Interference in the activity of judicial bodies (Article 376 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine): topical issues of criminal law qualification

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of certain problematic issues of criminal law qualification of interference with the judiciary. The author emphasizes the importance of criminal law protection of judicial independence and notes the low quality of work of criminal justice authorities in pre-trial investigation and trial of the relevant category of torts. The article analyzes official statistical data (2020 - 2022) and reveals a critical disproportion between the ratio of criminal proceedings registered by pre-trial investigation authorities and indictments submitted to court, as well as the facts of excessive duration of their consideration by courts.
The article summarizes the research positions regarding the distinction between interference with the judiciary and other types of unlawful influence on persons involved in the direct administration of justice through the use of mental or physical violence; destruction or damage to property; and attempts on life (Articles 377-379 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), and identifies two main approaches. The author advocates the position on the correlation of these rules as general and special. The author assesses special rules as the result of differentiation of criminal liability by the legislator. The features of the general rule are detailed in special corpus delicti by specifying the list of victims and methods of criminal behavior. The compliance with the general requirement for the construction of sanctions of criminal law provisions, whereby the sanctions of special provisions (Articles 377-379) differ from the sanctions of the general provision (Article 376) in the direction of strengthening (additional features increase the degree of social danger of torts), should be considered as an additional confirmation. The author supports the position that additional qualification of the guilty subject’s behavior under Article 376 is permissible only if there is a real set of torts.