On the Issue of Determining the Age when Developing a Methodology for Investigating Crimes Involving Minors

The aspects relevant to criminalistic theory related to the definition of the concept of “age”, laid down in legislation and theory, and which can have a significant impact on the development of methods for investigating crimes involving minors as a basic one on the basis of the commonality of the subject of research, are considered. It is established that the existing approaches to the definition of such a category as age, both in science and from the position of the legislator, are not ideal, and do not meet all the goals of ongoing research where age is the main object of research, since they use only part of the existing characteristics to determine age. The analysis of the current legislation made it possible to demonstrate the lack of unity in determining age and the presence of attempts to take into account the nature of regulated legal relations as the basis for determining age. It is revealed that in view of the fact that it is age as a characterizing category that affects many aspects in the study of the personality of a minor within the framework of the investigation of crimes with their participation methodology, it should form the basis of the behavioral mechanisms of the subject of the considered methodology as the most influential element. The conclusion is made about the relevance of using a conditional approach when characterizing such a criterion as the age of a minor, due to the insufficiency and impossibility of meeting all the needs facing the forensic methodology, using only a chronological concretized (absolutely formal) approach. Determining the meaning of age and a clear understanding of the patterns of psychological development dependent on it, affecting the possibility of involving a minor in criminal activity, allowed us to reflect the complexity of the study of this category. This is especially true within the framework of the rule of law, when the basis of its development, strengthening and prosperity determines the ability of the younger generation to follow the legal rules and boundaries existing in society. Various issues of the influence of age on the possibility of using this category in order to identify, disclose and investigate crimes involving minors have been studied. Multitasking is justified in the study of the age of a minor involved directly or indirectly in criminal activity, as the main element in personality characteristics. The emphasis is placed on the need for an integrated approach to the study of age, as the only true and satisfying the needs of both the forensic theory and the practice of investigating cases underlying the development of the investigation methodology under study.