On the question of criminal organization as a form of compatibility

The article is devoted to the characterization of a criminal organization as a form of complicity.

Organized crime is a negative social phenomenon that is caused by social relations that arise as a result of human activity.

In the current Criminal Code of Ukraine, the criminal organization has found expression as the most dangerous form. The need to define this form of complicity, its typical and specific features is caused primarily by the rapid growth of organized crime. A criminal organization is an association of people in which anti-social collective sentiments are most pronounced. In this formation of persons, stable connections are established, which acquire organizational forms, and a cohesive community is formed, the purpose of which is to engage in criminal activity.

It is worth noting that the science of criminal law has long known the criminal organization as a form of complicity, but scholars have either considered it as a kind of organized group or singled out as an independent form of complicity. The legislator has long portrayed the criminal organization in the Special Part as independent components of a criminal offense, which has led to little practice in their application and almost complete underdevelopment of the criminal law aspect of this problem. Unfortunately, the establishment and study of the content and features of the concept of "criminal organization" has not received due attention among the scientific community.

Given the analysis of the categories of resilience and cohesion, some scholars advise removing the concept of "criminal organization" from the law on criminal responsibility, because, in their opinion, it is almost impossible to establish any differences between it and an organized group.

There is an opinion in the legal literature that two new terms should be included in the law on criminal liability - "criminal activity" and "organized criminal activity". Thus, it is possible to distinguish such levels of complicity as complicity in crime and complicity in organized crime.

The concept of "criminal activity" is proposed by scientists to define an organized group. Also, this concept is used in the text of some articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, one meaning of this term was not defined. In psychological science, the category of "activity" is generally defined as the conscious manifestation of human activity. Unlike the one-time manifestation of the latter, which is an act (action), an activity is a system of interconnected common needs, goals and sequences of actions, deeds, operations, smaller in scope. Criminal activity is considered by scientists as a system of intentional purposeful non-simultaneous actions of members of a criminal organization, subordinated to a single goal - to ensure the commission of crimes.

It was stated that the criminal law doctrine has long known this form of complicity, but jurists either saw this formation as one of the varieties of an organized group, or singled it out as a separate form of complicity. Some authors have doubts about the feasibility of such an institution. As a result, there are many problems with the nature and content of the concept of criminal organization and its main features, which gives rise to constant debate among scientists.