Forensic Understanding of the Mechanism and Modus Operandi of Criminal Offenses and Their Significance for Investigating Collaborationist Offenses

Abstract

This article argues that the mechanism and modus operandi of a criminal offense reveal the patterns of its functional aspect, the system of interrelationships and interaction of individual elements of criminal offenses related to collaborationist activities. This allows for the reconstruction of the complete process of its commission and directly impacts the quality and effectiveness of investigations into this category of illegal activity. The article aims to define the essence and structure of the mechanism and modus operandi of criminal offenses. It establishes that one of the crucial components of criminal activity is the mechanism of committing a criminal offense, which directly influences the processes of detection, investigation, and prevention of criminal offenses in general and those related to collaborationist activity in particular. Given that the mechanism of committing a criminal offense has individual value for the process of detecting and investigating illegal activity of any category, it is proposed to consider it from a dynamic perspective: preparation for the criminal offense, the modus operandi, and the subject’s behavior after its commission. The legislator assigns a defining role to the modus operandi of a criminal offense; the article examines it in detail as a component of the forensic characteristics of criminal offenses related to collaborationist activity, as it is one of its core elements. A general model of committing a criminal offense is formulated, and its components are outlined. It is noted that the forensic model of collaborationist activity has an active, prolonged form, and the modus operandi is mostly determined by the provisions of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, corresponds to the general model of committing a criminal offense of this category, and consists of the following actions: preparation, commission, and concealment of illegal activity. It is established that, regardless of the modus operandi of a criminal offense related to collaborationist activity, the preparatory stage is usually carried out under conditions of strict secrecy and is associated with actions to develop a plan or find and recruit accomplices. It is indicated that collaborationist activity differs only in the last element of the model — the committed criminal offense concealment.