Primerjava in razmejitev med izbranimi gospodarskimi prekrški in gospodarskimi kaznivimi dejanji

Abstract

Purpose: In the article, we are discussing demarcations between selected economic minor offences and selected economic criminal offences: Fraud in Securities TradingAbuse of Insider InformationDisclosure and Unauthorised Acquisition of Trade Secrets. By now, this topic has been given virtually no attention in legal literature. Criminal law theory has mainly addressed only the question of which criteria to use in order to recognise criminal offences amongst all unlawful actions, while on the other hand, law of minor offences has generally focused strictly on less serious unlawful actions. However, in practice, a certain action can sometimes correspond to the definition of both a criminal offence and a minor offence. Consequently, it is of the essence that the statutory elements of a particular unlawful action are precisely defined and clearly demarcated. Only this can ensure legal certainty that should be guaranteed to everyone already on the basis of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia. A problem arises if the statutory elements of a criminal offence and a minor offence completely overlap, which leads to legal uncertainty. Design/Methods/Approach: The research is based on a quantitative investigation in the course of which we conducted a survey in order to test our assumption. First, we used basic one sided t tests on the data from section 1 questions to try our general assumption. Afterwards, we designed three sets of factors using factor analysis in order to use them on questions from sections 2–6, 7 and 8. In the last part, we took all the designed variables and some other basic information on respondents and used them in regression models for analysis of factors that affect the opinion on adequacy of Slovenian legislation regarding sanctioning and prosecution of economic crime. Findings: With the research, we wished to obtain new knowledge on the adequate demarcation between selected economic minor offences and selected criminal offences. In practice, it is material that statutory elements of a particular unlawful action are clearly defined. On the basis of our findings we propose elimination of legal vacuum in which the chosen legal articles for minor economic offences and criminal offences overlap. Research Limitations / Implications: Limitations of the present article mostly relate to the availability of data and the willingness of state agencies for cooperation in the research. This relates to the quality of primary and secondary data, particularly to the issues related with consistency in data collection and data accuracy (unwillingness of the respondents to complete the survey and the problems of time and sectorial consistency in the definitions of individual statistical variables). Practical Implications: Results of the study can provide recommendations for the consequent changes in the studied legislation and clearer demarcation of legal articles on the chosen economic and criminal offences with the purpose of strengthening of respective legal protection. Namely, this is the only way to ensure legal certainty that should be guaranteed to everyone on the basis of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia. Originality/Value: Value of this article is in the empirical demonstration and normative arrangement of a specific field of law, i.e., the legislation in the field of sanctioning and prosecution of economic crime.Namen prispevka: V prispevku obravnavamo razmejitve med izbranimi gospodarskimi prekrški in gospodarskimi kaznivimi dejanji, in sicer: preslepitev pri poslovanju z vrednostnimi papirjizloraba notranje informacijeizdaja in neupravičena pridobitev poslovne skrivnosti. Gre za temo, ki v literaturi tako rekoč ni obravnavana. Kazenskopravna teorija se ukvarja predvsem z vprašanjem, po katerih merilih naj se med protipravnimi dejanji prepoznajo kazniva dejanja. Pravo o prekrških pa se praviloma ukvarja z lažjimi oblikami kaznivih ravnanj. V praksi se lahko zgodi, da kako ravnanje ustreza opisu kaznivega dejanja in prekrška hkrati. Zato je zelo pomembno, da so zakonski znaki določenega protipravnega dejanja točno določeni in jasno razmejeni. S tem se zagotovi pravna varnost, ki naj bi bila vsakomur zagotovljena že z Ustavo RS. Problem nastane, če se zakonski znaki kaznivega dejanja in prekrška popolnoma prekrivajo, kar lahko pripelje do pravne negotovosti. Metode: Raziskava temelji na kvantitativnem raziskovanju, kjer smo za preverjanje domneve naredili anketno raziskavo. Najprej smo z osnovnimi enostranskimi t testi preverili našo osnovno domnevo na podatkih vprašanj pri prvem poglavju, nato smo za vprašanja pri poglavjih 2–6, 7 in 8 oblikovali tri nabore faktorjev s pomočjo uporabe faktorske analize. V zadnjem delu smo vse oblikovane spremenljivke in še nekatere osnovne podatke o vprašanih uporabili v regresijskih modelih za analizo dejavnikov, ki vplivajo na mnenje o ustreznosti slovenske zakonodaje na področju sankcioniranja in pregona gospodarske kriminalitete. Ugotovitve: Z raziskavo smo želeli priti do novih spoznanj na področju ustrezne razmejitve med izbranimi prekrški in izbranimi kaznivimi dejanji. V praksi je zelo pomembno, da so zakonski znaki določenega dejanja točno določeni. Na podlagi novih ugotovitev lahko predlagamo odpravo pravne praznine, kjer se izbrani členi prekrškov in kaznivih dejanj prekrivajo. Omejitve/uporabnost raziskave Omejitve pričujočega članka se nanašajo predvsem na dostopnost do podatkov, pripravljenost državnih organov za sodelovanje v raziskavi. Navedeno se nanaša na kvaliteto primarnih in sekundarnih podatkov. Sem uvrščamo vprašanja doslednosti v zbiranju in stopnjo točnosti podatkov (nepripravljenost anketirancev izpolniti anketo oziroma intervju ter probleme časovne in sektorske doslednosti v opredelitvi posameznih statističnih vrst). Praktična uporabnost: Rezultati študije lahko ponudijo priporočila glede nadaljnje spremembe obravnavane zakonodaje in jasnejše razmejitve izbranih prekrškovnih oziroma kazenskih členov z namenom krepitve pravne varnosti. Izvirnost/pomembnost prispevka: Vrednost naslovnega članka je v empiričnem prikazu in normativni ureditvi posebnega pravnega področja, kot je zakonodaja na področju sankcioniranja in pregona gospodarske kriminalitete