Murder in a state of passion: term, article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, mitigating circumstances, judicial practice

As statistics show, in Russia a quarter of all irreparable crimes are committed in the family.
Since a person by nature is not completely rational, under the influence of feelings he can commit actions that he later regrets. Causing death in passion is punishable by Article 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Article 107 in the structure of the Criminal Code occupies a place among the norms on especially serious crimes. The qualification of such deprivation of life is a kind of intermediate way to qualify the act between the imputation of murder of a general nature (105th Criminal Code) and the same act of mental insanity. The problem of the internal state of the defendant at the time of the tort is one of the most serious tasks facing the investigation, the prosecutor and the court in cases where there are signs of a nervous breakdown at the time of the action under investigation. In Russian legal proceedings, Article 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is quite rare, and it happens that sentences under it are appealed by the prosecution (relatives of the murdered person). Multi-channel free hotline Legal advice on criminal law. Every day from 9.00 to 21.00

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Comments on Article 107

Unlike simple murder, a reduced responsibility is assigned for an act in a state of passion.

Comments on the article:

Mitigation of liability is due to the fact that the offender acts in a mental state, which is caused by provocation in the behavior of the offender. It acts in such a way that the intent to cause death is evoked. When these two factors are combined, this article can be used.
Affect is a mental state characterized by short duration, deep emotional experience, and vivid external signs. Severe anxiety is not a painful mental disorder and is not considered medical insanity. Sometimes it is called physiological. This distinguishes it from a pathological state - in it, due to a strong experience, consciousness is completely switched off, sanity is excluded.
Physiological affect does not deprive a person of the ability to understand his actions, but makes it difficult to self-control and evaluate decisions at the level of criticism. To apply Article 107, it is not enough to refer to provocation on the part of the victim. It is important to establish precisely that the culprit was in an affective state.

Many practical errors are related precisely to the fact that the investigation and the court do not assess the state of the perpetrator and do not motivate the conclusion about the presence of passion. Judges undergo special training in psychology to assess the condition of the perpetrator. In difficult situations, a psychological or psychological-psychiatric examination is prescribed. The court has the right to disagree with its results.

The most well-known grounds for challenging an examination are:

contradictions between conclusions and circumstances in the description of the act;
the conclusion is based on an erroneous assessment of signs, and not on special knowledge;
the document contains statements not specified in the law (habitual violence cannot cause passion).

For qualification, it is important to establish that the cause of the emotion was certain actions: violence, bullying, insult, other illegal actions or inactions. Compared to 104 st. Criminal Code of the RSFSR in Art. 107. There is an amendment to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that emotion can be caused by a long-term situation. This expands the mechanism of state formation.

Violence consists of striking. If a person commits necessary defense during a murder, then liability does not arise under Article 37, or the person is liable under Article 108.

- for exceeding the limits of such defense. The law does not specify violence, so affect can also be caused by mental actions.

Violence is illegal. If it is caused lawfully, the article does not apply.

A grave insult is a gross humiliation of a person’s honor. When assessing severity, generally accepted moral standards are taken into account, individual characteristics of the individual, and the actual presence of an affective state are taken into account. Bullying - violent or offensive actions against a background of particular cynicism, can have a long duration.

A long-term psychologically traumatic situation is a mitigating circumstance if it is caused by the systematic behavior of the victim. Affect occurs when violence is directed against the perpetrator or his loved ones. Such a reaction in relation to other persons, including minors, cannot be ruled out.

Other comments

The rule of law allows for the gradual escalation of a situation caused by the immoral behavior of the victim. Judicial practice sometimes encounters this when affect occurs due to the emotional overwhelm of a person who is constantly faced with bullying.

There is no direct indication of this in the law, so in such cases errors in assessing affect often occurred. Sometimes the court mistakenly believes that constant quarrels or protracted conflict cannot lead to sudden excitement.

Concept and signs

The state of affect in criminal law does not differ in understanding from the version of psychologists. It represents a strong emotional disturbance that always arises suddenly. It is provoked by specific actions that are committed by the victim and are immoral in nature.

The duration of such behavior also influences the definition of such a disorder. It can be either a one-time act or systematic actions. The circumstance that caused the condition in question cannot cover the person’s intent to commit a crime; it gives rise to a sudden desire that is uncontrollable by the perpetrator.

To establish the disorder, psychological and physiological research methods are used. They must be applied together to fully reflect the individual's condition.

In the criminal legal sphere, the anomaly in question is a significant factor also because it is considered as limited sanity, and its presence is a prerequisite for the application of liability measures. Accordingly, such a disorder is of a mitigating nature, since a person is unable to independently control what is happening, which makes intent less obvious.

To correctly establish the psychological deviation in question, signs of affect are determined in criminal law. The criminological nature of such provisions is important, since psychology considers this phenomenon in the most general and accurate understanding.

The uniqueness of the phenomenon under consideration can also reveal its features.

Its presence can be proven by the following provisions:

the occurrence of a deviation always involves suddenness, such a state breaks a person’s will, not allowing him to control the actions performed;
the disorder passes briefly, no more than a few minutes, but an exact figure cannot be established;
emotional limit, the peak of a person’s condition is always expected to be reached;
the body’s reaction, often a person may develop red spots on the body, arrhythmia, voice changes, and so on;
increased activity, since in the state under consideration a person’s actions are always chaotic and unconscious;
lack of control, which implies that the person does not manage himself and does not understand what is happening;
disproportionality of actions to those committed by the victim;
grave consequences of the actions taken.

Taking into account these points, the affect itself and its criminal legal significance are determined, which contributes to the correct classification of crimes.

The main legal cause of mental abnormality is the behavior of the victim, which is negative. It can become an impetus immediately, after some news has been conveyed to the culprit or an immoral offense has been committed against him, or it can create a cumulative effect.

The result of the disorder is always complete or partial loss of memory, since the brain automatically blocks access to negative emotions and their consequences.

Example: a woman has suffered humiliation and beatings from her husband for a long time. At a certain point, the negative emotion develops into a disorder, which leads to sudden emotional disturbance, and she kills her husband by stabbing him several times. There is everything here: the influence of the negative behavior of the murdered person, the disproportion of beatings and murder, increased activity, lack of awareness of what is happening. As a result, she simply does not remember what happened.

What does judicial practice show?

The practice under the article is not the most extensive, since it is difficult to prove a state of passion after the commission of a crime.

Citizen V. was pregnant and was constantly under the supervision of her husband. He was a tyrant. He did not let her leave the house, and at every opportunity he beat and insulted her. In another case of bullying, V. could not stand it, she had an attack of excitement, she grabbed a stool and hit her husband on the head, and then beat him until he died. Having come to her senses, V. was horrified and called the police. Based on his emotional state and his surrender, V. was given a suspended sentence of imprisonment.
Citizen G. found out that his wife was cheating on him. He broke into the apartment and caught his wife with her lover. He flew into a rage, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and killed both of them. After 5 minutes, he realized that he had caused irreparable harm, came to the police to confess and helped investigate the case. Based on this, he was given criminal liability in the form of a penal colony for 5 years. The murder of his wife was recognized under Article 197, and the murder of her lover – under Article 105.
Citizen D. raped women - he watched over his victims in the park at night, lightly choked them so that they would lose consciousness, and committed his criminal acts. One day he also decided to do the job, but the victim turned out to be stronger. She pressed D.'s eyes and killed him. The girl’s lawyer insisted on using Article 107, but the court decided that this was an excess of necessary self-defense. As a result, she received a 4-year suspended sentence and a fine.

What decisions are most often made under Article 107?

Murder committed in the heat of passion is rarely prosecuted. In 2021, there were 87 cases under this article, of which 84 were under the first part. 10 people were put behind bars, 2 received suspended imprisonment, 55 received restriction of freedom, 14 received correctional labor.

What are most often aggravating and mitigating circumstances?

Cases under this article are held at first instance in district courts. The assigned sentence with a high degree of probability may turn out to be suspended; more often, imprisonment is served in a colony-settlement. The grounds for placing a criminal in a general regime colony must be very serious - for example, a generally dangerous method of committing murder.

If the deceased behaved unacceptablely and thereby provoked his death, this mitigates the guilt. But if it was material damage, the fact becomes a mitigating circumstance under Article 105, and not under an affective state.

To requalify, you will need a lot of information - in particular, finding out the characteristics of the victim. More often, Article 107 is used if the murdered person behaved cruelly for a long time, the accused depended on him, and revenge occurred immediately after the next incident of bullying.

The term for murder in a state of passion is imprisonment for 2-3 years.

#	Name	Court	Solution
545715	The court verdict under Part 1 of Art. 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

KMI committed murder in a state of sudden strong emotional excitement (affect), caused by a long-term psychotraumatic situation that arose in connection with the systematic immoral behavior of the victim, under the following circumstances.C.

Defendant Pilipchuk N.N., on January 1, 2021, in the period from 09:30 to 10:00, being in a state of pronounced emotional stress, which had a significant impact on her consciousness and mental activity (which vyv.

Defendant Mikheev I.V. accused of murder committed in a state of sudden strong emotional excitement (affect) caused by a long-term psychotraumatic situation that arose in connection with systematic illegal and immoral behavior.

From birth Ch.V.V., born xx.xx.xxxx, lived with his parents - Chalykh V.V. and Ch.L.V. in their apartment __ house __ by . in the Zaeltsovsky district of Novosibirsk. Without a permanent place of work or other stable source of income.

Turanova D.O. committed a murder committed in a state of sudden strong emotional excitement (affect) caused by a long-term psychotraumatic situation that arose in connection with the systematic illegal and immoral behavior of the sweat.

FULL NAME2 committed a murder committed in a state of passion, that is, a murder committed in a state of sudden strong emotional excitement (affect) caused by a long-term psychologically traumatic situation that arose in connection with a systematic pr.

Abrosimov V.S., being in a state of sudden strong emotional disturbance (affect) caused by violence, grave insult on the part of the victim, illegal and immoral actions of the victim, committed murder.

Ploestyanu I.V. between the hours of 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on September 17, 2021, while under the influence of alcohol in . provoked a quarrel with N.V. Ploesteanu, during which he acted illegally and violated generally accepted moral standards.

Full name committed murder, that is, intentionally causing death to another person. So she (full name) ddmmYY in the period of time from approximately 03 hours 40 minutes to 06 hours 55 minutes, being at the address: Moscow, st. ***, during quarrel arising on personal grounds.

KIREEVA FULL NAME11 committed murder in a state of sudden strong emotional excitement (affect) caused by violence, mockery, grave insult on the part of the victim, and other illegal and immoral actions of the victim.

Kuzyaev R.T. committed an attempt, that is, deliberate actions directly aimed at killing two persons, in a state of sudden strong emotional excitement (affect) caused by violence on the part of the victims, and during this crime.

Moscow March 31, 2015 Golovinsky District Court of Moscow, composed of presiding judge Borisova N.V., with the participation of the state prosecutor - assistant Golovinsky interdistrict prosecutor of Moscow Ageeva M.I., defendant Bagdasar.

1. Murder committed in a state of sudden strong emotional excitement (affect) caused by violence, bullying or grave insult on the part of the victim or other illegal or immoral actions (inaction) of the victim, as well as a long-term psychologically traumatic situation that arose in connection with systematic illegal or immoral behavior of the victim, -

shall be punishable by correctional labor for a term of up to two years, or restriction of liberty for a term of up to three years, or forced labor for a term of up to three years, or imprisonment for the same term.

2. Murder of two or more persons, committed in a state of passion, -

shall be punishable by forced labor for a term of up to five years or imprisonment for the same term.

Commentary to Art. 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

1. Mitigation of liability for this type of murder is due to two circumstances: firstly, the fact that the perpetrator acts in a special mental state - in a state of sudden strong emotional excitement, or affect (the law uses these concepts as equivalent); secondly, the provocative nature of the victim’s behavior, which by his actions leads the perpetrator into a state of passion and arouses in him the intention to commit murder.

Only the combination of the two mentioned circumstances in each specific case gives grounds for applying the commented article.

2. Affect is usually called a special mental state of a person, which is characterized by short duration and rapid development, strong and deep emotional experience, vivid external manifestation, narrowing of consciousness and decreased control over one’s actions.

Severe emotional disturbance is not considered a painful mental disorder and is not considered a medical criterion for insanity. Therefore, it is sometimes called physiological affect in contrast to pathological affect, when, as a result of a strong experience, a complete blackout of consciousness occurs, which excludes sanity.

Physiological affect does not deprive a person of the ability to be aware of his actions, but it significantly complicates self-control and critical assessment of decisions made. Therefore, to apply the commented article, it is not enough to refer to the provocative nature of the victim’s behavior; it is necessary to establish that the perpetrator was really in a state of passion.

Many errors in judicial practice in this category of cases are due to the fact that investigative authorities and courts do not pay attention to assessing the state of the perpetrator and do not motivate their conclusion about the presence of passion.

Due to his professional training and work experience, the judge has sufficient knowledge of psychology to independently assess the mental state of the guilty person in the circumstances of the case. In difficult situations, it is possible to prescribe a psychological or (if there are doubts about sanity) a comprehensive psychological and psychiatric examination.

The court, assessing the expert’s conclusions, may not agree with them. ——————————— BVS RSFSR.

2002. N 1.

P. 20.

BVS RF. 2003. N 6. P. 15.

As practice shows, the most typical grounds for challenging the expert’s conclusion regarding strong emotional disturbance were the following: a) a contradiction between the expert’s conclusions and the circumstances set out in the descriptive part of the report; b) the conclusion is based not on the expert’s special knowledge, but on his erroneous assessment of the legal elements of the crime; c) the expert’s opinion contains statements that do not follow from the law, for example, that in the case of “habitual” violence or insult, affect is impossible. ——————————— BVS of the Russian Federation.

2001. N 5.

pp. 18 - 19.

3. In the commented article, mitigating significance is given only to sudden strong emotional disturbance, which determines both the suddenness of the intent to kill and the immediate implementation of this intent.

If, however, a significant period of time passes between the provoking act of the victim and causing his death, during which the perpetrator contemplates and prepares the murder, then the commented article cannot be applied. A slight gap in time between the illegal actions of the victim and the murder does not exclude the possibility of qualifying the act under the commented article.

4. To qualify a murder under the commented article, it is necessary to establish that the cause of strong emotional disturbance (affect) was certain actions of the victim.

The law includes alternatively: a) violence; b) bullying; c) grave insult; d) other illegal or immoral actions (inaction) of the victim. A significant innovation compared to Art.

104 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR indicated that affect can also be caused by e) “a long-term psychologically traumatic situation that arose in connection with the systematic illegal or immoral behavior of the victim.” This addition expands the understanding of the mechanism of affect formation.

5. Violence can consist of striking, beating, wounding and similar actions that cause a state of strong mental agitation.

If a person, causing the death of an attacker in a state of passion, exercises his right to the necessary defense, then he is either exempt from criminal liability on the basis of Art. 37 of the Criminal Code, or is responsible for murder committed when the limits of necessary defense were exceeded (Art.

108 of the Criminal Code).

Since the law does not specify the type of violence, it must be assumed that affect can also be caused by mental violence. The practice and doctrine of criminal law assume that violence must be unlawful. If violent actions were used lawfully by the victim, the commented article cannot be applied.

Expert opinion

Novikov Igor Timofeevich

Legal consultant with 6 years of experience. Specializes in the field of civil law. Law teacher.

6. A grave insult is usually understood as a particularly gross humiliation of a person’s honor and dignity, which can be considered a sufficient reason for the occurrence of passion.

When assessing the severity of an insult, it is necessary to be guided by generally accepted moral standards, but also take into account the individual characteristics of the personality of the culprit himself, the real presence of affect. Bullying can also be expressed in violent or offensive actions that are particularly severe or prolonged.

7. A long-term psychologically traumatic situation is taken into account as a mitigating circumstance if it was caused by systematic illegal or immoral behavior of the victim.

Typically, affect occurs when violence or other illegal actions of the victim were directed against the perpetrator or his relatives. However, the possibility of such a reaction to similar actions against other persons, especially minors, cannot be ruled out.

——————————— BVS of the Russian Federation. 2003.

N 6. S.

15.

8. The commented norm allows for the possibility of gradual escalation of a traumatic situation caused by the unlawful or immoral behavior of the victim.

Judicial and expert practice has previously encountered such a phenomenon, when affect arose as a result of the overflowing cup of patience of a person who had been subjected to insults and bullying for a long time. The lack of direct guidance in the law made it difficult to correctly resolve the issue of a sufficient reason for strong emotional disturbance in these cases.

Some courts mistakenly believed that in the presence of constant and systematic quarrels, a protracted conflict, the suddenness of strong emotional disturbance cannot take place. ——————————— BVS of the Russian Federation.

1994. N 6.

P. 6.

The absence in the commented article of an indication that the illegal or immoral actions of the victim “could entail grave consequences for the perpetrator or his relatives” (Article 104 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR) indicates that the legislator attaches more importance to the state of passion of the perpetrator, regardless of whether , what and for whom the consequences of the victim’s actions could have occurred.

9. Part 2 of the commented article establishes for the first time a qualified type of this crime - the murder of two or more persons committed in a state of passion.

This norm is subject to application in cases where the cause of passion was the unlawful behavior of two or more persons who were victims of murder. In other cases, when the perpetrator in a state of passion causes death not only to the offender, but also to other persons, the act cannot be qualified under Part.

2 of the commented article, since there is no such basis for the application of a privileged norm as provocative and unlawful behavior of victims.

In relation to other aggravating circumstances mentioned in Part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code, the explanation of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, given in Resolution No. 1 of January 27, 1999, is valid, stating that a murder committed in a state of strong emotional excitement should not be classified as committed under aggravating circumstances.

As a general rule, murder of a person is punishable under Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. But you can often hear that the victim herself provoked the accused, insulted him, used violence, which caused an outburst of rage or other emotions. For such cases, the Criminal Law provides for a separate article 107 - “Murder committed in a state of passion.”

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Position of the RF Armed Forces under Art. 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

The Supreme Court (SC), as a supervisory judicial body, regularly summarizes judicial practice in criminal cases.

The Plenum of the Supreme Court in Resolution No. 19 of 2012 provides clarification on how actions should be qualified in complex incidents, for example, when the reaction was caused by an attack, and causing death could occur both as a result of a change in consciousness, and as a result of actions that were not required for the necessary defense

This resolution concerns such types of crimes as:

With the necessary defense and its excess.
The same applies when a person is detained.
Taking into account the affect.

The first two components are stated in the title of the resolution of the Plenum, but in fact it also contains explanations about murder when a person had difficulty controlling himself.

If, after an attempt by the accused, who is in a fit, to kill the victim, the latter survives, this act is considered unfinished and is qualified as an attempt. Injuries in this case may coincide with the objective side of another composition, namely the 113th Criminal Code.

Since proving intent in an already unusual crime is quite difficult, it is easier for the investigation to charge 113 than attempted murder taking into account mental instability, or, as it is called in professional legal jargon, “107 through 30.”

Characteristics of the crime

Concept

Murder, according to the Criminal Code, is causing the death of another person. At the same time, the criminal understands the danger of his actions and is able to give an account of his actions.

When considering each specific case, the judge takes into account the complex of all circumstances preceding and accompanying the commission of a crime. The identity of the killer, his living conditions, etc. are analyzed.

Attention is also drawn to the presence of factors that aggravate or mitigate guilt.

The criminal law provides a list of general mitigating circumstances (Article 61) and identifies certain privileged circumstances. Murder associated with a state of passion is precisely one of these norms.

It refers to causing death under the influence of strong uncontrollable emotions associated with immoral acts or behavior of the victim.

Important: Affect mitigates punishment because the offender could not fully evaluate and control his actions. The question of insanity is not raised.

Compound

By isolating this crime, which includes a mitigating circumstance, into a separate article, the legislator notes the presence of two interrelated features in its disposition:

the murder was committed in a state of strong emotional outburst;
this condition is caused by the actions of the victim.

To hold a person accountable under this article, both of these factors must be present.

Interesting. It doesn’t matter in which direction the victim’s behavior was directed: towards the killer himself, his relatives or strangers.

Expert opinion

Novikov Igor Timofeevich

Legal consultant with 6 years of experience. Specializes in the field of civil law. Law teacher.

Persons whose actions contained spontaneous intent and who were 16 years old at the time of the commission of the criminal act are held accountable under Article 107.

An object	Human life and health
Objective side	Causing death under the influence of a violent emotional outburst, the cause of which was the behavior of the victim
Subject	A person who has reached the age of 16
Subjective side	Intention (indirect or direct), which was not thought out, but arose spontaneously, based on emotions

Crimes of passion

Actions of a criminal nature that are accompanied by a mental disorder not related to insanity are widely covered by criminal law. Today, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains several articles establishing penalties for such acts. As a separate phenomenon, such a feature is not reflected in the legislation in any way.

In the law, the topic of affect is addressed by separate articles of the code that define acts that may be associated with such a disorder.

These include the following:

Art. 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It reflects the composition of the act, which implies the commission of murder in the presence of the deviation in question.
Art. 113 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It establishes a composition that is associated with harm to health, both severe and moderate, but also in the presence of a sudden disorder.

The work of psychiatrists concerns only those subjects in whom the disorder leads to serious consequences. Minor harm, beatings or other similar actions cannot be associated with passion.

Regardless of the nature of the act, it is necessary to determine the objective and subjective characteristics that form the corpus delicti of any crime.

In the criminal sphere, it is important to establish other circumstances that determine an action as illegal. Emotional anxiety is only one of several

However, it is important to understand whether the murder was caused by direct intent or whether the act was of a different nature.

For any act, it is important to determine the object, what is being harmed. The objective side is the manifestation of encroachment. This forms a set of objective conditions. Subjective ones include the characteristics of the person himself - the culprit, and the subjective side. It involves the presence of guilt - a person’s attitude towards what he does. Affect is a component of guilt.

Guilt is expressed only in the form of intent or negligence. Affect is accompanied by intent, but not planned, but caused by certain circumstances

In addition, the deviation itself is an optional feature that accompanies guilt and transforms into a mandatory one if it is necessary to determine the acts under the above articles.

In criminal law, to determine the nature of the act committed in the state in question, it is necessary to establish the following conditions essential to the case:

intent, as the subjective side of an act;
sudden excitement;
uncontrolled actions leading to serious consequences;
unacceptable, negative behavior on the part of the injured party, regardless of whether it was momentary or lasted for some time.

The last two provisions relate specifically to the objective side of the matter; without them, it will not be possible to determine such a state of a person.

The control point in determining the disorder is the planning of all actions, as well as the behavior of the perpetrator after the act has been completed. This affects the objective side of the issue. For example, if the fact of preparation for a crime is established or after the crime the person tried to hide traces, then the act cannot automatically be considered committed in the heat of passion. Suddenness refers not only to the manifestation of disorder, but also to the implementation of criminal actions.

Concept and types of state of affect

Types of affect, the mechanism of their occurrence

In order to correctly qualify murder under Art. 107, you need to know the characteristics that must correspond to the mental state of the accused at the time when he committed the criminal act.

In science and practice, three types of affect are distinguished: physiological, pathological, cumulative. Only the first type is taken into account - sudden and violent emotional excitement with a vivid external expression and a decrease in the ability to give an account of actions. It is not deliberate and is caused by an outburst of anger towards the victim.

Pathological	A condition that does not occur spontaneously: it is associated with persistent mental disorders and is classified as insanity. Art. 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not apply in this case
Physiological	A sudden reaction to external factors, characterized by short-termism, rapid flow, and the inability to fully control emotions and actions
Cumulative	A lot of time passed from the victim’s actions to the murder, but the intent to commit the crime turned out to be sudden and directly related to the events that happened earlier

Important! If the victim behaved immorally towards the accused, but after that the offender had the opportunity to think about what happened and planned the murder, then the act will fall under Art. 105.

Requirements imposed by law on the actions of the victim

The criminal law lists the actions of the victim, which may cause a state of passion in the criminal and, as a result, lead to the qualification of murder under a mitigating article. These include:

violence (of any kind, including moral);
bullying;
serious insults;
other actions contrary to generally accepted norms of morality and law (short-term or long-term).

Thus, provocations on the part of the victim can be either one-time (blow, humiliation, threat of violence against loved ones, insult to religion, etc.), or repeated, of an escalating nature. But in the second case, the murder must still be spontaneous.

Previously, practice refused to take into account ongoing provocations. The judges believed that the constant repetition of immoral acts was not capable of awakening a sudden violent reaction. But the legislator moved away from this by introducing a corresponding norm.

Qualification

During the consideration of a case of such murders, the main task of the judge is to establish that there really was passion. Usually a psychological analysis of the situation and the personality of the culprit is enough. If there is any doubt, examinations are ordered.

The next point that requires research is the causal relationship between the victim’s actions and the resulting aggression. The following facts are taken into account:

the nature of the victim’s actions and the strength of their impact on the accused due to his religion, age, nationality, characteristics of upbringing and life;
duration of illegal actions;
the time that passed between the provocation and the murder.

The difficulty arises when there is physical violence against the offender by the victim. In the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated September 27, 2012.

No. 19 “On the application by courts of legislation on necessary defense and causing harm when detaining a person who has committed a crime” notes that it is necessary to carefully study all the facts in order to correctly distinguish a murder committed in a state of passion from causing death caused by the need to defend oneself.

The article has one aggravating circumstance - the murder of two or more persons. To apply this clause, it must be established that the actions of all the victims resulted in the offender losing control.

Expert opinion

Novikov Igor Timofeevich

Legal consultant with 6 years of experience. Specializes in the field of civil law. Law teacher.

It’s interesting: if a person killed not only the one who caused the outbreak of aggression, but also strangers, then his act will be classified under several articles.

Kinds

The characteristics of the mental state in question make it possible to determine it in the event of unlawful actions. However, they are largely influenced by the types of affect defined in criminal law. Regardless of the type of disorder, a person always partially retains the ability to be aware of what is happening, that is, he does not fall into a state of complete insanity.

For criminal law, the very fact of establishing a deviation is important; it must determine the indicator of sanity that would mitigate or cancel responsibility for the crime.

Any mental anomaly is always associated with the human psyche. Physical impairments are not characteristic of the disorder. For example, if a person is mute, then this cannot serve as a determining factor. The impact is on emotions. Their manifestation determines what affective state will be established.

In criminal law, several types of affect are taken into account. The characteristics of each of them determine the nature of the disorder when it is qualified.

These types include the following:

Pathological affect. This type completely eliminates the state of sanity. That is, anxiety in this case completely paralyzes the will, not allowing the person to realize what is happening, due to which pathology is formed. In this case, criminal liability is excluded.
Physiological disorder. There is limited sanity at work here. Although the ability to realize what is happening remains, it is significantly reduced. Responsibility applies here in accordance with the norms of the law, reflecting crimes committed in an affective state.
Abnormal affect and criminal liability. It is also used for non-psychopathic disorders. That is, the influence is exerted not only by emotional stress, but also by anomalies that affect the course of the disorder, for example, drug or alcohol intoxication.
Cumulative affect in criminal law. Here the peculiarity is manifested in the fact that such behavior is caused not by a momentary, but by a long-term negative event. It provokes an unbalanced state and leads to crime.
Interrupted nervous state. It can have a relationship with any of the previous types; its specificity is that it is interrupted, moreover, due to external influence, and not due to independent stabilization of the psyche.

Such a deviation leads to negative consequences, disrupting the psyche and reducing a person’s activity even after the excitement has arisen.

This variant of the disorder is considered to be negative. The opposite is the positive version of the disorder; on the contrary, it does not reduce activity, but simplifies thinking and leads to the development of stereotypes.

Punishment for murder associated with a state of passion

Types of punishment

Article 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation implies an alternative punishment for the crime:

for the murder of one person - correctional labor for up to two years, forced labor, restriction or imprisonment for up to three years;
if several are killed - forced labor or imprisonment for up to five years.

The court chooses the punishment based on all the circumstances of the murder, the chosen weapon and method, the personality characteristics of the perpetrator and the victim.

Why do you need a lawyer?

If you do not know the intricacies of the criminal process, then you risk becoming easy prey for the investigator. Why does he need this? For good statistics, to show his superiors what a professional worker he is and that he deserves a bonus.

The most important and necessary thing in Article 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Murder committed in a state of passion” is to prove that there was passion. Without this “good luck”, the case can be classified under Article 105 “Murder”, and there is a sentence of up to 15 years only for the first part. This is why you need an experienced criminal lawyer - to prove the state of passion.

But that's not all. In addition to proving passion, a lawyer solves a lot of other important problems:

ensures that you do not violate your rights during interrogations, confrontations, presentations for identification, searches;
seeks the cancellation or mitigation of the preventive measure;
looks for witnesses who will testify in court in your favor;
ensures that the examination is carried out according to the law, and that the expert is truly independent;
demands in court to exclude from the case evidence that the investigator collected with violations;
collects other evidence in your favor.

Arbitrage practice

Often, criminals claim that they were in a state of passion at the time of the murder in order to receive a more lenient punishment. But the court, studying the materials collected during the investigation and the results of examinations, in most cases exposes the deception.

While drinking alcohol, S. began to strongly insult V., hurting his dignity, which, according to the suspect, brought him to a state of passion.

V. killed the woman with a sharp knife, inflicting several blows to the chest.

The examination did not show the presence of emotional outbursts. The court qualified the crime under Art.

105, since he also took into account the method and weapon of murder, which spoke of a deliberate intention to take a person’s life. TO.

stood trial for the murder of his friend D., who insulted the memory of K.'s late father, threw his things, which made K. furious and attacked the victim.

The court at first instance imposed punishment under Art. 107, but later the verdict was overturned, since some important circumstances of the case were not taken into account: the two-hour period between the insults and the murder, as well as the method of causing death (first a blow to the head, and after some time - knife wounds).

Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Murder”

Article 107. Murder committed in a state of passion of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

How to prove that there was an affect

You should apply for the appointment of a forensic psychological examination of affect. But there is one point: the court is not obliged to admit that the murder was committed in a state of passion, even if the examination directly says so. Therefore, criminal lawyers often bring in witnesses who testify in favor of the defendant.

It is necessary that the witnesses give evidence that would convince the court that there was a state of passion at the time of the murder. For example:

that the defendant became disoriented in time after the murder. For example, the police arrived in 15 minutes, but he claims that she drove for 3 hours;
after committing the murder he behaved inappropriately, was very pale, and muttered something incoherently;
fell into complete apathy, did not react to what was happening;
just fell asleep. Yes, this happens, and not rarely. Affect gives such an emotional explosion that a person exhausts all his strength in a few minutes and immediately falls asleep. There are cases when, after a murder, in a state of passion, a person went to bed next to the body that had not yet cooled down. It was in this form that the police found him when they arrived.

It is important to know: proving that there was affect is a serious task. A criminal lawyer needs to collect, analyze and advantageously present information on how the defendant behaved before, during and after committing a crime under Article 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Murder committed in a state of passion.” If this is not done, the investigator may classify the crime as murder.