The Category of ‘Social Danger’ as a Criterion for Classifying Acts Against the Environment as Criminally Unlawful

The publication, based on the analysis of current legislation and the opinions of scientists, studies the essence and content of the category of "social danger" in combating criminal offenses against the environment. The conclusion is made that social danger is one of the essential features of the analyzed illegal acts and, at the same time, a socio-criminological prerequisite for their criminalization. The arguments are presented that the high degree of social danger of criminal offenses against the environment is due to the significance of protected social relations, a wide range of objects of encroachment, as well as a system of its criminological features associated with environmental risk and the ongoing nature of negative consequences (damage), the constant expansion of the range of socially dangerous encroachments, high latency, cross-border nature, and negative impact on all institutions of society. It is stated that the approach to assessing the social danger of criminal offenses against the environment reflected in the Criminal Code of Ukraine involves taking into account mostly real damage to the environment and society (with the exception of certain norms with a formal structure). It is substantiated that in the criminological sense, the social danger of criminal offenses against the environment has an objectivesubjective nature, since it is not only limited to the presence of objective damage or danger, but is also characterized by all that is subjective that was realized in the course of illegal activity - material and social damage caused when committing a socially dangerous act. It is noted that the overall assessment of the nature and content of the social danger of criminal offenses against the environment should be based on a systemic approach and analysis of the actually caused damage and its types, taking into account the existence of "cumulative" damage; the state of combating crime and compensation for damage. It is summarized that awareness of the degree and content of the public danger of each type of criminal offense against the environment, on the one hand, will allow an individual approach to punishment for its commission, and on the other hand, to optimize the system of measures to prevent and counteract such illegal acts.