The current legislation provides for a criminal penalty for committing a crime of minor gravity. This category of criminal acts includes intentionally and unintentionally committed acts of a low level of gravity, if no significant harm has occurred as a result. To correctly determine the punishment for this criminal act, we will understand the classification of crimes.
Varieties of non-serious crimes and responsibility for them
Based on the nature of the criminal act and the level of social danger of the offender and his actions, all crimes are divided as follows:
- low severity;
- moderate;
- serious deeds;
- especially heavy with qualifying compositions.
As a basis for categorizing criminal acts under Art. 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation uses the nature and level of social danger of the committed act. In accordance with paragraphs of Art. 15, the maximum penalty for such acts does not exceed two years' imprisonment. Examples of such acts are the malicious non-payment of maintenance for children or parents in a state of disability.
- slander;
- enforcement of a transaction of any nature;
- hacking that resulted in damage to property;
- theft of official documentation and other similar acts.
Punishment
Based on the essential circumstances of the process, the following can be used as a measure of punishment for an act:
- penalties;
- the award of forced or corrective labor;
- restriction of freedom or imprisonment for a period of up to 2 years.
In judicial practice in the Russian Federation, there are criminal cases that were completely closed for such criminal acts or no criminal proceedings were initiated on them. One of the key circumstances for refusing to open a criminal case is the infliction of minor harm caused as a result of the commission of a criminal act by a guilty citizen.
It is necessary to distinguish between acts of a small degree of gravity, which can be recognized as insignificant, and another option is minor misconduct, which actually have all the qualifying features of a criminally punishable act, but are not classified as such due to the lack of serious results and damage.
Such acts in the form of actions and inaction in most cases are transferred to the category of administrative offenses, for which administrative penalties and arrest are provided. In addition, minor criminal acts may be classified as acts of an immoral nature, civil or disciplinary acts.
In some situations, acts of medium gravity may also be minor, and they include acts for which a measure of punishment is awarded up to 5 years in prison. Insignificance is indicated for criminal acts, which were not followed by serious consequences and damage. Such acts were carried out without malicious intent, or for the first time by citizens who had not previously been prosecuted before the law.
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Recent amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
Since July 2016, the federal law “On Amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation” has come into force, according to which citizens who have committed minor criminal acts for the first time are fully exempted from criminal penalties and liability under the Criminal Code. Penalties will be applied to them as a punishment, not exceeding by more than half the maximum amount of compensation provided under a certain article.
In addition, the possibility of closing a criminal case at any stage of the consideration of the process until the final court verdict is announced. The replacement of imprisonment with the payment of a fine in a situation of a crime of little gravity was previously a special judicial practice, but until the last amendments it was not officially included in the normative act. According to lawyers, such adjustments should, over time, reduce the burden on the judiciary in relation to petty crimes and allow the courts to fully handle cases in relation to serious criminal acts that require special attention.
What are the types of serious crimes? The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation explains that these are crimes committed by an individual or group through negligence or intentionally. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for up to 10 years.
What crimes are considered serious crimes according to the law?
Legalization of finances obtained by illegal methods (notorious money laundering). CC, article 174, part 2.
Legalization of illegally acquired property: houses, apartments, cars, villas and more. This question defines CC, article 172, part 2.
Violation of the established rules of transport safety (during the management of air transport, as well as its water types or trains). CC, Art.3, part 3.
All these types of serious crimes recognized as such if they were committed under aggravating circumstances.
What are especially serious crimes
The court recognizes only intentional violations of the law as such. An example is a murder committed under circumstances recognized as aggravating. This issue is regulated by the Criminal Code, article 105, part 2. Another example is banditry (CC, article 209). For these crimes, the court sentences a citizen or a group of persons to imprisonment of 10 years. The punishment could be even more severe. It is worth knowing that types of serious crimes entail different types of punishments. Criminal liability depends on how serious the violation of the law is.
relapse
If earlier a person has already been convicted twice for a serious or once - for a particularly serious intentional crime, then repeated such actions can be recognized as a dangerous relapse. This issue governs CC, article 18.
Deadlines for a criminal record
No matter how the court recognizes the types of serious crimes, subject to the competent work of a lawyer, there is a release on parole. It can be applied if the convict has served in places of deprivation of liberty two thirds of the term designated by the court (but not less) when committing a serious crime. Having obtained three-quarters of the term due to violation of the law of special gravity, the convict can also receive freedom on parole. In this case, the authorities are guided by the Criminal Code, article 79.
What are the statute of limitations
A guilty verdict has its own statute of limitations. Provided that the crime is recognized as serious, for it the statute of limitations can expire after 10 years. If the crime is especially serious, this time period is increased to 15 years according to CC, article 83.
All types of serious crimes require professional legal support. The online consultation is free for you.
Classifying a socially dangerous, criminally unlawful guilty and punishable act as a category of criminal behavior does not mean that the nature and degree of social danger of all crimes are the same. On the contrary, the nature and degree of public danger of some crimes may differ significantly from others. In this regard, the punishment and other measures of a criminal law nature applicable to persons who have committed such crimes may not differ. A legal institution that makes it possible to take into account the difference in the nature and degree of social danger of crimes is the category of crimes, which has been enshrined at the legislative level in Art. 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Categories of crimes”). This article recognizes the nature and degree of public danger as the main criterion for classifying crimes (its formal expression is the sanction of the criminal law, which establishes the type and amount of punishment for committing a specific crime), and the additional one is the form of guilt (intent or negligence).
In part 1 of Art. 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, depending on the nature and degree of public danger, all crimes are divided into four categories: minor, moderate, grave and especially grave crimes.
crimes small gravity intentional and reckless acts are recognized, for the commission of which the maximum punishment provided for by this Code does not exceed three years of imprisonment (part 2 of article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
crimes moderate intentional acts are recognized, for the commission of which the maximum punishment provided for by this Code does not exceed five years of imprisonment, and reckless acts for the commission of which the maximum punishment provided for by this Code exceeds three years of imprisonment (Part 3, Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) .
severe Deliberate acts are recognized as crimes, for the commission of which the maximum punishment provided for by this Code does not exceed ten years of imprisonment (Part 4, Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Particularly serious Deliberate acts are recognized as crimes, for the commission of which this Code provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of more than ten years or a more severe punishment (part 5 of article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Thus, crimes of small and medium gravity can be both intentional and reckless acts. The law includes only intentional acts in the categories of especially grave and grave crimes.
The sanction established by law objectively expresses the official (legislative) assessment of the nature and degree of public danger of the crime described in the disposition. It is this assessment, and not the subjective discretion of the court, that determines whether a crime belongs to one category or another. Therefore, by itself, the measure of punishment imposed by the court (for example, three years in prison) cannot determine the category of the crime for which the perpetrator is convicted. In the above example, it is only clear that the act does not belong to the category of crimes of small gravity, but it can belong to any of the other three categories.
In addition, the court is given the right to change the category of crime independently:
Taking into account the actual circumstances of the crime and the degree of its public danger, in the presence of mitigating circumstances and in the absence of aggravating circumstances, the category of the crime may be changed to a less serious, but not more than one category of crime, provided that:
For a medium-gravity crime, the convict was sentenced to a sentence not exceeding 3 years of imprisonment or another more lenient punishment;
For a serious crime, the convict was sentenced to a sentence not exceeding 5 years of imprisonment or another more lenient punishment;
For a particularly serious crime, the convict was sentenced to a sentence not exceeding 7 years in prison.
The legislative classification of crimes according to the nature and degree of their public danger is important for solving a number of practical issues of the application of the criminal law.
Criminal liability comes for preparing for a grave and especially grave crime (part 2 of article 30 of the Criminal Code).
A close-knit organized association created for the commission of grave and especially grave crimes (part 4 of article 35 of the Criminal Code) can be recognized as a criminal community (criminal organization).
When sentenced to deprivation of liberty, the type of correctional institution and the regime of the correctional colony are appointed taking into account the category of the crime for which the punishment was imposed (Article 58 of the Criminal Code).
Estimated execution and life imprisonment can be imposed only for especially grave crimes that encroach on life (Articles 57, 59 of the Criminal Code).
The significance of a circumstance mitigating punishment may have the commission for the first time as a result of an accidental combination of circumstances, only a crime of little gravity.
When imposing punishment for a combination of crimes, depending on their categories, either it is allowed (part 2 of article 69 of the Criminal Code) or excluded (part 3 of article 69 of the Criminal Code) the application of the principle of absorption of a less severe punishment by a more severe one.
Exemption from criminal liability in connection with active repentance and in connection with the use of the victim can only be applied to persons who have committed minor crimes for the first time (Articles 75, 76 of the Criminal Code).
The statute of limitations for bringing to criminal liability (Article 78 of the Criminal Code) and the limitation period for a court conviction (Article 83 of the Criminal Code) is determined by the category of the crime committed.
The part of the sentence, after serving which parole from serving the sentence is possible, depends on the category of the crime for which the convicted person is serving the sentence (part 3 of article 79 of the Criminal Code).
When deciding on the replacement of the unserved part of the punishment with a milder type of punishment (Article 80 of the Criminal Code).
Postponement of serving sentences for pregnant women and women with young children does not apply to persons sentenced to imprisonment for more than five years for grave and especially grave crimes against a person (Article 82 of the Criminal Code).
The term for the repayment of a conviction of persons sentenced to deprivation of liberty is determined by the category of the crime committed (Article 86 of the Criminal Code).
The release of minors from criminal liability (Article 90 of the Criminal Code) or from punishment (Article 92 of the Criminal Code) can only be applied when a crime of small and medium gravity is committed.
Examples of misdemeanors: 1. Slander along with accusing someone of committing a grave or especially grave crime. 2. Slander in a public speech, in a work or in the media. In principle, slander of any kind can be included here, i.e. dissemination of deliberately false information that discredits the honor, dignity, reputation of another person. 3. Theft of documents. 4. Hacking that caused property damage. 5. Forced transaction.
Medium-gravity crimes include intentional and reckless acts, for which the maximum punishment provided for by the Criminal Code does not exceed five years in prison. These are, for example, incitement to suicide (Article 110 of the Criminal Code), intentional infliction of moderate harm to health (Article 112 of the Criminal Code), illegal entrepreneurship (Article 171 of the Criminal Code), etc.
Grave crimes are understood to be crimes committed intentionally and through negligence, for the commission of which the maximum punishment provided for by the Criminal Code does not exceed ten years in prison. This group of crimes, for example, includes the legalization (laundering) of money or other property acquired illegally under aggravating circumstances (part 2 of article 174 of the Criminal Code), violation of traffic safety rules and operation of railway, air or water transport (part 3 article 263 of the Criminal Code) and others (part 1 of article 162)!
The legislator considers only intentional crimes to be especially serious, for which a punishment of more than ten years of imprisonment or more severe punishments is provided. This, for example, murder under aggravating circumstances (part 2 of article 105 of the Criminal Code), banditry (article 209 of the Criminal Code), etc. (part 4 of article 11 or 12.)!
Developing and consolidating the social property of the crime - public danger, part 2 of Art. 14 of the Criminal Code establishes: "An action (inaction) is not a crime, although it formally contains signs of any act provided for by this Code, but due to its insignificance it does not pose a public danger." An insignificant act is not a crime if two conditions are present simultaneously. First, it must formally fall under the signs of a crime under the criminal law. In other words, it must be purely outwardly present criminal unlawfulness. Second: it lacks another property of a crime - public danger. As a rule, it is absent because the damage caused by the act is scanty. Hence the act as a whole is impregnable. Most often, some harm, some anti-sociality in minor acts takes place. But they are not of a criminal degree, but civil, administrative, disciplinary, immoral. Therefore, when terminating the case or not accepting it for proceedings due to the insignificance of the act, the investigator or the court considers the possibility of a different, non-criminal measure of responsibility for it. An insignificant act can only be an intentional one, and, as a rule, committed with direct intent, when the person wished to inflict just a meager harm. For example, when a fan of an actress broke into the dressing room and stole her inexpensive powder box "as a keepsake". It is a different matter when the intent was aimed at stealing expensive jewelry not "as a keepsake", but out of selfish motives, but due to the lack of such, the kidnapper limited herself to a powder box. This is not an insignificant theft, but an attempted theft with the aim of causing significant damage to a citizen (Article 30 and paragraph "d" part 2 of Article 158 of the Criminal Code). Another example of an insignificant act is, for example, theft in the amount of two or three rubles. In a number of crimes, the law recognizes the infliction of large damage as a mandatory, rather than a qualifying sign. The absence of such damage excludes the sign of criminal wrongfulness, the falling of the act and formally under the signs of a crime provided for by the Code. A criminal case on such an act is not initiated, and the initiated case is terminated not for the insignificance of the act, but for the absence of corpus delicti - an obligatory sign of causing major damage. For example, part 1 of Art. 198 of the Criminal Code recognizes tax evasion by an individual "on a large scale" as a crime. In the footnote to this article, this size is precisely defined. It follows from this that in case of tax evasion in a smaller amount, it is not the insignificance of the act that is evident, but the absence of corpus delicti: there is no mandatory element of it - a large amount of unpaid tax. Insignificant acts are not recognized as criminal only if the insignificance was both objective and subjective, i.e. when a person wished to commit precisely an insignificant act, and not because, due to circumstances beyond his control, this happened in a particular case. In the event of a discrepancy between the factually committed and the intent of the person, liability arises for an attempt on the crime that the person intended to commit. So, in the case when a person planned to commit a major theft from the safe of a savings bank, but there were only five rubles that he stole, liability arises for an attempted major theft. The criminal case does not stop for the insignificance of the act - the theft of five rubles. There is no insignificance of the act also when committing a crime with unspecified intent, i.e. when a person foresaw and desired the occurrence of any of the possible options for causing harm. Responsibility then arises for the actually caused harm. However, the termination of the criminal case for the insignificance of the act will not follow. A typical example is pickpocketing. The person guilty of it acts, as a rule, with unspecified intent. The theft of a purse with two rubles by him is therefore not an insignificant act. There is an attempted theft under Part 1 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code. It is a different matter if a person, seeing the same two rubles in the breast pocket of a bus passenger's jacket, stole them, since it was precisely this money that he did not have enough for a ticket to travel on the subway. Such theft is regarded as an insignificant act. In May 1998, Part 2 of Art. 14 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has been amended. The words "that is, which did not cause harm and did not create a threat of causing harm to an individual, society or the state" are excluded. No official explanation was given for this comment. It seems that there was no point in such a change. And with a combination of harm and other qualifying signs of crimes, harm still remains leading. For example, if a subject stole a family album from his ex-wife's apartment while breaking into a dwelling, then his theft is insignificant. The corpus delicti under paragraph "c" h. 2 Article. 158 of the Criminal Code is missing. He must answer for an insignificant violation of the inviolability of the home (Article 139 of the Criminal Code)
Crimes differ from other offenses in the nature and degree (in other words, the level) of public danger. The nature of social danger determines the qualitative feature, essence and content of the property of P. The leading criterion for distinguishing P. according to the nature of public danger is the object of encroachment. For example, murder and theft are distinguished by the nature of public danger. The degree of public danger is a quantitative characteristic of the public danger of P. within a certain quality. For example, qualified types of theft: theft committed by a group of persons by prior agreement (clause "a" part 2 of article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and theft committed by an organized group (clause "a" part 3 of article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ). The above example refers to the typical degree of public danger enshrined in the law. In contrast, the individual degree of social danger characterizes a specific, individual criminal act. For example, the repeated theft committed by Ivanov and the repeated theft committed by Petrov have many individual features that distinguish them from each other, despite the same qualification of the crime. Such differences are taken into account not in the qualification of P., but in the individualization of responsibility.
