to the court with a request to apply coercive measures of an educational or medical nature in relation to a deliberately innocent person" (Part 2 of Article 372 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The exclusion of such an aggravating circumstance as the artificial creation of prosecution evidence or other falsification has been substantiated, and a separate criminalization of such actions has been proposed.
The third section is devoted to the study of mens rea of bringing a deliberately innocent person to justice. Emphasis has been placed on the possibility of committing this act exclusively with direct intent and the impracticality of considering a mixed form of guilt in relation to this action. The meaningful content of the direct intent has been improved, based on its intellectual and volitional features. It has been argued that it was impossible to exclude the term "awareness" from the legislative construction of mens rea of this criminal offense, as this may lead to a change in the definition of the form of guilt from direct intent to other forms in Art. 372 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. A circumstance aggravating criminal responsibility, "for mercenary or corrupt motives" has been proposed in part.
