About the possibility of applying Art. 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in the version dated January 16, 2003 after the new version of this article entered into force on December 6, 2019
Authors: Berzin P. , Volynets R. , Berzina A. 
Published: April 2023

e entered into force on December 6, 2019.

The article analyses the peculiarities of the ratio of different editions of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code - dated January 16, 2003 and December 6, 2019, as well as the content of the elements of a criminal offense, which were provided for by these revisions of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code. The "extent" of the criminal illegality of the criminal offense provided for in Art. 209 of the Criminal Code as amended on January 16, 2003.  It is determined that in Art. 209 of the Criminal Code, dated January 16, 2003, one of the alternative types of actions constituting "legalization (laundering) of income" should be considered "committing a financial transaction or transaction with funds or other property", and in Art. 209 of the Criminal Code in the version of December 16, 2019, the content of "legalization (laundering) of property" separate alternative varieties of "acquisition, possession, use, disposal of property" (one of such varieties in Article 209 of the Criminal Code in the version of December 16, 2019 is "invalidity"). financial transaction, execution of a transaction with such property").

It is justified that the new edition of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code in the version dated December 6, 2019 provides for a broader content (scope) of the relevant element of the criminal offense than the subject of the same actions provided for by the previous version of this article of the Criminal Code of January 16, 2003. In addition, it is proved that the changed mechanism of legalization (laundering) of property provided for in Art. 209 of the Criminal Code in the version dated December 6, 2019, compared to the mechanism of legalization (laundering) according to the previous version of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code dated January 16, 2003, is broader in its content (scope). The actual situation is under consideration, when the act, which was qualified under Art. 209 of the Criminal Code as amended from January 16, 2003 until the new version of this article of the Criminal Code entered into force on December 6, 2019, but after this Article 209 of the Criminal Code was presented in a new version. For the legal assessment of this situation, a scientific interpretation of Part 2 of Art. 4 of the Criminal Code and the specifics of the application of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code as amended on January 16, 2003, depending on the interpretation of Part 2 of Art. 4 of the Criminal Code. It is being clarified whether it is possible to apply the ultraactive effect of part 3 of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code in the version dated January 16, 2003, if it includes legislative provisions, some of which improve, and others worsen, the situation of the person who is indicted under Part 3 of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code as amended on January 16, 2003. It is concluded that the effect of the "law on criminal responsibility" should be related to its validity in accordance with the immediate (direct) and prospective effect, retroactive effect of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code as amended on December 6, 2019, with the ultra-active effect of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code as amended on January 16, 2003. The impossibility of the "combined" option of applying part 3 of Art. 209 as amended on January 16, 2003 and Part 3 of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code as amended on December 6, 2019.