Exemption from criminal liability due to changes in the situation

The relevance of the topic of the article is stipulated by the need for further disclosure of certain aspects of the issues related to exemption from criminal liability, including exemption from criminal liability due to changes in the situation. This has led to the aim of the article to disclose, based on the analysis of the provisions of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, established case law and doctrinal approaches, the specifics of exemption from criminal liability due to changes in the situation. The author defines the conditions for exemption from criminal liability due to changes in the situation, which, based on the analysis of article 48 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, include: 1) whether the act committed by the person belongs to criminal misdemeanors or minor crimes, except for the acts specified in this article; 2) whether the person committed such a criminal misdemeanor or minor crime for the first time. Taking into account the provisions of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and case law, the author provides a range of cases in which a person is not subject to exemption from criminal liability due to a change in the situation, and identifies cases in which a person is considered to have committed a crime for the first time. Based on the practice of the Supreme Court, there are two grounds for exemption from criminal liability under article 48 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: 1) loss of public danger by the act; 2) loss of public danger by the person who committed the act. It is substantiated that the change in the situation due to the loss of public danger by an act does not depend on the will of the perpetrator and in the vast majority of cases does not relate to a specific criminal offense committed by a person, but to all such acts, and its change due to the loss of public danger by a person depends on the will of that person and relates to a specific criminal offense committed by a person. A distinction is made between exemption from criminal liability due to changes in the situation and decriminalization of an act. Taking into account the doctrinal approaches, the author points out the expediency of distinguishing between the change of situation and indirect decriminalization. The author proves that a change in the situation is a legal fact which gives rise to the right of the court to release a person from criminal liability under article 48 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.