The Influence of the Nature of Civil-Law Relations on the Criminal-Law Qualification of an Act

Introduction: modern legal science increasingly reveals the interpenetration of various branches of law, necessitating the identification of their points of contact. It is traditionally held that criminal law serves a protective function. Consequently, it is important to determine how changes in relations regulated by civil law norms affect the criminal-law assessment of an act that infringes upon such relations, and what knowledge a law enforcer should possess for the most precise qualification of a crime. The purpose of the research is to identify, based on historically established judicial practice, the regular trends in how criminal law perceives norms belonging to other branches and the degree of their mutual influence. Methods: the author employed both the general scientific methods (system approach, analysis, the historical method) and special methods: comparative law and formal legal. Conclusions: the study has established that the problem of assessing the correct application of criminal-law norms depending on the essential characteristics of the crime’s object has deep historical roots. Currently, in the context of increasingly complex social relations, law enforcers are required to understand the nature of the protected social relations, looking beyond purely criminal-law content. Moreover, civil-law norms, when intersecting with criminal law norms, may undergo modifications in their meaning, taking into account the specifics of public-law liability.