Abstract:
The article attempts to resolve the question of whether the lifting of the ban on gambling in Ukraine and the subsequent update of Article 203–2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine comply with the principle of criminalization (decriminalization) as a principle of public danger. The appeal to the relevant issues is explained by the lack of research of the latter in the domestic criminal law science, as well as the lack of a unified
position on it. According to the results of the study of the public danger of the gambling business (gambling), two main areas of threats have been identified, in which the gambling business is determined to cause significant harm: 1) economic security of the state and the economic system; 2) the moral
and ethical component of human life and mental health. Based on this, it is stated that the type of activity in question must be considered socially dangerous. At the same time, it is concluded that the nature and degree of this public danger is one that does not require an absolute ban on this type of activity and, accordingly, the establishment of criminal liability for any violations of this ban – as it was done under the Law of Ukraine
May 15, 2009 “On the prohibition of the gambling business in Ukraine” – and its proper state regulation with criminal liability only for the most dangerous violations of the established procedure for carrying out relevant activities – which was declared the purpose of the Law of Ukraine of 14 July 2020 regulation of activities for the organization and conduct of gambling. Given the above, it is summarized that the decision of the domestic parliamentarians, including the wording of Article 203–2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in its new version, must be considered quite justified and socially conditioned.
