ORIGIN OF THE CONCEPT OF «DESECRATION» AND RELATED WORDS AND THEIR USE AT EACH STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT OF CRIMINAL LAW OF UKRAINE

Introduction. The article examines the etymological origins of the concept of “desecration” and related words and their use at each stage of development of criminal law in Ukraine. The author points out that a thorough and comprehensive study of any criminal law phenomenon requires a study of its etymological origins. Such a study contributes to the accumulation of knowledge about the essence of the phenomenon as such and its use/application depending on the democratic and legal values of humanity at each subsequent stage of its development. Currently, the concept of “desecration” is used in criminal law in two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — article 297 “Desecration of a grave, other burial place or the body of the deceased” and article 338 “Desecration of state symbols”. At the same time, the Criminal Code of Ukraine does not specify which acts should be considered criminal offences. Purpose. Studying the etymological origins of the concept of “desecration” and related words and their use at the various stages of developing the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Materials and methods. In the course of the study, the author used the scientific works of domestic scientists, who have directly or indirectly studied the concept of “ desecration “, and carried out a legal analysis of criminal offences, which include insult, namely I. Bandurka, N. Horb, V. Karman, L. Kuchanska, A. Landina, P. Serdyuk and others. The study used general scientific methods of cognition (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction) as well as special methods: historical and legal, formal and logical, and comparative law. Results. Having examined the definitions of the concept of “desecration” available in dictionaries, the author concludes that they do not fully correspond to the acts that constitute the objective side of criminal offences, a characteristic of which is “desecration”. The concept of “desecration” itself has a considerable number of synonyms, but none of them is able to fully cover the acts included in the concept of “desecration”. The author also comes to the conclusion that the use of the term “defilement” in the title and provisions of the criminal offence under Article 297 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is more appropriate, since it covers both the actions characterised by the term “desecration” according to the dictionaries of the Ukrainian language and the actions which constitute the objective side of the criminal offence under Article 297 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and the actions which are regulated by the Law of Ukraine “On Funeral and Burial Business”. As for the use of the concept of “contempt/disrespect” in the title and provisions of the criminal offence under Article 338 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the author concludes that it is appropriate to use this concept, since the concept of “contempt” is the opposite in meaning to the concept of “respect”, and the Constitution of Ukraine establishes the obligation of citizens to show honour to the state symbols of Ukraine, i. e. to respect them. Discussion. The study of the legal composition of criminal offences with desecration as an element of their composition is necessary because the Criminal Code of Ukraine does not specify which acts should be considered criminal desecration. In this regard, it is necessary to study the etymological origins of the concept of “desecration” and related words and their use at each stage of development of criminal law in Ukraine.