Certain features of the criminal law provision establishing criminal liability for illegal enrichment

This academic article is devoted to the study of certain features of the criminal law provision establishing criminal liability for illegal enrichment. Thus, first and foremost, the article analyzes the genesis of the criminal law provision currently codified in Article 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The grounds necessitating the criminalization of illegal enrichment were examined, including, in particular, the ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption No. 251-V of October 18, 2006, provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine, and other legislative acts. In addition, this study analyzed the characteristics of the objective element of the criminal offence provided for in Article 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. It has been established that the legislative formulation of a socially dangerous act is somewhat imperfect, as it is necessary to specify the unlawful method of acquiring assets of a certain value, which is currently contained only in the title of the article. This conclusion is based on the fact that only if the activities of the person who enabled the enrichment violate the requirements of the law are there grounds for recognizing the act as a criminal offence and, accordingly, for its criminal classification. In the course of analyzing this criminal law provision, particular attention was paid to examining the acts preceding unlawful enrichment. Thus, it was established that unlawful enrichment may be preceded by any offence, not just criminal offences. Moreover, such offences need not necessarily be acts of corruption. This is explained, first and foremost, by the concise wording of the provision of Article 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which contains no indications to the contrary. The final part of the study is devoted to the relationship between Article 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and certain other elements of corruption-related criminal offences, namely Part 5 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 364, and Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The study analyzed one of the key principles of criminal classification — non bis in idem — on the basis of which it was concluded that it is impossible to classify a person’s actions simultaneously under Article 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and under Part 5 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 364, or Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.