ON THE ISSUE OF DETERMINING THE CIRCUMSTANCES TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT BY THE COURTS WHEN APPROVING PLEA AGREEMENTS IN CASES OF CORRUPTION OFFENSES

УДК 343.137.9

ORCID: 0000-0002-5637-3290

DOI 10.37566/2707-6849-2023-4(45)-12

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Marina  DEMURA,

Senior Lecturer at the Department of Criminal Procedure of Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, PhD in Law, Associate Professor

ON THE ISSUE OF DETERMINING THE CIRCUMSTANCES TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT BY THE COURTS WHEN APPROVING PLEA AGREEMENTS IN CASES OF CORRUPTION OFFENSES

         In the article, based on the analysis of law enforcement practice, we highlight the following as circumstances that courts take into account when considering and approving a plea agreement in cases of corruption offenses: 1) the degree of social danger of the offense and the role of the person in the committed act; 2) compliance of the terms of the agreement with the interests of society. The analysis of court decisions made it possible to state that the presence of public interest is justified by the following factors: provision of quick court proceedings, which will ensure full, timely and inevitable punishment of suspects for committing a criminal offense, exposure of other involved persons; prevention of repeated commission of criminal offenses both by the suspects themselves and by other persons; 3) consent of the victim to the conclusion of the agreement (in the case when the damage, including, is also caused to private interests). Analyzed court decisions regarding agreements in criminal proceedings show that most of them contain the following wording: there is no victim in this criminal proceeding, the criminal offense did not harm the legally protected rights, freedoms, and interests of individual citizens, or state or public interests, or the interests of legal entities; 4) the voluntariness of entering into an agreement, which is defined in court decisions as follows: verbal confirmation and provision of truthful incriminating statements about oneself, absence of complaints about the actions, inaction and decisions of the prosecution, the fact that such an agreement was initiated by the defense; 5) establishing the fact of taking actions aimed at strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities or the obligation to take such actions in the future. With such actions, the court recognizes the following: the transfer of funds to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine in conditions of full-scale military aggression on the territory of Ukraine by the Russian Federation is directly related to the well-being, stability and security of Ukrainian society; the readiness to allocate a significant amount of funds to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine characterizes the person of the accused, in particular, his active volunteering and the declared desire to participate in the financing of the purchase of drones for the needs of the defense of Ukraine, etc.

Key words:corruption offenses, plea agreement, terms of the agreement, public interest, victim's consent, voluntariness, martial law.

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