Sokolov, Dmytro (2024). CRIMINOLOGY CHARACTERISTICS OF CRIMINAL OFFENSES IN THE SPHERE OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT IN UKRAINE. Social and Human Sciences. Polish-Ukrainian scientific journal (https://issn2391-4165.webnode.com.ua/), 03 (43).

CRIMINOLOGY CHARACTERISTICS OF CRIMINAL OFFENSES IN THE SPHERE OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT IN UKRAINE

Sokolov, Dmytro, Scientific Research Institute of Public Law (Ukraine, Kyiv), PhD student, igor.kopotun@gmail.com;

SUMMARY

The article attempts to reveal some elements of the criminological characteristics of criminal offenses in the field of public procurement in Ukraine.

It is noted that in today's conditions, crime in this area is marked by a high level of latency and impunity for those guilty of criminal offenses, which is due to both objective trends of social development and miscalculations in the organization and implementation of preventive activities of controlling and law enforcement agencies.

The scientific article deals with the issue of prevention of criminal offenses in the field of public procurement in Ukraine. It is noted that public procurement is the purchase of goods, works and services by the customer in accordance with the procedure established by law.

The subject of procurement is goods, works or services procured by the customer within the framework of a single procurement procedure or within the scope of simplified procurement, for which participants are allowed to submit tenders or proposals at negotiations.

The main principles on which public procurement should be based include: fairness and equality of participants, transparency, efficiency and economy of the use of public funds, stimulating national production and the labor market, ensuring national security, social justice, regional development, supporting small and medium-sized businesses, environmental protection, etc.

Public procurement procedures are highly complex, which increases the risks of offenses in this field, including corruption and fraud. This, in turn, can lead to negative consequences, such as inappropriate and inefficient use of budget funds, which, in turn, causes a lack of income to the state budget.

Criminal actions encroaching on the budget sphere pose a serious threat to the criminological security of the state. They not only contribute to the development of the shadow economy, but also complicate the performance of the state's social functions.

One of the most vulnerable spheres in Ukraine is public procurement, which suffers from criminal manifestations and corruption. Criminal offenses in the field of public procurement should be considered socially dangerous actions that involve the misuse of public (budget) funds during public procurement.

At the same time, such diversity complicates the control and detection of these criminal offenses by law enforcement and control bodies. Therefore, the main task of these bodies is the eradication of abuses in the process of public procurement, tender procedures and the elimination of schemes that allow to minimize the payment of payments.

As a result of the irrational and inefficient use of budget funds, as well as the failure of the state to fulfill its budget obligations, social problems are worsening. This leads to an increase in the gap between the majority of the population, which is forced to fight for survival, and those who get rich quickly by misappropriating public resources.

The impunity of officials involved in embezzlement of budget funds undermines the authority of the law, and in the public consciousness a sense of defenselessness of citizens is formed both before crime and before the authorities.

In this regard, the sphere of public procurement is increasingly becoming the object of attention of criminals, who have begun to use it as a means of quick and usually impunity for unjust enrichment. This leads to the weakening of socio-legal control over the situation in the country, the growth of ties between state and local self-government bodies and criminal structures, as well as their penetration into the administrative sphere.

Key words: public procurement, budget, funds, corruption, criminal offenses, prevention.

КРИМІНОЛОГІЧНА ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКА КРИМІНАЛЬНИХ ПРАВОПОРУШЕНЬ У СФЕРІ ДЕРЖАВНИХ ЗАКУПІВЕЛЬ В УКРАЇНІ

Соколов, Дмитро, НДІ публічного права (Україна, Київ), аспірант, igor.kopotun@gmail.com

АНОТАЦІЯ

У статті зроблено спробу розкрити окремі елементи кримінологічної характеристики кримінальних правопорушень у сфері державних закупівель в Україні.

Зазначається, що в сучасних умовах злочинність у цій сфері відзначається високим рівнем латентності та безкарності винних у вчиненні кримінальних правопорушень, що зумовлено як об’єктивними тенденціями розвитку суспільства, так і прорахунками в організації та здійсненні профілактичної діяльності контролюючих та правоохоронних органів.

Наукова стаття присвячена питанню запобігання кримінальним правопорушенням у сфері державних закупівель в Україні. Зазначається, що публічна закупівля – це закупівля замовником товарів, робіт і послуг у встановленому законодавством порядку.

Предметом закупівлі є товари, роботи чи послуги, що закуповуються замовником в рамках єдиної процедури закупівлі або в рамках спрощеної процедури закупівлі, щодо яких учасники мають право подавати тендерні пропозиції або пропозиції на переговорах.

До основних принципів, на яких мають базуватися публічні закупівлі, відносяться: справедливість та рівноправність учасників, прозорість, ефективність та економічність використання державних коштів, стимулювання національного виробництва та ринку праці, забезпечення національної безпеки, соціальної справедливості, регіонального розвитку, підтримка малого та середнього бізнесу, захист навколишнього середовища тощо.

Процедури державних закупівель є надзвичайно складними, що підвищує ризики правопорушень у цій сфері, зокрема корупції та шахрайства. Це, у свою чергу, може призвести до таких негативних наслідків, як нецільове та неефективне використання бюджетних коштів, що, у свою чергу, спричиняє недоотримання доходів державного бюджету.

Злочинні дії, що посягають на бюджетну сферу, становлять серйозну загрозу кримінологічній безпеці держави. Вони не лише сприяють розвитку тіньової економіки, а й ускладнюють виконання державою соціальних функцій.

Однією з найбільш вразливих сфер в Україні є державні закупівлі, яка потерпає від кримінальних проявів та корупції. Кримінальними правопорушеннями у сфері державних закупівель слід вважати суспільно небезпечні дії, пов’язані з нецільовим використанням державних (бюджетних) коштів під час здійснення державних закупівель.

Водночас така різноманітність ускладнює контроль та розкриття цих кримінальних правопорушень правоохоронними та контролюючими органами. Тому основним завданням цих органів є викорінення зловживань у процесі державних закупівель, тендерних процедур та усунення схем, які дозволяють мінімізувати сплату платежів.

Внаслідок нераціонального та неефективного використання бюджетних коштів, а також невиконання державою своїх бюджетних зобов’язань загострюються соціальні проблеми. Це призводить до збільшення розриву між більшістю населення, яка змушена боротися за виживання, і тими, хто швидко збагачується за рахунок нецільового використання державних ресурсів.

Безкарність посадових осіб, причетних до розкрадання бюджетних коштів, підриває авторитет закону, а в суспільній свідомості формується відчуття беззахисності громадян як перед злочинністю, так і перед владою.

У зв'язку з цим сфера державних закупівель все частіше стає об'єктом уваги зловмисників, які почали використовувати її як засіб швидкого і, як правило, безкарного безпідставного збагачення. Це призводить до послаблення соціально-правового контролю за ситуацією в країні, зростання зв'язків органів державної влади та місцевого самоврядування з кримінальними структурами, а також їх проникнення в адміністративну сферу.

Ключові слова: державні закупівлі, бюджет, кошти, корупція, кримінальні правопорушення, профілактика.

 

Statement of the problem. At the current stage of Ukraine's development, the budget system plays an important role. According to part 1 Art. 95 of the Constitution of Ukraine, it is based on the principles of fair and impartial distribution of public wealth between citizens and territorial communities.

The main goal of this system is to ensure a new quality of economic, social and humanitarian development, as well as the integration of Ukraine into the European Union. One of the key reasons affecting the effectiveness of the use of the budget as the main element of the financial system of the state is the inappropriate use of budget funds.

This includes spending from the budget or providing loans without specified budget allocations or exceeding them (Article 210 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The reported volume of criminal offenses related to public procurement, although showing a slight decrease, still remains at a high level. This indicates the degree of public danger, which requires the implementation of systemic measures for prevention.

Today, the economy is considered as a way of life of people and society, which includes relations between them, which are regulated by legal norms. These norms contribute to the rational use of resources for the production of various goods and services, as well as the satisfaction of the vital needs of participants in socio-economic relations.

The structure of the economy includes: the state as a regulator of economic relations in society; people in the role of producers, consumers and managers; nature; means of production; infrastructure; consumer goods; intellectual activity and information.

From a criminological point of view, all structural elements of the economy are of great importance for research and solving the problems of economic crime prevention. However, the main factor and structural element of the economy are people who interact in various Therefore, the main goal of any economic activity is to obtain the maximum amount of resources to meet the needs of society and its participants [1, p. 125-126].

Today, one of the key problems of the Ukrainian government is to bring the economy out of the shadows and overcome the criminalization of public life. Solving these issues directly affects the formation of civil society, the creation of a rule of law, the development of a socially oriented economy, as well as the achievement of sustainable economic development and modern European social standards for all citizens.

One of the priority areas of economic crime research in Ukraine is criminal offenses in the field of public procurement, since most economic offenses are directly or indirectly related to state budget funds [2, p. 169-170].

Creating an effective crime prevention system in Ukraine is impossible without an analysis of the current state of crime and its trends. The relevance and magnitude of this task are determined by at least two groups of interrelated reasons.

First, there is a high level of crime in Ukraine, as well as constant reorganization of the law enforcement system, which negatively affects its effectiveness. This is due to both objective and subjective factors, in particular, continuous reforms of law enforcement agencies and the judicial system, which lead to insufficient efficiency of their activities. As a result, there is a high level of latent crime and impunity for persons guilty of criminal offenses.

The second group of reasons consists in the need to develop a new concept of crime prevention, which takes into account the high level of criminalization, as well as the state and society's capabilities for joint effective and systematic countermeasures against criminal manifestations. It also involves the elimination of errors and shortcomings of previous conceptual approaches to the organization of crime prevention, its provision and practical implementation.

Thus, "the study and criminological analysis of the determinants of crime, its quantitative and qualitative indicators" at the current stage of the development of Ukrainian society is a necessary condition for the implementation of criminological support for the prevention of crime in Ukraine [4, p. 225-226].

As part of the analysis of quantitative indicators, special attention should be paid to the high latency of this type of criminal offense. Studying expert evaluations, it can be argued that the most common is the so-called natural latency. Its reasons are the high level of professionalism of criminals, as well as the absence of a specific victim who would be interested in bringing the culprit to criminal responsibility.

The reasons for this can be various: corruption, demonstration of an artificially high level of effectiveness of preventive measures, etc. Among these reasons, corruption in law enforcement agencies is particularly significant. The positive dynamics of corruption offenses among their personnel indirectly indicates the growth of artificial latency in the field of official forgery in their activities.

Corruption in Ukraine has its own specific features and is significantly different from corruption phenomena in developed countries. Without understanding these features, it is impossible to develop effective and systematic measures for its prevention and countermeasures. Modern corruption is characterized by a crisis type, as it is caused by the crisis in Ukrainian society, and not only by the shortcomings of criminal justice.

This phenomenon is capable of deepening the crisis, nullifying any political, economic, legal and social reforms in Ukraine. Corruption - illegal gain in state authorities, the fusion of business with politics and organized criminal activity at the state level is recognized as one of the threats to the national interests and national security of Ukraine [5, p. 70-71].

Therefore, the general problem of determining crime, as well as its individual types, is interconnected and at the same time constitutes one of the key topics in criminology, which has a significant impact on the effectiveness of preventive measures taken by law enforcement agencies.

When analyzing the concept of the causes of crime through the prism of the philosophical doctrine of causality, along with the term "cause", which causes a certain consequence, it is important to take into account the concept of "condition". The condition is not the direct cause of the effect, but it contributes to the realization of the cause, so to speak, opens opportunities for committing a criminal offense.

The problem of causality in criminology is important not only for theoretical research, but also for practical measures. It allows implementing comprehensive systemic measures to prevent crime, involving not only law enforcement agencies, but also economic, social and other resources available to society and the state.

At the same time, based on the philosophical understanding of these concepts, it should be noted that in criminology it is difficult to make a clear distinction between causes and conditions. Causes can be defined as "processes and phenomena that directly lead to crime." Conditions are not direct causes of crime, but "create conditions" for their action, facilitating the occurrence of socially dangerous consequences. Conditions can be various "deficiencies in management and organization" in the activities of various sectors of the economy and state apparatus [9, p. 171-172].

Determinants of crime can be classified into several categories: national, regional, local, macrosocial, and microsocial. At the same time, taking into account the mechanism of their influence on crime, they can be divided into general, affecting the criminogenic situation as a whole, and special, which have specific spheres of influence. This allows us to determine socio-economic, legal and organizational-management factors influencing the determinants of crime [10, p. 163-164].

Socio-economic determinants. Socio-economic factors in the system of criminological determinants of economic crime are key, as they affect the criminal behavior of not only individuals, but also the criminogenic situation in society as a whole.

These factors represent a complex of historically changing negative phenomena in economic life, which, on the one hand, form a certain level of economic and legal consciousness of the population, and on the other hand, create conditions in the sphere of production, distribution and exchange of material goods that contribute to the satisfaction of people's vital needs through criminal activities.

Normative and legal determinants. Legal norms that regulate economic relations can have a negative impact on the criminogenic situation if they do not meet the goals of socio-economic development of society and the requirements of objective economic laws. From a criminological perspective, this is a key aspect for understanding the legal factors that determine economic crime.

Organizational and managerial determinants. Organizational and administrative factors that contribute to the occurrence of economic crimes include shortcomings in the work of the mechanism of state management of economic processes and the formation of its apparatus.

This also includes the performance of control and administrative functions without taking into account their economic feasibility and tasks aimed at preventing economic crime. The existence of this group of determinants is primarily related to deficiencies in the activities of law enforcement and control bodies, in particular in aspects of their structural organization, performance of basic and additional functions, training and deployment of personnel, etc.

To date, there is no clear mechanism of interaction between law enforcement agencies, controlling institutions and elements of the economic system [11, p. 274-275]. The vast majority of criminals are married, with little legal income. Mostly, such persons act with a selfish motive. It is characterized by an increased sense of independence from the legal system, an orientation towards meeting one's own needs using any means and with a clear awareness of the illegality of one's actions [12, p. 195-196].

Conclusions. Thus, it should be noted that today one of the main problems faced by the Ukrainian authorities is bringing the economy out of the shadows and overcoming the criminalization of public life. Solving these issues has a direct impact on the formation of civil society, the creation of a rule of law, the development of a socially oriented economy, as well as the achievement of sustainable economic development and modern European social standards for all citizens. One of the priority areas of economic crime research in Ukraine is criminal offenses in the field of public procurement, since most economic crimes are directly or indirectly related to state budget funds.

It is known that one of the elements of the criminological characteristics of crime is the determination of its determining factors. Criminologists emphasize that the question of determining crime in general, as well as its individual types and specific offenses, is one of the main problems of criminology.

In our opinion, the importance of this problem lies in the fact that without its solution it is practically impossible to ensure effective crime prevention. The criminological characterization of criminal offenses in the field of public procurement should also include the characterization of persons who committed misappropriation of budget funds.

The criminological characterization of criminal offenses in the field of public procurement should also include the characterization of persons who committed misappropriation of budget funds. This makes it possible to determine the socio-demographic structure of such persons, their educational level and age category, as well as to individualize the motives for committing a criminal offense.

 

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