Administrative liability for violations of civil firearms circulation rules as a component of state control

The article provides an analysis of the compositions of administrative offenses in the sphere of circulation of civilian firearms. During the research, a number of problematic aspects were identified that could negatively affect the application of the relevant provisions of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, and a series of proposals were put forward to address these gaps. In particular, the publication emphasizes the need to differentiate in Article 85 of the Code of Administrative Offenses the administrative responsibility for violations of hunting rules depending on the type of animals that have been hunted or attempted to be hunted by the subject of the respective offense, taking into account the rates for calculating the compensation for damages caused as a result of violations of legislation in the field of hunting and game management (except for species listed in the Red Book of Ukraine). The paper also highlights the expediency of differentiation of liability in the aforementioned article of the Law for Fisheries with the use of firearms based on the criterion of causing or not causing damage to ichthyofauna by relevant actions. Furthermore, the author proposes to amend Article 174 of the Code of Administrative Offenses regarding the use of firearms in the following version: ‘Shooting with firearms in an uncleared area of a populated area, in an uncleared area outside a populated area, or in a cleared area in violation of the established procedure’ and to differentiate responsibility in the specified norm depending on the place of commission of the administrative offense as a feature of the objective side. Moreover, with the aim of improving and enhancing the effectiveness of the application of administrative-legal prescriptions, the scientific article focuses on the controversial aspects of the object, objective side, and subject of the composition of the administrative offense envisaged by Article 190 of the Code of Administrative Offenses; normative formulation of the title and disposition of Article 192 of the Code of Administrative Offenses; the circle of persons constituting the subjective composition of administrative offenses envisaged in Articles 191–195 of the Code of Administrative Offenses; sanctions for committing administrative offenses provided for in Parts 1, 2, 4 of Article 85 and Articles 174, 190–195 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.