Crime in the sphere of administration of justice as an object of criminological study

The article examines the criminological essence of the totality of crimes against justice. It is noted that the complex of these socially dangerous acts is an independent type of crime, since it has the corresponding characteristics: mass character, historical variability, systematicity, and represents a negative social phenomenon of a criminal legal nature. It is emphasized that the crimes mentioned in Chapter 31 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation not only infringe on the interests of justice in a narrow sense, but also on the legitimate activities of bodies and persons assisting courts in carrying out their functions. In this regard, the phenomenon under study is defined as crime in the sphere of administration of justice. The conclusion is made about the need for an independent criminological study of its quantitative and qualitative characteristics in order to identify the patterns of its existence and development, determine the determination complex, establish the degree of prevalence in the structure of general crime, predict the future state, and, ultimately, increase the efficiency of law enforcement agencies aimed at combating criminality in the sphere of administration of justice.