DEFINE ILLEGAL FISHING, ANIMAL OR OTHER AQUATIC PRODUCING FROM THEFT

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the composition of the criminal offense provided for in Article 249 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The features of the subject of illegal fishing, animal or other water-based fishing are studied, with the help of which this criminal offense can be distinguished from related criminal offenses, in particular, theft. Thus, it has been established that the subject of the criminal offense provided for in Article 249 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is aquatic living resources that are not separated from the natural environment or in which human labor has not been invested. When distinguishing illegal fishing, hunting, or other water-based exploitation from theft, it is necessary to take into account that for the criminal offense provided for in Article 249 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, property rights are only an additional object, the main damage is caused to the environment. The subject of illegal fishing, animal or other aquatic exploitation may be aquatic living resources that are not separated from the natural environment or in which human labor has not been invested, unlike the subject of theft. Significant damage as a sign of the objective side of a criminal offense provided for in Article 249 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, although it may have a value expression, is more complex in nature and must take into account other factors, in particular non-material losses to the environment. A person engaged in illegal water-based fishing can be held criminally liable only upon reaching the age of 16, unlike theft, for which liability arises from the age of 14. A sign of the subjective side of a criminal offense, provided for by Article 249 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, is the fact of the guilty person's awareness that aquatic organisms that are the subject of the criminal offense are not separated from the natural environment and are not the property of another person.