Motive in criminal law is the motivating reason for the crime, types and purposes

The concept and meaning of the motive of the crime

What is motive in criminal law? In this context, motive is an incentive to action

It, like the guilt described above, is an important component of the subjective side of the violation of law. Correct recognition of its essence has implications for legal liability

The motive allows you to reveal the true essence of the reasons that prompted you to commit a criminal act. Correctly establishing a motive sometimes causes a sharp change in the legal assessment of the crime committed. There are the following types of motives in criminal law:

negative, characterized by antisocial connotations. This may include malice, self-interest, revenge, etc. Such a motive is an aggravating circumstance;
indifferent, characterized by a state of apathy and boredom. Most often, such a motive is inherent in crimes expressed in inaction;
positive, characterized by altruism and kindness. Such motives do not abolish criminal liability, but mitigate it. An example of an offense with such a motive would be euthanasia. On the one hand, the offender wanted to do what was best, but still committed murder.

Any violation of the rules established in society, including at the legislative level, has a motive. But in some cases, the true motive is very difficult to establish, because the offender may deliberately hide it for various reasons.

SUBJECTIVE SIDE OF CRIME

The subjective side of the crime —

This is the internal side of a socially dangerous act; it is most difficult to assess externally and is refracted through the objective side. The main feature of the subjective side is guilt; optional (additional) features - motive, goal and emotions.

Guilt —

This is a necessary sign of the subjective side, which characterizes the mental attitude of a person to the committed act - and the socially dangerous consequences that have occurred. Guilt is characterized by intellectual and volitional aspects. The intellectual moment of guilt includes the person’s awareness of the social danger of his act and the anticipation of the onset of socially dangerous consequences (foresight is characteristic of material compounds). The volitional moment characterizes the person’s attitude either to the act itself (typical for formal compounds), or the person’s attitude to the resulting consequences (for material compounds).

In the criminal law of the Russian Federation, there are two forms of guilt: intent and negligence. Intent is a more dangerous and more common form of guilt. More than 80 percent of all crimes are committed intentionally.

According to Part 2 of Art. 24 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as amended by the Federal Law of May 20, 1998, an act committed only through negligence is recognized as a crime in the case when it is specifically provided for by the relevant article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code.

There are two types of intent: direct and indirect.

Dividing intent into direct and indirect is necessary to resolve the issue of an unfinished crime. In an unfinished crime (attempt, preparation), the subjective side is characterized only by direct intent.

Many crimes are committed only with direct intent (for example, theft, economic crimes, malfeasance).

Direct intent in the theory of criminal law is divided on different grounds.

1. By degree of certainty:

a) certain intent (specific);

b) vague (unspecified).

With a certain intent, a person foresees and desires the occurrence of a specific consequence. A certain intent can be simple and alternative. With simple intent, a person foresees one specific consequence, and with alternative intent, one of two specific consequences.

With undefined intent, a person foresees the consequences in general terms. With a certain intent, qualification is carried out according to the direction of intent as an attempt on the act that the criminal wanted to commit; in case of undetermined intent, qualification is carried out according to the consequences that actually occurred.

2.According to the degree of deliberation.

Intention can be premeditated or suddenly arisen. For qualification, such a division does not matter, but it does matter when assigning punishment.

Affected intent is a type of suddenly arising intent. This is a sudden strong emotional disturbance caused by violence, bullying or grave insult on the part of the victim or other illegal or immoral actions or inaction of the victim, as well as a long-term psychologically traumatic situation that arose in connection with systematic illegal or immoral behavior on the part of the victim. This type of intent affects the qualifications: they distinguish between murder in a state of passion and infliction of grievous or moderate harm to health in a state of passion.

There are two types of negligence thoughtlessness and negligence.

Very often, negligence occurs in violation of official and professional duties.

Innocent causing of harm (case, incident). There are two types:

1) the person does not foresee the possibility of socially dangerous consequences occurring and, due to the circumstances of the case, could not and should not have foreseen them;

2) the person who committed the act, although he foresaw the possibility of socially dangerous consequences of his actions, could not prevent them due to the inconsistency of his psychophysiological qualities with the requirements of extreme conditions or neuropsychic overload.

For the first time in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of 1996, a double form of guilt is highlighted. In general, a double culpable crime is considered to have been committed intentionally. Some scientists have a negative attitude towards the institution of double guilt. If, as a result of an intentional crime, grave consequences are caused, which by law entail a more severe punishment and which were not covered by the intent of the person, then criminal liability for such consequences occurs only if the person treated them frivolously or negligently (Article 111, Part 4 Criminal Code - intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm, resulting in death through negligence, Article 123, Part 3, Article 238 of the Criminal Code).

Motive, purpose and emotions are optional signs of the subjective side of the crime.

Motive is the internal motivation that guides the person committing the crime.

The goal is the final result that a person strives to achieve when committing a crime.

The motives for a crime can be different. The most common are selfish motives. Selfish motives pursue the goal of enrichment and material gain. In addition to selfish motives, there is a second group - base motives. These include hooligan motives, which manifest themselves in clear disrespect for society. Base motives include motives of revenge and jealousy. The literature also identifies a group of motives devoid of base content: motives of falsely understood necessity; “morally justified” motives.

The purposes of a crime can be: the purpose of concealing another crime or facilitating its commission, the purpose of enrichment, and others.

Emotions - for example, fear, horror, despair. Only one type of emotion has legal significance - affect.

The motives and purposes of the crime are characteristic only of intentional crimes.

Legal meaning of motives and goals:

1. The motive and purpose of the crime may be signs of the main element of the crime (Article 285 of the Criminal Code).

2. The motive and purpose of the crime may be signs of aggravating circumstances (Part 2 of Article 105).

3. If motives and goals do not influence the qualification of a crime, then they can influence the assignment of punishment (for example, “morally justified” motives can lead to a mitigation of punishment, Article 61 of the Criminal Code - motives of compassion).

An error in criminal law is understood as a person’s misconception regarding the factual circumstances that determine the nature and degree of social danger of the act committed, or regarding the legal characteristics of the act. There are two types of errors depending on the nature of the person’s misconceptions:

1. Legal error

- this is an incorrect assessment by the perpetrator of the legal essence or legal consequences of the act committed. The following types of legal errors are distinguished:

a) an error in the criminal law prohibition: ignorance of the law does not exempt from criminal liability; liability for committing a crime through negligence in the event of ignorance of the criminal law prohibition can occur only when the error in the prohibition is culpable, i.e. the person was obliged and could understand that the act was prohibited by criminal law;

b) a person’s erroneous assessment of the act being committed as criminal, when in fact the law does not classify it as a crime; in this case, the act does not cause harm to social relations protected by criminal law and is not a basis for criminal liability;

c) a person’s incorrect understanding of the legal consequences of the crime being committed, its qualifications, type and amount of punishment. An erroneous assessment of such consequences does not affect the form of guilt and does not exclude criminal liability.

The general conclusion regarding a legal error: a legal error usually does not affect either the form of guilt, or the qualification of the crime, or the amount of the imposed punishment. Criminal liability of a person who is mistaken about the legal properties and legal consequences of the act committed, with the exception of an error in the criminal law prohibition, occurs in accordance with the assessment of this act not by the subject, but by the legislator.

2. Factual error

- this is a person’s incorrect understanding of the factual circumstances that play the role of objective signs of a given composition and determine the nature of the crime and the degree of its social danger. Depending on the content of misconceptions, the following types of factual errors are distinguished.

Error in the object of encroachment

- this is a person’s incorrect understanding of the social and legal essence of the object of the attack. There are two types: substitution of the object of encroachment (a person mistakenly believes that he is encroaching on one object, but in reality causes damage to another object):

a) encroaches on a homogeneous object; this type of error does not affect qualification in any way;

b) the person wanted to encroach on one object, but actually causes damage to another object, dissimilar from the first (he wanted to steal drugs, but he stole medicines). In this case, it is qualified by the direction of intent as an attempt on the crime that he wanted to commit.

Error regarding circumstances

thanks to which the social and legal assessment of the object in the law changes:

a) the perpetrator did not know about such circumstances that actually exist (kills a woman without knowing about her pregnancy); qualified by the direction of intent;

b) if the perpetrator proceeds from the erroneous belief that there is a corresponding aggravating circumstance (kills a woman, believing that she is pregnant), then the act must be qualified as an attempted crime with these aggravating circumstances.

An error in the object should be distinguished from an error in the object and in the identity of the victim. As a rule, an error in the subject of the crime does not affect qualifications, except in cases where a change in the subject of the crime entails a change in the object of the attack. An error in the identity of the victim does not affect qualifications.

Error in the nature of the act, in action or inaction:

a) a person’s incorrect assessment of his actions as socially dangerous, whereas they do not have such a property (for example, a person sells foreign currency, mistakenly believing that it is counterfeit. The act is qualified as an attempt to sell counterfeit money). Qualification based on intent.

b) the person incorrectly evaluates his actions, considering them to be lawful, but in fact they are not lawful; it is exempt from criminal liability.

Error regarding consequences.

Qualitative error - a person is mistaken about the nature of the consequences. Quantitative error - a person is mistaken about the degree of consequences:

a) the citizen wanted to commit theft on a large scale, but in fact stole in a much larger amount than he expected; is classified as grand theft;

b) the citizen wanted to commit theft on a large scale, but instead committed theft on a regular scale. Qualifies based on the intent of the intent.

Error in the development of causality.

This is a person's misrepresentation of the development of a causal relationship. At the same time, it must be borne in mind that the culprit cannot foresee the development of the causal relationship in full, but must take into account only the general patterns of development of the causal relationship. If, as a result of the action of the perpetrator, the criminal result that was covered by his intent occurs, then the error in the causal connection does not affect the form of guilt and qualifications.

An error in the development of causation may exclude intent, but it substantiates liability for careless causing of harm.

Error in aggravating circumstances:

a) a misconception about the absence of such circumstances, when in fact they exist;

b) a misconception about the existence of such circumstances, when in fact they are actually absent.

Some sources highlight another type of factual error - an error in the means of crime. We are talking about cases where a crime is committed with unsuitable means. There are two types of unsuitable means: a means is used that is unsuitable in the given circumstances, the act is qualified as an attempt; absolutely unsuitable means - there is no criminal liability (conspiracy, spell, libel).

Motive of crime concept and meaning

In this interpretation, motivation is an incentive, a reason for some action. At the heart of a person’s varied lifestyle are some incentives that determine the social calculation and target direction. The significance of motives in human behavior is diverse. First of all, it has an incentive role; the subject’s activity increases and actions are stimulated.

But even real circumstances do not determine the unambiguity of the subject’s actions; they are always purposeful and selective. A citizen independently chooses actions in accordance with circumstances, personal intentions, and inclinations.

An important component of the subjective side of a legal violation in a jurisdiction is the motive for a socially dangerous action. Correctly recognizing its essence as a qualifying mark is of the most important theoretical and practical importance for legal liability. Reason is a psychological concept that reveals the inner nature of human actions, their nature.

General psychology connects it with the needs of the person:

primary (natural);
secondary (material, spiritual).

The motive reveals the true content of a socially dangerous act. It characterizes a socially dangerous act and the personal data of the offender. A correctly established specific basis sometimes dramatically changes the legal assessment of the crime committed.

The motive for offending behavior includes association:

reasons;
motivational factors;
inner beliefs.

Causing a desire in the subject to satisfy them with the help of a criminal act. A need closely related to a person’s upbringing, nature, and moral qualities.

Types of motives in Russian criminal law, their classification is taken from scientific psychology. They are attached to criminology:

Negative motive. Characterized by an antisocial, base coloring: selfishness, anger, self-interest, revenge, hatred, envy. They almost always involve aggravating circumstances.
Neutral motive. Characterized by unemployment, a state of apathy, boredom.
Positive motive. It is interconnected with altruism and kindness, but this does not mean the exclusion of criminal liability, but they can mitigate the punishment. An example is a specific positive motive – euthanasia. A patient who was deprived of his life by a nurse with humane motives, who succumbed to the requests of the doomed man to help him die painlessly. Yes, a criminal act was committed, even though he had good intentions.

Motives are inherent in any legal violation. The science of jurisprudence does not consider the essential significance of what formed the basis of the committed acts, what psychological aspects are involved in it.

Psychological motives, moments:

need;
interest;
wish;
aspiration;
value setting.

In the course of qualification, acts can easily act as a motive for a legal violation. For example, jealousy is noted by psychologists as a feeling; according to legal laws, when a murder is carried out on its basis, it is considered the basis of a criminal act.

The motives for an offense include an internal drive to achieve certain socially threatening results that make the subject decide to commit an offense.

On the issue of classification of motives for crime

Bibliographic description:

Smarzh, D.I. On the issue of classification of motives for crime / D.I. Smarzh. — Text: direct // New Legal Bulletin. - 2021. - No. 7 (21). — P. 60-62. — URL: https://moluch.ru/th/9/archive/174/5410/ (access date: 12/21/2021).

This article examines the problems of the variety of approaches to determining the motives of a crime. The basic concepts of determining the classification of motives for a crime are analyzed, the role of classifications of motives for the classification of crimes is determined.

Key words: motive for crime, classification, base motives, role of motive.

This article discusses the problems of a variety of approaches to determining the motives of a crime. The basic concepts of determining the motives of a crime are analyzed, the role of classification motives for the qualification of crimes is determined.

Keywords: motive of crime, classification, base motives, the role of motive.

An analysis of judicial legislation and judicial practice allows us to conclude that there is a significant variety of motives for which crimes are committed. Motive, reflecting the subjective side of the crime and being an optional feature, plays an important role in the classification of a criminal act. During the existence of criminal law science, many approaches to the classification of motives have emerged. In this regard, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of their classification, which is necessary for solving various problems, in particular for classifying crimes, imposing punishment, identifying the causes of certain types of acts and developing measures to prevent them.

At the moment, there are many concepts based on what characteristics and what types motives should be classified, however, there are also opponents of classification as such, the most striking example is V. S. Utevsky, who believed that “there cannot be a stable system of motives. Due to changes in social conditions, some motives for human actions may disappear, while others may reappear. Finally, there is no practical need to classify motives. This does not exclude the need for a theoretical analysis of individual motives, especially the most dangerous (for example, motives emanating from class hatred) or the most typical for certain categories of crimes (for example, self-interest in property crimes)” [8].

However, at the moment it is a well-established opinion in the criminological community that denying the role played by the classification of motives can lead to negative consequences.

Before classifying any phenomenon, it is necessary to determine the classification criteria suitable for criminal law. According to the famous Italian criminologist E. Ferri, “the clearest and most general is the division of motives into social and antisocial; but they can also be called moral and immoral, noble and base, if in the field of the social system we look at them from a moral point of view, and they can be called legal and illegal, legal and anti-legal, if in the field of the social system we think in a more special way and keep in mind strictly legal, legal point of view” [10].

A similar concept prevailed in Russian pre-revolutionary criminal law science; thus, following E. Ferri, M. P. Chubinsky divided motives into two groups, social and antisocial [6].

Subsequently, during the emergence and development of Soviet criminal law science, an attempt to classify motives was made by prof. Gerzenzon, who divides all motives into three main groups: 1) counter-revolutionary motives, 2) base motives and 3) motives due to instability and indiscipline [9].

The author believes that there is a qualitative difference between the motives of the first and the other two groups, since counter-revolutionary motives make a crime a serious anti-state crime, while the motives of the second and third groups are characteristic of crimes that violate the socialist order.

Commenting on this concept, it should be noted that this classification is ideological.

It should be noted the variants of classifications based on the motive. For example, the classification proposed by I. N. Danshin is very simple: he grouped the motives according to the main types of crimes provided for by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (motives for murder, theft, speculation, etc.) [2]. One cannot fail to mention the classification of U.S. Dzhebaev, who proposed basing it on a single criterion—the social danger of the crime [3].

The system compiled by P. S. Dagel deserves special attention. He divided all motives for crimes based on social orientation into three groups: a) socially dangerous; b) socially neutral; c) socially useful [1].

Taking into account the above, the classification of motives proposed by O. S. Ivchenko is of particular interest. She identified three groups of motives for the crime:

1) the motives with which the criminal law connects the establishment of criminal liability for a specific act (for example, theft - Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);

2) motives with which the criminal law connects the toughening of punishment (for example, selfish, hooligan motives, revenge, blood feud, personal interest, motive of national, racial, religious hatred or enmity, the purpose of removing organs or tissues of the victim, the purpose of concealing another crime or facilitating its commission, etc.);

3) the motives with which the criminal law connects the mitigation of punishment (for example, the motive of compassion, the goal of ridding the victim of suffering, etc.) [4].

In my opinion, in order to construct a criminal legal classification of the motives of crimes, it is necessary to rely on their moral and legal assessment, for this it is necessary to proceed from the concept of “base motives”. This motive is one of the signs of two crimes (153 and 155 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Thus, D.P. Kotov classifies motives of a political (class, ideological hatred), religious, personal (revenge, envy) nature as base motives [5].

However, since the concept of base motives, on the one hand, is legislative, and on the other hand, is of an evaluative nature, the science of criminal law is faced with the task of formulating criteria by which a motive can be recognized as base.

According to A.I. Rarog, the motives by which a person is guided when committing a crime can be considered vile in the following three cases

When, with the help of a motive introduced among the elements of a crime, a special corpus delicti is constructed.
When he is given the value of a qualifying feature of a specific crime.
If it is included by the legislator among aggravating punishments (Article 63 of the Criminal Code) [7].

Thus, in criminal law there are a large number of classifications of motives for crimes, and each is based on various grounds: social danger, moral assessment, psychological aspect, severity of crimes and others. However, each of these divisions plays an important role in the classification of crimes.

Literature:

Dagel P. S. Classification of motives and its criminological significance // Questions of the sociology of law. Irkutsk, 1976. - 274c.
Danshin I. N. On the importance of the motive for crime in the study and prevention of crimes // Issues in the fight against crime. M.: Legal. lit., 1969. - Issue. 10. - P. 70.
Dzhebaev U.S., Rakhimov T.G., Sudakova R.N^ Motivation for crime and criminal liability. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 1987. - 189 p.
Ivchenko O. S. Problems of motive and purpose of murder in Russian criminal law: abstract. dis.. cand. legal Sci. M., 2002. - 28 p.
Kotov D.P. Motives of crimes and their proof (issues of theory and practice). Voronezh: Voronezh Publishing House, University, 1975. - 152 p.
The motive of criminal activity and its significance in criminal law / Chubinsky M. P., Priv.-Assoc. Demid. legal Lyceum — Yaroslavl: Tipo-lit. E. G. Falk, 1900. - 373 p.
Rarog A.I. Qualification of crimes based on subjective criteria. SPb.: Legal. Center Press", 2002. - 304 p.
Utevsky B. S. Guilt in Soviet criminal law. M.: Gosyuriz-dat, 1950. -320 p.
Criminal law. General part: Textbook / Gertsenzon A. A., Isaev M. M., Piontkovsky A. A., Utevsky B. S.; Scientific ed.: Menshagin V.D. - 4th ed., revised. - M.: Legal. Publishing house of the Ministry of Justice of the USSR, 1948. - 575 p.
Ferri E. Criminal sociology translation, ed. S. V. Poznysheva. - Moscow: Publishing house. V. M. Sablina, 1908. - 625 p.

Key terms
(automatically generated)
: motive, classification of motives, qualification of crimes, Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, group, classification, motive of crime, crime, social system.

Purposes of crimes

Motivation helps determine why a person committed a crime. At the same time, the goal helps answer the question of why he did it. The goal in criminal law is an intellectual product of the human psyche. Identifying the target is an important aspect of the investigation. This is due to the fact that a number of goals are aggravating circumstances. The goals of offenses can be: definite, indefinite, achievable, unattainable, basic, initial, final, etc.

At first glance, abstract definitions of guilt, motive and purpose do not matter much. But that's not true. To prove this, we can consider an example of the same crime committed for different reasons and for different purposes. Let's take murder as an example:

if the motive for killing a person was the unlawful behavior of the killed person towards the killer, then this is a mitigating circumstance. If the motivation was expressed in hatred, then aggravating;
if the purpose of the murder was to get rid of bullying and other similar influences, then this is a mitigating circumstance. And if the murder was committed with the aim of taking possession of property, then aggravated;
if a person repents of what he has done, the punishment will be lighter, and if he does not admit guilt, then it will be more severe.

As a result, in one situation the perpetrator of a crime may be given a suspended sentence or serve his sentence in a penal colony, while another may receive several years of strict regime

Therefore, it is important to know the concept of the above values and understand their nature.

Lowland

ELEMENTS OF A CRIME

1. low-lying

2. without low content

Base motives are considered to be hooligan, selfish, related to the victim’s performance of official activities or the performance of public duty, blood feud, personal interest, etc.

Low goals include: the goal of facilitating or concealing another crime, the goal of using the organs and tissues of the victim, the goal of provoking war or international conflict (Article 65 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Estonia), etc.

Those motives and goals with which the law associates increased criminal liability should be recognized as base.

Other motives and goals not related to increased criminal liability are considered to have no base content. For example, wanting to fertilize a flowerbed where flowers were growing poorly, a criminal killed a child and poured his blood on the ground. The goal in this case is to grow beautiful flowers, and the motive is the desire for beauty (the so-called Machiavelli ethics).

Motives and goals play a threefold role:

· they serve as circumstances aggravating or mitigating responsibility, for example, committing a crime in order to conceal another crime or committing a crime motivated by compassion (clause “d”, part 1 of article 61 of the Criminal Code)

· they can become mandatory if the legislator introduces them into a specific crime as a necessary condition for criminal liability, for example, forgery of official documents for the purpose of using them (Part 1 of Article 186 of the UKER). The Tallinn City Court heard criminal case No. 99231609287. A. Khaliulina was found guilty under Article 186 of the UKER for ordering a fake passport of a citizen of the Republic of Estonia to be made for herself in order to travel to Finland. The defendant took a photo and gave her photo to the counterfeiters, thereby taking part in the crime. To recognize this act as criminal, it is important to have a purpose to use a fake document.

· they can change qualifications, for example, temporarily leaving a place of service and leaving service for the purpose of desertion Art. 250 and 252 UKER or Art. 337 and 338 UKRF respectively. M. Uybokand was convicted by the Tallinn City Court under paragraph 1 of Article 252 of the UKER (criminal case No. 96044180) for the fact that, as a military serviceman, he left the military unit and returned there only 4 years later. The defendant stated that he left the unit in order to evade defense service. Article 252 UKER presupposes the presence of such intent. If the defendant had left the military unit without the intent to evade service, then his act should have been qualified under Article 250 of the UKER. Such a case happened with D. Koptelkov (criminal case No. 99962000116), who left the unit for the weekend and returned after 3 weeks. The defendant explained his long absence by the lack of money for a ticket; he also said that he did not want to evade service and returned to the unit as soon as he found money for the trip. Because There was no intent to evade service in the act; D. Koptelkov’s behavior was correctly qualified under Part 1 of Article 250 of the UKER.

Error and its meaning

An error in criminal law is a person’s misconception about the legal or factual circumstances of an act or its consequences.

Errors can be legal and factual.

Legal are divided into:

· errors in illegality (a person considered his actions to be criminal, whereas the law does not classify these actions as criminal) - such an error excludes criminal liability,

· errors in qualification (the person misrepresented the legal qualification of the act he committed) – does not affect the form of guilt and does not exclude criminal liability,

· errors in non-criminality (a person does not consider his act to be criminal, although in fact it is criminal) - does not eliminate the guilt of the person, because consciousness of wrongfulness is not included in the content of intent and thereby does not exclude criminal liability,

· errors in punishability (misconception regarding the type and amount of punishment) - does not exclude guilt and criminal liability.

Thus, the criminal liability of a person who is mistaken regarding the legal properties and legal consequences of the act committed occurs in accordance with the assessment of this act not by the subject, but by the legislator, i.e. a legal error does not affect either the form of guilt, or the qualification of the crime, or the amount of the imposed punishment.

Factual errors are divided into:

· for errors in the object (a person thinks that he is causing harm to one object, although in reality another object is suffering damage) - the act is qualified by its focus as an attempt to commit a corresponding crime,

· errors in the nature of an action or inaction (a person incorrectly assesses his actions as socially dangerous, although they are not, for example, a person sold currency that he mistakenly considered to be counterfeit) - do not affect the form of guilt, but responsibility comes for attempted crime,

· error in consequences (a person foresaw consequences that did not occur, or did not foresee consequences that actually occurred) - liability occurs in accordance with the direction of intent as an attempted crime and in accordance with the actual consequences as a careless crime,

· error in causation (the culprit misunderstood the cause-and-effect relationship between his act and the onset of socially dangerous consequences) - if the result coincides with what the culprit wanted, then such an error does not affect the form of guilt,

· Error in aggravating circumstances (a person believes that there are no aggravating circumstances when they exist, or vice versa, a person believes that there are aggravating circumstances that actually do not exist) - liability occurs according to the content and direction of intent.

The subjective side has significant legal significance.

Firstly, as an integral part of the basis of criminal liability, it separates criminal from non-criminal behavior. For example, it is not criminal to cause socially dangerous consequences without guilt, or to commit an act through negligence that is punishable only if there is intent [42] (Article 195 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Estonia), or an act provided for by a norm of criminal law, but committed without the purpose specified in this norm or for reasons other than those specified in the law (Article 124 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Estonia). The Tallinn City Court heard criminal case No. 00231801215 on charges of hooliganism against D. Maltseva (Part 1 of Article 195 of the UKER). The defendant sprayed gas in the face of a 15-year-old girl on a trolleybus. It turned out that the girl discussed D. Maltseva’s appearance with her friend, mocked her, thereby insulting the defendant. D. Maltseva made a remark to the girls, to which she received a daring response from the victim. In a fit of rage, D. Maltseva sprayed gas in the girl’s face. In this episode, there is direct intent, without which there cannot be an offense of hooliganism. The court punished Maltseva with arrest.

Secondly, the subjective side makes it possible to distinguish from each other crimes that are similar in objective terms [43] (Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Article 338 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Thirdly, the actual content of the optional features of the subjective side of the crime, even if they are not specified in the norm of the Special Part of the Criminal Code, determines the degree of public danger of both the crime and the person who committed it, and therefore the nature of responsibility, the amount of punishment[44], taking into account requirements of Articles 37 - 39 UKER and Articles 61 - 65 UKRF.

Thus, the study of the content of the subjective side: the form of guilt, the content and direction of intent, the motives and goals of the crime is important for justifying criminal liability, and for qualifying the crime, and for imposing punishment.

4 Subject

Some authors believe that “The subject of a crime is a person who has committed a crime and is capable, in accordance with the law, of incurring criminal liability for it”[45]. Others believe that “the subject of a crime is the minimum set of characteristics characterizing the person who committed the crime, which is necessary to bring him to criminal responsibility. The absence of at least one of these signs means the absence of a crime”[46]. It seems to the author of the course work that the subject is a set of features of a person, and not the face itself, because if an individual does not possess the necessary characteristics of a subject, he is not a subject, but remains a person who has committed an act with the characteristics of a crime. Thus, the subject of a crime is a set of characteristics necessary to bring a person to criminal responsibility, and an individual is one of the mandatory characteristics of the subject.

Subjects are general and special. A special subject is a subject that has additional, atypical characteristics for all subjects. The concept of a special subject is introduced to limit the circle of persons who can be held criminally liable. For example, according to Art. 250 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Estonia, for unauthorized absence from a military unit, only a soldier who has taken the oath can be held accountable, and for murder, according to Article 106 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Estonia, only a woman, or more precisely, only the mother of a newborn child, can be held accountable

Signs of a subject are divided into mandatory and optional.

Required features include:

· individual (person, regardless of citizenship or nationality)

· sanity (Article 11 UKER or Article 19 UKRF),

· reaching the age specified by law (Article 10 UKER or Article 19 UKRF)

Sanity is a person’s ability to realize the actual nature and social danger of his behavior [intellectual factor] and to control it [volitional factor][47].

To declare a person insane, it is sufficient to establish that the person either cannot understand the meaning of his behavior or is not able to control it. The question is debatable whether a drug addict who, in a state of drug starvation (not in a state of intoxication) committed a crime in order to obtain a drug, is subject to criminal liability. He could understand the meaning of his actions, because... was not under the influence of mind-clouding drugs, but his will was broken by physical and mental dependence on the drug. From a practical point of view, a drug addict will undoubtedly be held criminally liable, but some theorists of criminal law, in particular Zdravomyslov, Tkachevsky, believe that due to the lack of will he is insane. The Tallinn City Court heard criminal case No. 00231804292 on charges of S. Petukhov committing a crime under clause 2, part 2, article 143 of the UKER. The defendant and his friend - both drug addicts - decided to buy drugs. Because they didn’t have money, S. Petukhov asked a friend for a mobile phone to call his mother, who could give him money. Having received the phone, the defendant went around the corner to make a call and left, sold the phone and bought drugs with the proceeds. At the trial, the defendant said that he had been addicted to drugs for more than a year and had committed a crime to obtain drugs. He understood that he was deceiving the victim, but he could not help himself - he needed to get money for drugs. This circumstance was taken into account by the court when assigning punishment - because there was no money to buy drugs, there was no money to pay the fine, and the court sentenced him to arrest. According to the author, the defendant cannot be declared sane at the time of committing the crime, because Sanity presupposes the ability to: 1) be aware of one’s actions; 2) manage them. In this case, S. Petukhov’s testimony clearly shows his inability to direct his actions. Therefore, instead of criminal punishment, medical measures should have been applied to the defendant.

The Tallinn City Court is processing criminal case No. 00231804216 on charges of A. Dolgov consuming drugs (heroin) without a doctor’s prescription (Part 1 of Article 2025 of the UKER). Three criminal cases have been opened against the accused under the same article. The court combined them into one proceeding, and just before the hearing of the case, another similar criminal case was received from the police, so the court does not have time to punish A. Dolgov - due to incoming cases and their consolidation into one proceeding, the hearing is constantly postponed. According to the author of the course work, in this case (opiates cause physical and mental dependence), it is impossible to talk about the sanity and guilt of A. Dolgov, because guilt and sanity presuppose the presence of will, and the accused’s will is broken by drug addiction. However, Article 2025 of the UKER provides for criminal liability for drug use without a doctor’s prescription. The author believes that, according to Article 2025 of the UKER, only those who have used drugs for the first time (or those whose dependence on them has not yet developed) should be involved.

The age at which persons are held criminally liable in Estonia is established by Parts 1 and 2 of Article 10 of the Criminal Code: “A person who has reached the age of fifteen at the time of the commission of a crime is subject to criminal liability. Persons who have committed a crime between the ages of thirteen and fifteen years are subject to criminal liability only in cases provided for in Articles 100, 101, 107, 108, 113 - 115, 139, 140 - 142, Part 2 of Article 184_2, Articles 195 and 197 of this Code .”, and in the Russian Federation - parts 1,2,3 of Article 20 of the Criminal Code:

"1. A person who has reached the age of sixteen at the time of committing a crime is subject to criminal liability. 2. Persons who have reached the age of fourteen at the time of committing a crime are subject to criminal liability for murder (Article 105), intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm (Article 111), intentional infliction of moderate harm to health (Article 112), kidnapping (Article 126), rape (Article 131), sexual assault (Article 132), theft (Article 158), robbery (Article 161), robbery (Article 162), extortion (Article 163), unlawful taking of a car or other vehicle without the purpose of theft ( Article 166), intentional destruction or damage to property under aggravating circumstances (part two of Article 167), terrorism (Article 205), hostage taking (Article 206), knowingly false report of an act of terrorism (Article 207), hooliganism under aggravating circumstances (part two and the third of Article 213), vandalism (Article 214), theft or extortion of weapons, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices (Article 226), theft or extortion of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances (Article 229), rendering vehicles or means of communication unusable (Article 267). 3. If a minor has reached the age specified in parts one or two of this article, but due to mental retardation not associated with a mental disorder, during the commission of a socially dangerous act he could not fully understand the actual nature and social danger of his actions (inaction) or lead them, he is not subject to criminal liability.”

The subject of the crime has significant legal significance:

First, by separating criminal from non-criminal behavior. For example, an act committed by a person with the characteristics of a general subject is not a crime, when a specific norm, as grounds for criminal liability, requires the characteristics of a special subject (for example, failure to provide medical care).

Secondly, the age characteristics of the subject make it possible to establish the characteristics of the criminal liability of minors.

Thirdly, the actual content of the optional features of the subject of the crime, even if they are not specified in the norm of the Special Part of the Criminal Code, determines the degree of public danger of both the crime and the person who committed it, and therefore the nature of responsibility, the amount of punishment[48] taking into account the requirements Art. 37 - 39 UKER and Art. 61 - 64 UKRF. For example, a crime committed by a judge is more dangerous than the same crime committed by a baker.

Thus, the study of the content of the subject: age, mental state, optional signs is important for justifying criminal liability, and for qualifying a crime, and for imposing punishment.

Conclusion

The topic discussed in this course work occupies an important place in the science of criminal law.

Only a person can commit a socially dangerous act. However, in order to bring a particular person to criminal responsibility, he must have a number of signs that characterize him and his behavior, as well as the harm that was caused to society.

The work makes an attempt to provide the most complete and, at the same time, concise disclosure of these features. Particular attention is paid to the objective and subjective aspects of the crime, since, according to the author, they are not always studied by law enforcement agencies with due attention. These problems cause the most difficulties in practice. In this work, the author examined the structure of the crime - object, objective side, subjective side and subject - determined its meaning and delimited the concepts of crime and corpus delicti. I also analyzed the meaning of the signs of the elements of the crime and revealed their meaning.

During the study, the following conclusions were made:

OBJECT – these are social relations, benefits and interests protected by criminal law, towards which a socially dangerous act is directed and to which harm is caused or a real threat of harm is created. The significance of the object in establishing the criminality of the act, determining the legal nature of the crime, the correct qualification of crimes, delimiting crimes from other offenses.

OBJECTIVE SIDE is the external side of a socially dangerous attack. The importance of the objective side as an element of a crime in the basis of criminal liability, the basis of legal qualifications, the delimitation of similar crimes, the delimitation of crimes from other offenses.

THE SUBJECTIVE SIDE is the mental activity of a person at the time of committing a crime. The subjective side is important in justifying criminal liability, justifying the legal qualification of a crime, imposing punishment, distinguishing crimes that are similar in objective terms from each other, and separating criminal behavior from non-criminal behavior.

SUBJECT is the minimum set of characteristics characterizing a person who has committed a crime, necessary to bring him to criminal responsibility. The significance of the subject is determined by the justification of criminal liability, the justification of the classification of the crime, the justification of the amount of punishment, and the argumentation for the release of minors from criminal punishment.

Thus, the elements of a criminal attack on public values, together forming a crime, are the only basis for criminal liability, serve for the correct legal qualification of a criminal act, and are the basis for the court to determine the type and amount of punishment or other measures of a criminal legal nature. An accurate definition of the crime is one of the guarantees of ensuring the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, respecting and strengthening the rule of law and order in a democratic state governed by the rule of law[49].

List of used regulations

1. Constitution of the Republic of Estonia. Electronic version. Status as of November 15, 2000.

2. Criminal Code of the Republic of Estonia. Electronic version. Status as of November 15, 2000.

3. Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Estonia. Electronic version. Status as of November 15, 2000.

List of used literature.

4. Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of Russia. A common part. Moscow, 1996

5. Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. Moscow, 2000.

6. Ed. V.N. Kudryavtsev and A.V. Naumov. Textbook of criminal law. A common part. Moscow, 1996.

7. A. F. Istomin. General part of criminal law. Moscow, 1998

8. Yu.S. Izbachkov. Subject of the crime. Course work. Novgorod, 1999

List of abbreviations used

KER – Constitution of the Republic of Estonia

UKRF – Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

UKER – Criminal Code of the Republic of Estonia

Resume

Käesolevas kursuse töös vaatas autor läbi kuriteo koosseisu elemente - objekti, objektiivset külge, subjektiivset külge ja subjekti - ja selgitas nende tähtsust. Selle jaoks olid analüüsitud kuriteo koosseisu elementide tunnused ja nende tähtsus.

Author tegi järelduse, et kriminaalvastutusele võetakse ainult füüsilist isikut (inimest),kuriteo koosseis on isiku kriminaalvastutusele võtmise ainus alus.Kuriteo koosseis omab tähtsust kuriteo õige juriidilise kvalifikatsiooni jaoks ja on al useks kriminaalkaristuse või muu kriminaal-õigusliku mõjutusvahendi määramisel. Kuriteo koosseisu täpne määratlemine on üks garantiidest inimese ja kodaniku õiguste ja vabaduste tagamise ja õiguskorra ja seaduslikkuse järgimise demokraatilises õiguslikus riigis.

In the present work the author has carefully examined each of the elements of criminal offense – the object, the criminal act, the subjective side, the offender & cleared up their relevance. For this purpose were analyzed traits & meanings of the elements of criminal offense. The author has drawn a conclusion that bringing of criminal charges is possible only against a natural person (human)& that criminal offense is the only ground of bringing of criminal charges. Criminal offense has relevance to legal assessment of criminal offense & it is assumed as the only reason for criminal punishment or other penal sanctions. The determination of the necessary elements of the criminal offense is one of the guarantees of human's & citizen's rights & freedoms, law and order & legality in the democratic legal state.

[1] Ed. V.N. Kudryavtsev and A.V. Naumov. Textbook of criminal law. A common part. Moscow, 1996. Pages 67-71.

Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. Moscow, 2000. Pages 48-57.

Zvonov G.V. Lectures on criminal law.

[2] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Pp. 49.

[3] Ed. V.N. Kudryavtsev and A.V. Naumov. Textbook of criminal law. A common part. M., 1996. P. 68.

[4] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Pp. 56.

[5] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Pp. 82.

[6] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Pp. 106.

[7] Ed. V.N. Kudryavtsev and A.V. Naumov. Textbook of criminal law. A common part. M., 1996. Page 88.

[8] Ed. V.N. Kudryavtsev and A.V. Naumov. Textbook of criminal law. A common part. M., 1996. Page 86.

[9] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 112.

[10] ibidem

[11] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 110.

[12] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 111.

[13] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 122.

[14] Ed. V.N. Kudryavtsev and A.V. Naumov. Textbook of criminal law. A common part. M., 1996. P. 90.

[15] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 123.

[16] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 130.

[17] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 130.

[18] Ed. V.N. Kudryavtsev and A.V. Naumov. Textbook of criminal law. A common part. M., 1996. P. 94.

[19] Ed. V.N. Kudryavtsev and A.V. Naumov. Textbook of criminal law. A common part. M., 1996. P. 95.

[20] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 132.

[21] Lectures on criminal law by prof. P.A. Beilinson.

[22] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 138.

[23] Ed. V.N. Kudryavtsev and A.V. Naumov. Textbook of criminal law. A common part. M., 1996. Page 99.

[24] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 142.

[25] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 144.

[26] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 151.

[27] ibidem.

[28] ibid. Page 150.

[29] Martial law can also be declared by the president (Clause 18, Article 78 CER)

[30] The Constitution of Estonia does not establish a procedure for lifting a state of emergency.

[31] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 126.

[32] B.V. Zdravomyslov. Criminal law of Russia. General part. Moscow, 1996, p. 161.

[33] A.F. Istomin. General part of criminal law. Moscow, 1998, p77.

[34] B.V. Zdravomyslov. Criminal law of Russia. General part. Moscow, 1996, p. 162.

[35] A.F. Istomin. General part of criminal law. Moscow, 1998, p79.

[36]A. F. Istomin. General part of criminal law. Moscow, 1998, p. 80.

[37] B.V. Zdravomyslov. Criminal law of Russia. General part. Moscow, 1996, p. 168.

[38] B.V. Zdravomyslov. Criminal law of Russia. General part. Moscow, 1996, p. 169.

[39] A.F. Istomin. General part of criminal law. Moscow, 1998, p. 80.

[40] B.V. Zdravomyslov. Criminal law of Russia. General part. Moscow, 1996, p. 182.

[41] B.V. Zdravomyslov. Criminal law of Russia. General part. Moscow, 1996, p. 187.

[42] B.V. Zdravomyslov. Criminal law of Russia. General part. Moscow, 1996, p. 162.

[43] Ibid.

[44] Ibid.

[45] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 195.

[46] Pavlov V.G. The subject of a crime in the criminal legislation of the RSFSR (1917-1996) // Jurisprudence, 1998, No. 1, p. 106, refers to the author of the course work “The Subject of a Crime” Yu.S. Izbachkov

[47] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 200.

[48] Ibid.

[49] Ed. B.V. Zdravomyslova. Criminal law of the Russian Federation. A common part. M., 2000. Page 82.

ELEMENTS OF A CRIME

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