The object of crime in modern criminal law: searching for a new concept

The primary issues of doctrinal understanding of the object of a crime in criminal law through the prism of the concept of “crime” are considered. The aim of the research is to propose the hypothesis that the object of a crime is social values. In conducting the research, traditional methods of socio-legal and formal-dogmatic analysis were used: documentary, historical-legal, analytical, systemic, and logical. It is noted that the object is derived from the consequence of causing harm. It is emphasized that the understanding of the object of the crime is always derived from the harm caused, and it is precisely the harm that shapes the contours of the crime itself. Harm is always inflicted on that social value, of which a person is the bearer. From an ontological perspective, existing concepts of the object of crime are examined, with significant attention given to social relations, which are the object of crime. The mechanism of harm is revealed, and it is stated that social relations cannot be the object of a crime; rather, it is social values that serve this role. The processes of criminalization in the encroachment on social values and the choice of forms and means of establishing criminal law prohibitions are analyzed. The object of the crime is considered a social value. Values (virtues) constitute the core of social relations, which must be protected because they are objective in nature, and social relations themselves are derivative from them. The harm caused to a social value forms the basis for the criminalization of certain behavior. At the core of such a mechanism are the values that are being encroached upon; however, additional objective and subjective parameters of the encroachment itself are also taken into account.