FEATURES OF THE INTERROGATION OF VICTIMS IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS ABOUT SEXUAL CRIMINAL OFFENSES

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the changes made to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which transformed the previously existing paradigm of criminal liability for encroachment on the sexual freedom and sexual integrity of a person and necessitated the revision of a number of fundamentally important criminal law and criminalistical provisions. It is emphasized that the change in the wording of the relevant articles in the Criminal Code of Ukraine was due to the implementation of the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on the prevention of violence against women and domestic violence and the fight against these phenomena. It was ratified by Ukraine. In connection with this, the problem arose of a fundamental revision of a number of provisions regarding the investigation of sexual criminal offenses outlined in the studies of past years. In particular, this concerns the interrogation of the victim, which is the most significant procedural action at the initial stage of the pre-trial investigation. The author defines the factors that determine the specifics of the victim's interrogation, which include: 1) the need to establish key circumstances that only the victim can know for sure: the nature of sexual acts; circumstances of vaginal, anal or oral penetration into her body; lack of voluntary consent to commit acts of a sexual nature; 2) the need to take into account the characteristics of the victim herself, related to the presence or absence of acquaintance with the suspect and the behavior that preceded the commission of violence.