Provocation (Incitement) of Person to Commit Crime During Under Cover Investigative (Operative) Activities: Criminal Procedural and Criminal Legal Consequences

The article analyzes the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding the provocation of crimes, which prohibits this type of activity. The author also emphasizes that all evidence obtained through provocation, as information and other evidence obtained on their basis, are considered inadmissible. The author draws attention to both the doctrinal interpretations of the legal category of the provocation of crimes and the relevant practice of the ECHR (in particular, the cases of Ramanauskas v. Lithuania, Ramanauskas v. Lithuania No2, Matanovich v. Croatia). The article presents the material and procedural criteria defined by the ECHR, which should be evaluated by the activities of law enforcement agencies in the context of the provocation of crimes. The author underlines that both criteria, first of all, are aimed at assessing the "passivity level" of law enforcement agencies in carrying out secret investigative. The author also pays attention to the similarity of the signs of the person of the provocateur and the instigator, as he also persuades, bribes, threats, coercion, or otherwise leads another accomplice to commit a crime. The article also contains references to national court practice about the above-mentioned problem (in particular, some examples when particular actions of law enforcement agencies are recognized as a crime).