Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the latest edition:
Article 12 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The effect of the criminal law in relation to persons who have committed a crime outside the Russian Federation
1. Citizens of the Russian Federation and stateless persons permanently residing in the Russian Federation who have committed a crime outside the Russian Federation against the interests protected by this Code are subject to criminal liability in accordance with this Code, if in relation to these persons there is no decision of a foreign court on this crime states.
2. Military personnel of military units of the Russian Federation stationed outside the Russian Federation, for crimes committed on the territory of a foreign state, bear criminal liability under this Code, unless otherwise provided by an international treaty of the Russian Federation.
3. Foreign citizens and stateless persons not permanently residing in the Russian Federation who have committed a crime outside the Russian Federation are subject to criminal liability under this Code in cases where the crime is directed against the interests of the Russian Federation or a citizen of the Russian Federation or a person permanently residing in the Russian Federation stateless, as well as in cases provided for by an international treaty of the Russian Federation or another document of an international nature containing obligations recognized by the Russian Federation in the sphere of relations regulated by this Code, if foreign citizens and stateless persons not permanently residing in the Russian Federation do not were convicted in a foreign country and are being prosecuted on the territory of the Russian Federation.
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Principle of citizenship
In Part 1 of Art. 12 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation enshrines the principle of citizenship , according to which citizens of the Russian Federation and stateless persons permanently residing in the Russian Federation bear criminal liability under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation even if they committed a crime outside the borders of the Russian Federation.
The principle of citizenship is also called the personal or national principle.
The principle of citizenship comes into effect if the following conditions are met:
- committing a crime on the territory of a foreign state;
- committing a crime against interests protected by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- the act is recognized as a crime under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and it is not necessary that it be criminal under the criminal law of the place where the crime was committed;
- in relation to these persons there is no decision of a court of a foreign state regarding this crime.
Within the meaning of Part 1 of Art. 12 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation if a citizen of the Russian Federation or a stateless person permanently residing in Russia outside the Russian Federation committed an act that:
- is recognized as a crime according to the law of the place where the act was committed, but is not recognized as a crime according to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, they may be subject to liability under the criminal law of the place where the crime was committed if they are brought to justice on the territory of a foreign state;
- is recognized as a crime according to the law of the place where the act was committed and according to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, they are subject to liability under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- is not recognized as a crime according to the law of the place where the act was committed, but is recognized as a crime according to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, they are subject to liability under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Special mission principle
In Part 2 of Art. 12 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for the principle of a special mission (protective regime), which consists in the fact that military personnel of military units of the Russian Federation stationed outside the Russian Federation for crimes committed on the territory of a foreign state bear criminal liability under the legislation of the Russian Federation, unless otherwise provided by an international treaty RF.
The principle of a special mission comes into play when crimes of the following categories are committed:
- against military service (Chapter 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
- ordinary crimes committed on the territory of military units against military personnel or other citizens of the Russian Federation.
For all other crimes, military personnel are held accountable under the criminal laws of the host country.
When applying Article 12 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it should be borne in mind that the rules of Part 2 of Article 12 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:
- apply to military personnel of the Russian Federation who are outside the Russian Federation on legal grounds on duty, they do not work in a situation of illegitimate use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation abroad and in the case of a serviceman staying abroad as a private individual;
- apply to military personnel only of those military personnel who are stationed in a foreign country on the basis of an international treaty. If military personnel are outside the Russian Federation in connection with an official invitation from representatives of the country’s armed forces to participate in ceremonial or diplomatic events or on the basis of Part 2.1 of Art. 10 of the Law on Defense are promptly used to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintain international peace and security; the basis for bringing them to justice under the Criminal Code is not Part 2 of Art. 12 of the Criminal Code, and part 1 of Art. 28 of the Law on the Status of Military Personnel, according to the imperative provisions of which a military personnel is held accountable in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation.
Second commentary to Art. 11 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
1. The commented article 11 of the Criminal Code sets out the basic principle of the operation of criminal law in space - the principle of territoriality. According to this principle, any person who has committed a crime on the territory of the Russian Federation is subject to liability under the criminal legislation of the Russian Federation.
The territory of the Russian Federation is delineated by its State Border, which is understood as a line and a vertical surface passing along this line that define the limits of the state territory of the Russian Federation, i.e. spatial limit of the validity of the state sovereignty of the Russian Federation (Law of the Russian Federation dated 04/01/1993 No. 4730-1 “On the State Border of the Russian Federation” as amended on 07/03/2016).
The territory of the Russian Federation includes:
— land within the State border of the Russian Federation;
- water territory, which includes both internal waters (waters of bays, sea bays, etc., belonging to Russia) and territorial waters, i.e. a sea belt 12 nautical miles wide adjacent to land territory or internal sea waters (Federal Law of July 31, 1998
No. 155-FZ “On internal sea waters, the territorial sea and the adjacent zone of the Russian Federation” (as amended on July 18, 2017);
- subsoil located under the land and water territory of the state, without any restrictions on depth;
- air territory located above the land and water territory of the Russian Federation.
2. The criminal jurisdiction of the Russian Federation also extends to persons who have committed a crime at facilities located outside the territory of the Russian Federation, but which are subject to the jurisdiction of Russia. Such objects include:
— continental shelf of the Russian Federation, i.e. the seabed and subsoil of underwater areas located outside the territorial sea of the Russian Federation throughout the natural continuation of its land territory to the outer boundary of the underwater margin (Federal Law of November 30, 1995 No. 187-FZ “On the Continental Shelf of the Russian Federation” as amended on May 2. 2015);
- exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation, i.e. a maritime area located outside the territorial sea of the Russian Federation and adjacent to it, with a special legal regime established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, international treaties of Russia and the norms of international law (Federal Law of December 17, 1998 No. 191-FZ “On the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation” in edition dated 04/05/2016);
— naval and air vessels of the Russian Federation, they have extraterritoriality, i.e. regardless of their location, crimes committed on them fall under the jurisdiction of Russia;
— civil ships and aircraft of the Russian Federation, if they are located in international airspace or international waters;
— territories of Russian military units stationed outside the Russian Federation;
- and etc.
3. An exception to the principle of territoriality is the principle of diplomatic immunity. It means that the issue of criminal liability of diplomatic representatives of foreign states and other citizens who enjoy immunity, if these persons commit a crime on the territory of the Russian Federation, is resolved in accordance with the norms of international law.
Diplomatic immunity does not eliminate the wrongfulness and punishability of an act committed by a diplomat, but only provides for a special procedure for the implementation of criminal liability.
The real principle of operation of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (the principle of protecting the operation of criminal law in space)
The real principle is to extend the jurisdiction of the criminal law of the Russian Federation to cases where harm is caused to its interests, regardless of the fact that the crime was committed outside Russia.
The real principle (the principle of protecting the operation of criminal law in space) is enshrined in Part 3 of Art. 12 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. To apply it, it is necessary that the crime was committed by a foreign person or a stateless person not permanently residing in the Russian Federation.
A foreign citizen is an individual who is not a citizen of the Russian Federation and has evidence of citizenship of a foreign state.
A stateless person who does not permanently reside in Russia is an individual who is not a citizen of the Russian Federation and does not have evidence of citizenship of a foreign state who does not have a residence permit in the Russian Federation.
These persons are subject to criminal liability under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation if:
- are brought to justice on the territory of the Russian Federation;
- the crime was committed on the territory of a foreign state, for which a sentence has not been passed in a foreign state;
- the crime was directed against a citizen of the Russian Federation, a stateless person permanently residing in the Russian Federation, or against the interests of the Russian Federation. These formulations of the law do not have a clear substantive understanding in the science of criminal law and are not presented systematically in judicial practice.
Judicial practice under Article 12 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 27, 2018 N 5-APU18-91
As follows from the resolution of the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation dated September 19, 2021, based on materials received from the competent authorities of the Republic of Belarus, the investigative authorities of this state Yalovik is accused of committing two crimes under Part 4 of Art. 210, as well as part 2 of Art. 235 and part 3 of Art. 424 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, for each of which a penalty of more than one year of imprisonment is provided and in accordance with Art. Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus relating to serious crimes.
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated January 22, 2019 N 5-APU18-97
As follows from the presented materials, the prosecutor decided to extradite Gerasimovich to bring him to criminal responsibility for committing theft under Part 2 of Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, which provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 4 years and in accordance with Art. The Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, which falls into the category of less serious crimes.
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 01.03.2019 N 48-APU19-1
Kungurtsev Vladimir Yuryevich, ... convicted: 1) December 19, 2006 under Part 2 of Art. 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to 3 years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 3 years; 2) January 29, 2009 under Part 1 of Art. 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (two crimes), using Art. of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 3 years 6 months; 3) February 25, 2009 under Part 1 of Art. 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation using Part 5 of Art. of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 3 years 7 months; 4) June 5, 2009 under Part 1 of Art. , Criminal Code of the Russian Federation using Part 5 of Art. of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 4 years, released on January 25, 2013 upon completion of the sentence; 5) August 21, 2014 under Part 3 of Art. , clause “a”, part 2, art. 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 2 years; 6) November 12, 2014 under paragraph “c” of Part 2 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to punishment in the form of imprisonment for a period of 1 year 9 months, by court order of February 4, 2015 on the basis of Part 5 of Art. of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, by adding up the punishments imposed under the sentences of August 21, 2014 and November 12, 2014, a sentence of imprisonment was imposed for a period of 2 years 4 months; On October 23, 2015, he was released from the unserved part of his sentence under an amnesty on the basis of paragraph 5 of State Duma Resolution No. 6578-6GD of April 24, 2015 “On declaring an amnesty in connection with the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45,”
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 3, 2019 N 5-APU19-52
As follows from the presented materials, the prosecutor decided to extradite Ta Tuan Anh to prosecute him for committing fraud in April 2021, i.e. crime under Part 1 of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, which establishes punishment including imprisonment for up to 3 years and in accordance with Art. The Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, which falls into the category of less serious crimes.
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Military Personnel Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated November 27, 2019 N 224-APU19-7
in the case there is no document from the competent authority ... of the Republic on bringing or not bringing Ukhigov (who committed the act incriminated against him on the territory of this state) to criminal liability by the authorities of this country, which should have entailed the return of the criminal case to the prosecutor in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 237 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, in connection with which the court violated the requirements of the law and the provisions of Part 1 of Art. Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Determination of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 6, 2017 N 127-UDp17-8
Moreover, as part 4 of Art. of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and Part 4 of Art. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation includes a crime under Part 2 of Art. 186 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Part 2 of Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), to the category of grave. Crimes under Part 1 of Art. 152 and part 1 of Art. 153 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Part 1 of Article 131, Part 1 of Article 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), in accordance with Part 3 of Art. The Criminal Code of Ukraine is classified as crimes of medium gravity. The expiration period for criminal records for committing serious crimes, as well as crimes of minor and medium gravity, by virtue of paragraphs 7, 8 of Art. Criminal Code of Ukraine and paragraphs “c”, “d”, part 3 of Art. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (as amended by Federal Law No. 63-FZ of June 13, 1996, in force at the time the crime was committed) is, respectively, 6 years and 3 years from the date of serving the sentence.
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 27, 2017 N 82-APU17-12SP
Contrary to the arguments of Yusupov’s complaint, the obstacles provided for in Part 3 of Art. of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, for his conviction under Part 2 of Art. 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was not available, since Yusupov was convicted under Part 2 of Art. for committing crimes on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. 235.2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated July 16, 1997 for participation in a transnational organized group, and not for participation in a criminal community or transnational criminal community, criminal liability for which was provided for in Art. Art. 235.1 and 235.3 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated July 16, 1997.
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Military Personnel Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 04/05/2018 N 205-APU18-4
These conclusions of the court are based on the totality of evidence examined at the court hearing and the correct application by the court of the norms of criminal law, including the provisions of Part 3 of Art. of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation regarding the crime provided for in Part 1 of Art. 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (as amended by Federal Law No. 420-FZ of December 7, 2011). There are grounds for a different legal assessment of all these criminal actions of the convicted Panov A.A. not available.
Determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated September 29, 2020 N 2069-O
The territorial jurisdiction of a criminal case and the grounds for changing it are established by Article 152 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, according to which the preliminary investigation is carried out at the place where the act containing signs of a crime was committed, except for the cases provided for in this article (part one), namely: if the crimes were committed in different places , then, by decision of the superior head of the investigative body, the criminal case is investigated at the place where most of the crimes or the most serious of them were committed (part three); the preliminary investigation may also be carried out at the location of the accused or the majority of witnesses in order to ensure its completeness, objectivity and compliance with procedural deadlines (part four); if a crime is committed outside the Russian Federation, the criminal case is investigated on the grounds provided for in the article of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, or in accordance with Article 459 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation at the place of residence or place of stay of the victim in the Russian Federation, or at the location of the majority of witnesses, or at the place residence or place of stay of the accused in the Russian Federation, if the victim lives or stays outside the Russian Federation, or at a place determined by the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, provided that the crime was committed by a foreign citizen or stateless person not permanently residing in the Russian Federation, and is directed against the interests of the Russian Federation (part four.1); by a reasoned decision of the head of a higher investigative body, a criminal case may be transferred for preliminary investigation to a higher investigative body with written notification to the prosecutor of the decision made (part six).
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated January 15, 2019 N 127-APU18-13sp
Danilchenko N.N. has a criminal record according to the verdict of the Evpatoria City Court of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea dated 02/05/2007, including for committing a crime under Part 1 of Art. 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (murder). This criminal record in accordance with paragraph 9 of Art. Criminal Code of Ukraine, clause “e”, part 3, art. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has not been extinguished. The specified criminal record, as by virtue of Part 5 of Art. of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and in accordance with Part 5 of Art. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is recognized as a particularly serious crime. Danilchenko N.N. again committed a particularly serious crime.
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 3, 2019 N 41-APU19-11
At the same time, we cannot agree with the arguments presented in the lawyers’ appeals about the inadmissibility of evidence collected on the territory of the DPR and the incorrectness of the conviction of Yu.N. Sviridov. court of the Russian Federation, since these arguments are not based on the law. In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, criminal proceedings on the territory of the Russian Federation, regardless of the place where the crime was committed, are conducted in accordance with this Code, unless otherwise established by an international treaty of the Russian Federation. Moreover, in the cases provided for in Art. of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, certain procedural actions outside the territory of the Russian Federation may be carried out in accordance with the requirements of this Code.
