The structure of the forensic characteristics of offences under Article 200 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine

The article is devoted to determining the structure of the forensic characteristics of crimes under Article 200 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Illegal actions with the documents for transfer, payment cards and other means of access to bank accounts, electronic money, equipment for their production”. The theoretical foundations of developing forensic characteristics of a particular type of crime have been analysed and the grounds for forming its structure have been highlighted. These grounds include criminal law elements of a crime, a list of circumstances to be proved in criminal proceedings, and elements of the mechanism of committing illegal actions with payment instruments. Significant elements for the forensic methodology of the criminal law characteristics of the crime under investigation are its subject matter, method of commission and subjective features. Among the elements of the subject matter of proof, the most important are also the object, method and identity of the offender, as well as the time, place and other circumstances of the crime. In turn, the mechanism of illegal actions with payment instruments determines the need to study these elements in their broadest sense, i.e., taking into account all stages of criminal activity (preparation, direct commission and concealment), means and conditions of its implementation. Based on the analysis of the above theoretical foundations for the formation of a forensic characteristic of this type of crime, the author identifies the following elements which should be included in its structure: the subject matter of the crime; the method of the crime and its links with other criminal offences; typical traces (trace pattern); the setting (conditions) of the crime; and the identity of the perpetrator. This structure is the most optimal one, allowing for a comprehensive analysis of the typical features of the crime mechanism and building its qualitative information model as the basis for further development of the relevant separate forensic methodology.