Difficulties of the interpretation of objective and subjective signs of the composition treatment of animals

Introduction: The presented article researches some questions of interpretation of elements which are necessary for qualification of the crime in accordance with Article 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Particularly the authors analyze such terms as injury, animal cruelty, animal in detail. Special attention is paid to the problems of establishing the criminal aim in the form of causing pain and (or) suffering. The conclusions are confirmed by analyzed materials of court practice. Materials and methods: the legal framework of the research was formed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, criminal legislation, as well as special federal laws regulating the hunting. The methodological base of the research was a universal dialectical method of cognition of social and legal phenomena, general scientific research approaches (analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, system-structural approach and others). In addition, we used special scientific cognitive methods - logical-formal and statistical methods, a method of system analysis. Results of the study: the research presents a comprehensive interpretation of the objective and subjective characteristics of criminal cruelty to animals, which is invaluable for the unification of judicial practice. Findings and conclusions: the analyzed characteristics of criminal cruelty to animals have allowed to develop rules for the qualification of such crimes and apply the rules due to a criminal act corresponding to more than one definition.