It can be difficult to resist saying harsh words to a person. For example, in a parent chat, someone’s dad got upset. Or in a group at home, a neighbor speaks out. Or a user under a YouTube video in the comments - well, he writes nonsense - how can he remain silent! But it’s easy to answer for insults on the Internet...
Our legislators thought...
“An analysis of law enforcement practice shows that the existing mechanism for protecting the honor and dignity of citizens from humiliation, including that contained in publicly displayed works and the media, is not effective enough.”
From the explanatory note to the bill
... and adopted a new version of Article 5.61 of the Code of Administrative Offences:
Changes are highlighted in color. They come into force on January 15, 2021.
A different form that contradicts generally accepted norms of morality and morality - I especially like this place.
As a lawyer, I express my indignation at this formulation: it is broad and not specific, abstract and incomprehensible. Please note that I am not being rude to anyone now, because it would cost from 3,000 to 5,000 rubles.
Since the form of insult can also be “different,” a gesture with the middle finger, a smiley face, or even a contemptuous look is suitable. I probably went too far with my gaze, but who knows - there’s not enough imagination to compile at least an approximate list of insults.
- Be rude, boy! // Still from the film “12 Chairs”.
Offended on the Internet
If the insults were distributed on the Internet, then the fine is higher—up to 10,000 rubles for citizens. Therefore, my attitude towards the authors of the wording could be qualified under Part 2 of Art. 5.61 Code of Administrative Offenses:
Part 2 of Article 5.61 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Effective January 15, 2021
The same part also punishes righteous anger addressed to several persons, not even specific ones.
For example, a review on the website: “Only d...s work in this taxi” can cost up to 10,000 rubles. Or in the class chat, the leader will go through the poor students and truants, without even naming names.
And the salaries of warrant officers are not enough to educate their personnel // Still from the film “The Best Film”
The truth is, I don’t understand: who would write a statement about insults on the Internet? Most likely, any person who considers himself to be a member of any group of people. Let's see.
How to distinguish insult from other offenses
When a person says something thoughtlessly in a public place or writes on social networks, legally this can be classified in different ways.
- Petty hooliganism. Saying or writing obscene words, if they are not directed at someone personally, but simply violate public order, is considered petty hooliganism. This also includes offensive harassment of others, damage or destruction of someone’s property, and dissemination of indecent information on the Internet. These offenses are considered administrative and face a fine of 500 to 300,000 rubles. or arrest for up to 25 days. But such actions are not a public insult unless their intentionality and purposefulness are proven.
- Slander. Accusations of any negative qualities or actions that discredit a person’s dignity and honor, or undermine his reputation, are considered slander. This is already a criminal offense, and you can get a fine from 500,000 to 5,000,000 rubles. or compulsory labor up to 480 hours. To determine the crime of slander, it is important, in contrast to insult, whether the words addressed to the addressee correspond to reality.
Profanity is only one of the categories of expressions that can be classified as public insult. There are a number of seemingly more harmless sayings that degrade a person’s dignity and honor. These include words meaning:
- illegal figures or actions - swindler, thief, swindler, gangster, steal, grab;
- views or lifestyle condemned by society, literally or figuratively - fascist, racist, skinhead, prostitute, woman of easy virtue;
- metaphors that negatively evaluate the physical, mental or moral qualities of a person and are associated with professions or animals: farrier, pig, mare, dog, ram, reptile;
- puns or other modified word forms created specifically to insult or humiliate certain categories of citizens - grabbers, zhirtrest.
An expression may be considered a public insult if it violates honor and dignity. How are these two concepts different? Honor is the assessment of an individual by society. Dignity is an attitude towards oneself as an individual, internal self-esteem.
Any negative expression cannot be attributed to this offense. Only expressed in an indecent form. Distinctive features of insults are also insolence, cynicism, mocking tone, and words from prison jargon.
When accused of public insult, it is very difficult to draw a line separating indecent form from ordinary boorish speech. You can say to a motorist who has locked your car in a parking lot, instead of the words “stupid sheep,” a phrase about doubts about his intellectual abilities. After that, he will be able to sue you for libel, but not for public insult.
Rude official
Insults uttered by a state or municipal employee will cost him from fifty thousand to one hundred thousand rubles. This is also a new product, provided for in Part 4 of Art. 5.61 Code of Administrative Offences. He could also be disqualified for a year.
Parts 4 and 5 of Article 5.61 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Also effective January 15, 2021.
If the official does not calm down and continues to misbehave again, the fine will be from one hundred thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand rubles, or he will be suspended from service for up to two years.
How to bring to justice for threats via SMS or phone
If an SMS or call is received once, you can ignore it. The main thing is not to engage in conversation and not to provide any information about yourself.
If the threats are repeated, you should report what is happening to the police - only law enforcement agencies have the right to hold people accountable in Russia.
You should prepare for the appeal:
- If the attacker prefers to call, you should record the next call on a voice recorder, if via SMS, print out the entire message history;
- You can try to enter into a dialogue with the criminal and find out some information about him: age, region of residence, occupation. This should be done carefully, not head-on. If you are not sure that you are able to maintain composure in such a conversation and not piss off the attacker, it is better not to do this. If it works, great, any information will help the police identify and punish the criminal, thereby protecting the victim;
- Prepare a statement to the police. The statement is drawn up in free form, it should set out in detail all the circumstances: when the calls or SMS began, how often they occur, what their content is, if threats are voiced, what is the estimated probability of their implementation. It is necessary to indicate all the information the victim has about the criminal: telephone number, if they call or write from different numbers - all of them, information that was learned during conversations, signs that were identified, for example, speech defects. If the criminal makes any demands, show them too. A recording of the conversation or a printout of the SMS must be attached to the application;
- Submit a report to the police department. In addition to the application itself, you must have with you a second copy or a copy on which the employee who accepted the application must mark receipt.
Scolded by the boss
By the way, according to the authors of the changes, in 2021 and 2021, more than 100 officials who were not government employees were brought to administrative responsibility for insults.
The word of the leader is always significant, therefore, for officials under all elements of Article 5.61 of the Code of Administrative Offenses “Insult”, increased amounts of administrative fines have been provided:
- “simple” insult: from 30,000 to 50,000 rubles.
- public insult and insult on the Internet: from 50,000 to 100,000 rubles.
Is insult a criminal offense?
Until the end of 2011, on the territory of the Russian Federation, public insult actually meant criminal punishment under Art. 130. It provided for a fine, compulsory or correctional work in a small amount, because This crime is of low severity. At the same time, disputes over it were accompanied by considerable difficulties, because It is actually very difficult to prove the guilt of the accused, his malicious intent in his statements, and not the expression of his own subjective opinion. Since 2012, this article has lost force, with the exception now being only two articles remaining in the Criminal Code, these are:
- 336 – concerning insult to a military personnel;
- 319 – if we are talking about a government representative.
Where to complain about online abuse
Only prosecutors can initiate administrative cases of insult. This follows from Article 28.4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
The prosecutor will accept your statement and check the factual circumstances of the insult. Based on the results of the investigation, he will either refuse to initiate a case, or draw up a protocol and transfer the materials to the court.
The punishment for the offender will be assigned by a court of general jurisdiction, taking into account all the circumstances of the case.
Here is a sample statement of insult to the prosecutor's office.
Responsibility
Punishment for this type of offense may vary depending on who, how and whom the offense was committed. The penalties are as follows:
- An ordinary citizen will have to pay 1-5 thousand rubles.
- An official who commits this offense will pay a fine of 50 thousand rubles.
- Legal entities (organizations, companies) will pay up to half a million rubles.
If the humiliation is recognized as public, the punishment will be more serious. In such cases, it is usually not only the direct offender who suffers, but also the company that contributed to this. That is, if insults appeared in a printed publication, then the publishing house or editorial office will also be held responsible.
It should be understood that when a fine is imposed on an offender, we are talking about the amounts that the offender will pay to the state. The victim may separately demand compensation for moral damage. In the judicial practice of our country, the amounts recovered for causing moral damage are usually small and rarely exceed a couple of thousand rubles.
The obscenity of the form of insult will be assessed by the court
Each person is touchy in his own way: some see only constructiveness in any negativity, others use the credo: “Everything that doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. If I wanted to kill, I would kill.” The other one is ready to cry from the same disdainful look.
Therefore, in practice, not every offender is brought to administrative responsibility:
“The presence of humiliation of honor and dignity, its degree (depth) is assessed by the victim himself, while the obscenity of the form of the statement is assessed by the court”
Decision of the Supreme Court of the Altai Republic dated November 30, 2017 No. 21-81/2017
This means that you are not the only one who should be offended by the insult. First the prosecutor and then the court must agree with you. With the new edition of Article 5.61 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, this will be easier to do.
When an insult is recognized publicly
A public insult to an individual is an insult that is directed specifically at him and aims to belittle and insult the honor and dignity of this individual. At the same time, it is worth understanding the term “public” well, because not every insult can be recognized as public. Public insult has the following characteristics:
- actions are performed in the presence of other people (at least one person who is not a victim of insult) who are not government officials (the latter cannot act as a witness, as this reduces the authority representative’s credibility in the eyes of the public. In addition, , in case of insulting another government representative, such testimony may be considered unreliable);
- insults are demonstrative in nature and are delivered to a large circle of people, the exact number of which is not certain or pre-planned.
If the listed conditions are met, then such an insult is recognized as public, if the necessary evidence is provided, and it can be addressed to the prosecutor's office with the subsequent resolution of the case in court.
Let's draw conclusions
Insult is an indecent word, especially if written with a space.
Instead of drawing a conclusion, I would rather quote another phrase from the decision of the mentioned Supreme Court of the Altai Republic:
“From the case materials it follows that the applicant’s request for the need to conduct a forensic linguistic examination of the phrase expressed by A.A.B. addressed to K.A.V., was considered by the judge of the district court, and a reasoned ruling was made on the refusal to conduct this examination, since, according to the explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by S.I. Ozhegov. the expressed phrase “I wish you to die quickly” is not indecent, does not contradict generally accepted rules of behavior and the requirements of human morality, carries a disdainful attitude and does not require confirmation of this with the help of any special knowledge in this area of life.”
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