EXCISE GOODS AS THE OBJECT OF ILLICIT TRADE: CHALLENGES OF DEFINITION IN THE CONTEXT OF FORMULATING AND IMPLEMENTING CRIMINAL LAW POLICY

Abstract

Abstract. The article offers a comprehensive legal analysis of the concept of excise goods as the object of the crime under Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Drawing on statistical data, judicial practice, and theoretical approaches, it demonstrates that a purely formal-legal interpretation-focused exclusively on the provisions of regulatory (tax) legislation-is insufficient for effective law enforcement and therefore unacceptable. It is argued that when applying Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, alcoholic beverages as a type of excise goods should be defined by the following features: 1) they are produced through the alcoholic fermentation of sugar-containing materials or manufactured from food-grade spirits; 2) they contain more than 1.2% ethanol by volume; 3) the product is designed to imitate (or copy) a legally produced alcoholic beverage (including through the use of counterfeit excise stamps), and the offender engages in unlawful conduct with it as an excise good defined by regulatory law. The article supports the view that the concept of alcoholic beverages as excise goods is partially blanket in nature, and therefore should be interpreted comprehensively-by referring to the legally defined features of this category of goods, while also considering the purpose of the criminal prohibition, which is to counteract the circulation of illegally produced (illicit) alcoholic beverages. These are goods that can be regarded as excise both because of their normative (legal) characteristics and because they, in practice, belong to the category of goods that imitate excise products. The article also examines and analyses the evolution of the views of judges of Ukraine’s highest judicial instance on this issue of criminal law qualification. In particular, it reviews the position of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, which in its ruling supported and developed the view mentioned above, concluding that the concept of excise goods as the object of the crime under Article 204 of the Criminal Code has a "hybrid" nature, combining certain normative and factual features.

Keywords: excise goods; criminal offences in economic activity; sources of criminal law; criminal law qualification; corpus delicti; blanket norms; criminal law policy.