Administrative Offense: Socially Dangerous or Socially Harmful Act?

The scientific article discusses issues related to the determination of the grounds for the occurrence of administrative responsibility as one of the types of legal liability. The authors investigate scientific positions regarding the signs of an administrative offense. In general, agreeing with the opinion of scientists regarding the signs of an administrative offense, the authors of the scientific article are critical of the identification of such a sign of an administrative offense as “public danger”. The paper analyzes the scientific literature, law enforcement practice and documents of state authorities, from which it follows that questions about the differentiation of “public harmfulness” or “public danger” of administrative offenses have not been resolved to date. Examining the materials of judicial practice, as well as decisions of higher courts, scientific positions of scientists, the authors come to the conclusion that administrative offenses are “socially harmful” acts. Otherwise, there would be no boundaries and differences between a crime and an administrative offense. The article also formulates the author’s concept of an administrative offense.