QUALIFICATION OF IMPORT OF GOODS INTO UKRAINE UNDER THE FORM OF HUMANITARIAN AID

Abstract

The article is devoted to the consideration of the question of qualification of import of goods into Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian aid, which is debatable in the theory of criminal law and in judicial practice. It is stated that the basis for the application of Art. 201-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (CC) was mainly the fictitious definition of property purchased and delivered to Ukraine (most often cars) as humanitarian aid for the purpose of its further sale. It is shown that the spread of such practice was facilitated by the introduction of a simplified procedure for customs clearance and exemption from taxation of goods marked as humanitarian aid with the beginning of the large-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine. The approach widespread among law enforcement officers, according to which, when incriminating a violation of Art. 201-2 of the CC, the documented fact of customs clearance of a certain cargo as humanitarian aid acquires self-sufficient significance, is subjected to critical assessment. The potential of other criminal law prohibitions that may be useful in qualifying the analyzed behavior is revealed. The prevalence of the latter is recognized as one of the arguments in favor of recriminalization of commodity smuggling, committed in Ukraine in December 2023. It is established that the appearance in the Criminal Code of Art. 201-4 marked the beginning of a new stage in criminal law counteraction to customs and tax abuse with cars and other goods fictitiously (unfoundedly) imported into Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian aid. Certain aspects of the criminal law characteristics of smuggling of excisable goods are revealed, which should be taken into account when qualifying the aforementioned abuses. The materials of relevant judicial practice are analyzed. The prevalence of erroneous law enforcement practice is noted, within which the actions of those who, in the manner considered, imported cars into Ukraine to evade customs taxation after July 1, 2024, that is, after the entry into force of the law on the restoration of criminal liability for commodity smuggling, were qualified not under Art. 222 or Art. 201-4 (depending on the value of vehicles illegally imported as humanitarian aid), but under Art. 201-2 of the Criminal Code. The opinion is expressed about the subjectivity of the relevant criminal offenses as one of the factors contributing to the spread of such erroneous practice.