Objective Aspect of Corpus Delicti for Water-Transport Crimes Provided for by Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Russia

Crime is a diverse phenomenon; as a result, different branches of legal science give it different definitions. This article features violations of water transport safety rules, which have received almost no scientific attention in the past few decades. However, investigators often have to deal with difficulties in establishing some characteristics of the objective aspect of the water-traffic-related crime. The research objective was to review available publications and study judicial practice on the corpus delicti of crimes defined by Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Russia in the sphere of water transport. The author relied on standard methods of analysis, synthesis, and generalization, as well as on the statistical method. The research revealed the role of transport forensic examination in the establishment of the objective aspect of the corpus delicti of water-traffic-related crimes under Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Russia. The investigation of such crimes is associated with the need to establish the violations of traffic standards, as well as the causal link between the violations and the consequences, which is impossible without a competent transport forensic examination.