On the issue of countering the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by means of administrative and criminal law

Abstract

The study highlights the dynamics of legislative changes and the current state of legal regulation of administrative and criminal liability for violations of quarantine rules. The shortcomings of the relevant legislative provisions were revealed, in particular, a conclusion was made about the violation of the principle of system-legal coherence of administrative and criminal legislation. Thus, there are issues about the delimitation of the provisions of the administrative provided in the Art. 44-3 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and criminal offenses provided in the Art. 325 of the Criminal Code (in terms of such consequences as the threat of harm, specified in the part 1 of the Article 325 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). In addition, there is an excessive severity of sanctions in the Art. 44-3 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and their incompatibility with the sanctions of the Art. 325 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In the context of the settled case law of the European Court of Human Rights the fine under the part 1 of the Art. 443 of the Code of Administrative Offenses based on its size and subject to appointment may be recognized as corresponding to a criminal offense within the meaning of the Art. 7 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Another drawback of the legislation is the lack of enshrining a criminal offense for violating quarantine regulations. On the basis of the conducted research it is offered to make changes to norms of the Art. 44-3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Art. 325 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in order to optimally regulate legal responsibility for violation of sanitary rules and regulations for the prevention of infectious diseases and mass poisoning (Article 325 of the Criminal Code), as well as quarantine rules (the Art. 44-3 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses). The main task of such changes is to construct a consistent chain of normatively established offenses in the field of compliance with quarantine rules (administrative offense - criminal offense – non-grave offense – grave offense) with adequate and proportionate responsibility for their commission.