THE ROLE OF PEDESTRIANS AS A CIRCUMSTANCES SUBJECT TO CLARIFICATION IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS UNDER ARTICLE 286 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The modern practice of criminal proceedings under Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine exists in the paradigm of a stable, virtually template construction regarding the clarification of the circumstances of the commission of criminal offenses provided for by the specified article of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Such applied template is an echo of the the- oretically defined criminal-legal characteristics of the crime provided for in Article 286 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which are to a certain extent identical for all crimes with a material component. During criminal proceedings, the signs of the specified criminal offense, in the form of relevant circumstances, are subject to proof in accordance with Article 91 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. At the same time, violation of road traffic safety rules or transport operation by persons driving vehicles is a criminal offense with complex subjective and objective sides, the elements of which must include the mandatory determination of the role of a pedestrian as an integral element of the structure of this crime. The determination of the role of pedestrians consists in the clarified manifestation of their behavior, the degree of participation and the degree of influence on the mechanism of a road accident, as well as the occurrence of the corresponding conse- quences. The clarification of these circumstances occurs through the prism of pedestrians’ compliance with their duties defined by current national legislation.The article emphasizes the importance of clarifying the obligation of pedestrians to use reflective elements (tape, sticker, vest, etc.) to move along the carriageway or roadside during the dark and in conditions of insufficient visibility or to wear clothing with reflective elements for their timely detection by other road users. It is noted that the obligation of pedestrians to use reflective elements during the dark and in conditions of insufficient visibility is one of the most ignored by them.However, failure of pedestrians to comply with this obligation in modern road traffic realities quite often plays a key role in the occurrence of emergency situations and, ultimately, the commission of road accidents by drivers. The author’s point of view is expressed that, under the conditions of clarifying the facts of pedestrians’ failure to fulfill their duties stipulated by the Road Traffic Rules, which as a result had a significant impact on the commission of a road accident, such cases should be taken into account by the courts as circumstances mitigating the punishment for subjects of criminal offenses stipulated by Article 286 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.