1. The subject of the dispute is the legality of the closing of criminal proceedings under Part 1 of Article 125 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (minor bodily injuries) due to the victim’s rejection of the charges in the form of private prosecution, when the crime was committed in the family.
2. The court of cassation emphasized that, according to Clause 7, Part 1 of Article 284 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, criminal proceedings cannot be closed if they are related to domestic violence, despite the victim’s rejection of the charges. The court took into account that, according to the indictment, the actions of PERSON_7 were qualified as intentional infliction of minor bodily injuries to his mother, and this was recognized as an aggravating circumstance, since the crime was committed in family relations. The court referred to the conclusion of the joint chamber of the Criminal Cassation Court within the Supreme Court that any criminal offense, the circumstances of which indicate the presence in the act of at least one of the elements (features) listed in Article 1 of Law No. 2229-VIII, should be considered a criminal offense related to domestic violence, regardless of whether they are specified in the incriminated article (part of the article) of the Criminal Code as signs of the main or qualified elements of the criminal offense.
3. The Supreme Court overturned the decisions of the courts of first and appellate instances and ordered a new trial in the court of first instance.
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