Lawyer under Article 303 of the Criminal Code – Pimping or engaging a person in prostitution

As you know, there is an active fight against prostitution and human trafficking in the world. The UN General Assembly adopted the relevant Convention more than 70 years ago, which was ratified by our country. That is why state bodies are adapting international legal acts. This directly concerns the provisions of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In this article, we will consider the provisions and responsibility for pimping or engaging a person in prostitution (Article 303 of the Criminal Code). If you need a lawyer for this article, the specialists of our Prykhodko and Partners law office will help you with this.

Objective and subjective side of the crime

The object of the crime under Article 303 of the Criminal Code is the moral principles of society (we are talking about unnatural grounds for satisfying existing sexual needs). Among the requirements of social morality is the establishment of sexual relations between people solely on the basis of personal sympathy, and not for remuneration. Another object of the crime under Article 303 is sexual freedom, health and personal property.

Thus, the objective side of the crime under Article 303 of the Criminal Code consists in committing the following actions:

• Pimping
• Forced to engage in prostitution.
• Involvement of a person in prostitution.

We offer to consider in more detail the concepts of “entrainment” and “forcing”.

Involvement is a series of actions that lead to the fact that other persons move to a certain behavior (in our case – to prostitution). In contrast to coercion, with involvement a person will behave in a certain way of his own free will. Involvement is carried out by influencing the consciousness of a person due to the conviction of the profitability and expediency of one’s own behavior.

As for coercion, it consists in actions, as a result of which a person has to engage in prostitution against his own will. Among the most common methods of coercion: blackmail, deception, violence, use of a person’s vulnerable state.

As for the subjective side of the crime, its main characteristic is the presence of direct intent.

Liability under Article 303 of the Criminal Code

To begin with, let’s consider the signs of a crime that will affect its qualification. These are, first of all, the number of persons, repetition, presence of a prior conspiracy of persons, commission by an official, etc. Secondly, there are particularly qualifying factors:

• Actions against minors or minors.
• Organized group participation.
• Causing particularly severe consequences.

Article 303 of the Criminal Code provides for the following punishment: imprisonment for a term of 3 to 5 years. In the presence of the above-mentioned qualifying factors, the court can impose a more severe punishment: up to 15 years of imprisonment. In addition, confiscation of property is additionally provided for.

Assistance of a lawyer under Article 303 of the Criminal Code

If you are charged under Article 303 of the Criminal Code, the first thing to do is to enlist the help of professional lawyers. Lawyers Prykhodko and Partners provide the following services:

• Consulting clients.
• Study of case materials.
• Analysis of circumstances.
• Active participation in investigative actions.
• Development of the correct legal position.
• Challenging actions of investigators/prosecutors (if necessary).

We also protect the interests of victims and witnesses.

Do you still have questions? We are waiting for a preliminary consultation! To calculate the cost of a lawyer’s services under Article 303 of the Criminal Code, fill out the form below.