Statement to the police about threats – how to open a criminal case for threats?

Reporting threats to the police is one of the important crime prevention tools. This document allows you to warn representatives of law enforcement agencies about the intention or the fact of committing illegal actions. The statement itself can become the basis for an investigation to begin and effective measures to protect the interests of the victim. Our specialists - lawyers Prykhodko and Partners - will help you to correctly issue a statement to the police about threats.

What components are reflected in a statement to the police about threats?

At the level of current Ukrainian legislation, there are no clear requirements for writing a statement to the police about threats. It is quite difficult to describe as correctly as possible all the facts that will confirm the presence of signs of a crime. The application itself will be the basis for entering information into the Register.

Among its main elements:

• The name of the law enforcement body to which the victim applies with a statement.
• Detailed information about the victim (name, phone number).

Important: submission of an anonymous application is allowed. This is relevant in cases where a person has certain fears about possible persecution or for certain reasons does not want to provide personal information to representatives of law enforcement agencies.

Presentation of basic information on the risk of committing an offense.

• This part contains the following information: a description of the circumstances and events that will serve as confirmation of the commission of an offense or its possibility.

In addition, in this part, our lawyers will indicate the preliminary legal qualification of the offense with the corresponding article of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

• Evidence — confirmation of the circumstances stated in the application (if available).
• Date and signature.

Responsibility for threats

To begin with, we note that not every threat qualifies as an act for which criminal liability is provided. In order for the specified action to be truly illegal, it must be real. What is it about? The victim must feel emotional distress, excitement from threats. For example, if you received an anonymous letter by e-mail with threats to beat or kill, it will be quite difficult to find the composition of a crime in this. If you were directly threatened with a weapon, this can definitely be classified as threats.

The Criminal Code of Ukraine (Article 129) provides for liability for threatening to kill:

• Arrest for up to 6 months.
• Restriction of freedom for a period of up to 2 years.
• Imprisonment for up to 5 years.

Ways of expressing threats: orally (at a meeting), through third parties, in writing or by telephone.

Thus, the main feature of the composition of the crime under Article 129 of the Criminal Code is the reality of the intention to commit the offense. At the same time, it is worth noting that a person cannot be prosecuted under this article for threats to damage property, cause bodily harm, etc. If the threats are final in nature, then, regardless of the motives, criminal liability arises.

Аssistance of professional lawyers in opening a criminal case for threats

If you have received threats in any form, the first thing to do is to enlist the help of professional lawyers. The specialists of Prykhodko and Partners will help not only to correctly issue a statement to the police about threats, but also to develop an effective action plan.

If law enforcement officials refuse to open a criminal case, we can appeal this decision. In addition, lawyers Prykhodko and Partners will represent your interests in court. 

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