Inaccuracy of Information about the Property of the Subject of the Declaration as a Qualifying Feature of a Corruption-Related Offence

Abstract

The article investigates the composition of administrative offences and corruption-related crimes on the subject of “declaring inaccurate information about property and income”, criminal and administrative liability for their commission. Based on the comparative and legal analysis, the main differences of the mentioned corruption offences’ structures have been determined. It has been established that the basic differences in the composition of corruption administrative misconduct and corruption-related crime refer to the object (the value of the property concerning which inaccurate information has been submitted) and the subjective aspect. The distinctions in liability have been determined for submitting of deliberately inaccurate information in the declaration by the subject regarding the property or other objects of value. Judicial practice reveals that in case of an administrative offence, “the submission of deliberately inaccurate information” refers to the subjective aspect, whereas the qualification of a corruption-related crime takes place in the case of deliberate misrepresentations about property value by the declarant. Analysis of judicial practice in the Unified State Register of Judicial Decisions has revealed the following features: a fine is a common form of punishment; imprisonment is much less often used; evidence of fact that a person has committed an act in the form of non-filing, untimely submission of the declaration or submission of inaccurate information in the declaration is sufficient to make a conviction; lack of a thorough investigation of the subjective aspect of crimes with a predominance of judgments in favor of intent or submission of inaccurate information in a declaration; lack of a detailed investigation of the subjective aspect of crimes with a predominance of judgments in favor of criminal intent.