THE CONCEPT OF “CRIME RELATED TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE”: INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION IN JUDICIAL PRACTICE

Abstract

The article examines the approaches to the interpretation of the content and essence of the concept of “crime related to domestic violence”, its correlation with the criminal law provision establishing criminal liability for domestic violence, and the peculiarities of its application in court practice. It is argued that there are a number of problems in law enforcement which have arisen after the introduction of the institute of domestic violence into the criminal legislation of Ukraine, but some issues remain unresolved which complicate the work of both law enforcement agencies and the judiciary and therefore require legislative regulation. The author supports the position that the concept of “criminal offense related to domestic violence” is much broader than the content of the criminal law provision establishing criminal liability for “domestic violence” itself. Taking into account the scientific doctrine and the already established legal position of the Supreme Court, the author proposes to enshrine the concept of “criminal offense related to domestic violence” in the legislation, to provide for the possibility of imposing restrictive measures in the Criminal Code of Ukraine not only for crimes but also for criminal offenses, and thus to replace the terminology from “crime related to domestic violence” to “criminal offense related to domestic violence” in some of its provisions. It is concluded that the established practice of the Supreme Court enables the legislator to consolidate the concept of “criminal offense related to domestic violence” and to distinguish it from “domestic violence”, to eliminate the existing problems of legal regulation of the application of criminal law provisions which criminalize domestic violence, and thus to bring the national understanding of domestic violence closer to the international standards of the Istanbul Convention.