The Supreme Court canceled the additional qualification for resisting the police in the case of violence against a law enforcement officer
Resistance to a law enforcement officer and the violence applied to them, which are united by a single intent, not separated in time, where the development of events from resistance to the use of violence occurred dynamically and almost simultaneously, constitute a single criminal offense punishable under part 2 of article 345 of the Criminal Code, and do not require additional qualification under part 2 of article 342 of the Criminal Code. This was noted by the Supreme Court.
Circumstances of the case
The accused, as a result of resisting a police officer, struck the latter in the head with his right foot, causing minor bodily injuries that led to a short-term health disorder.
Positions of the courts of first and appellate instances
The courts of previous instances found the accused guilty and sentenced him under part 2 of article 342 and part 2 of article 345 of the Criminal Code. In the cassation appeal, the prosecutor indicated that the actions of the accused were covered by the objective side of the crime under part 2 of article 345 of the Criminal Code and did not require separate qualification under part 2 of article 342 of this Code.
Position of the Criminal Cassation Chamber
The decisions of the courts of previous instances were changed, excluding the indication of the qualification of the accused’s actions under part 2 of article 342 of the Criminal Code.
The panel of judges of the Criminal Cassation Chamber indicated that when a person first commits a less socially dangerous act, and then a more socially dangerous homogeneous encroachment, and the acts are covered by a single intent, the committed act should be qualified as a single more socially dangerous criminal offense.
According to the circumstances established in this criminal proceeding, the resistance and violence applied by the accused to the law enforcement officer were united by a single intent, were not separated in time, i.e., his actions simultaneously constituted different types of encroachments on law enforcement officers, and the development of events from resistance to the use of violence occurred dynamically and almost simultaneously. Therefore, the unlawful actions committed by the accused constitute a single criminal offense punishable under part 2 of article 345 of the Criminal Code and do not require additional qualification under part 2 of article 342 of this Code.
The ruling of the panel of judges of the First Judicial Chamber of the Criminal Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Court dated 09.06.2026 in case No. 523/16348/24 (proceeding No. 51-4817km25).
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