Genesis of the development of liability for encroachment on archaeological heritage sites: the Soviet period (1917–1991)
Authors: Valuiev A.O. 
Published: March 2024

The article is devoted to the study of the Soviet period of development of liability for encroachment on archaeological heritage sites. The main legal acts inherent in this period are identified.

Having studied the peculiarities of the Soviet period, the author establishes that during the existence of the Soviet State the regulation of liability for trespass to cultural property, cultural and archaeological heritage has undergone significant changes, and as a result, this period can be divided into two stages.

The first stage is characterized by the fact that cultural property ceases to be the subject of special protection, being the subject of a crime, it is subject to protection by criminal law in the general order, if it falls under their scope. The legislative field is dominated by contradictory, ideologically aligned legal acts. Thus, the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR of 1922 was characterized by weak legal protection of cultural property. In addition, the lack of regulation of other types of encroachments on cultural property, such as theft, destruction or damage, etc. was a gap in the criminal legislation of the Ukrainian SSR. The subsequent Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR of 1927 contained only one provision protecting historical and cultural monuments from criminal attacks. It established liability for concealing collections and monuments of antiquity and art subject to registration, accounting, or transfer to state storage facilities.

At the second stage (from the mid-1940s), the state and society gradually realized the public danger of encroachments on cultural property. Legislation was updated, and responsibility for the destruction or damage of historical and cultural monuments was introduced and gradually increased. The Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR of 1960, on the one hand, abolished such a crime as concealment of collections and monuments of antiquity and art and archival materials subject to registration, accounting or transfer to state repositories, and on the other hand, introduced liability for the destruction or damage of cultural monuments. In 1983, the range of objects that could be encroached upon under Article 207 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR was expanded. In 1991, the Law of the USSR «On Criminal and Administrative Liability for Violation of Legislation on the Protection and Use of Historical and Cultural Monuments» was adopted, which established criminal liability for the following criminal acts: intentional destruction, destruction or damage to historical and cultural monuments (para. 1, Art. 1; intentional destruction, destruction or damage to historical and cultural monuments committed repeatedly or causing grave consequences (para. 2, Art. 1); desecration of a historical and cultural monument committed with exceptional cynicism (Art. 3); desecration of a historical and cultural monument without the signs provided for in Article 3 (Art. 5). The above provisions were to be incorporated into the criminal and administrative codes of the union republics. However, the legislator did not introduce the relevant amendments to the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR.