Failure to report a crime: article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, liability

Failure to report to the authorities authorized to consider reports of a crime about a person (persons) who, according to reliable information, is preparing, committing or has committed at least one of the crimes provided for in Articles 205, 205.1, 205.2, 205.3, 205.4, 205.5, 206, 208 , 211, 220, 221, 277, 278, 279, 360 and 361 of this Code, -

shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to one hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to six months, or by forced labor for a term of up to one year, or by imprisonment for the same term.

Note. A person is not subject to criminal liability for failure to report the preparation or commission of a crime by his spouse or close relative.

Second commentary to Art. 205.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

1. The objective side is characterized by inaction - failure to report to the authorities authorized to consider reports of a crime about a person (persons) who, according to reliably known information, is preparing, committing or has committed at least one of the crimes provided for in Art.

Expert opinion

Morozov Ivan Severinovich

Legal consultant with 6 years of experience. Specialization: criminal law. Has experience in defense in court.

205, 205.1, 205.2, 205.3, 205.4, 205.5, 206, 208, 211, 220, 221, 277, 278, 279, 360 and 361 of the Criminal Code. In essence, there is a connection to the crime.

The crime is considered completed at the moment of expiration of a reasonable period of time sufficient for reporting to the authorities about the above crime or the person who commits or has committed it.

2. The subjective side is characterized by direct intent.

3. The subject of the crime is a person who has reached the age of 14 years.

4. A person is not subject to criminal liability for failure to report the preparation or commission of a crime by his spouse or close relative (note to Article 205.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Since 2021, failure to report a crime in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is considered a criminal act, for the commission of which the law provides for quite severe punishment. This issue is regulated by Article 205, 6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

To understand what punishment is faced for such a crime, and when it is possible to apply it, you should study this issue in more detail. In addition, it is necessary to understand in what cases such criminal inaction is not criminally punishable.

Judicial practice: sentences and punishment under Art. 205.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated... PLENARY OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION DECISION dated December 27, 2002 N 29 ON JUDICIAL PRACTICE IN CASES OF THEFT,...
Decision of the Supreme Court: Determination N 203-APU17-21... THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION Case No. 203-APU17-21 APPEAL DECISION Moscow August 31, 2021 Judicial Collegium for Military Personnel of the Supreme...
Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated... PLENARY OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION DECISION of November 15, 2021 N 48 ON THE PRACTICE OF APPLICATION BY COURTS OF LEGISLATION GOVERNING FEATURES...
Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated... PLENAUM OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION DECISION dated June 25, 2021 N 18 ON JUDICIAL PRACTICE IN CASES OF CRIMES,...
Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated... PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION DECISION dated December 5, 2018 N 126-P18 ON RESUMING PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE DUE TO NEW...
Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated... PLENAUM OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION DECISION dated December 17, 2021 N 43 ON SOME ISSUES OF JUDICIAL PRACTICE IN CASES...
Decision of the Supreme Court: Resolution No. 310P13 dated... DECISION OF THE PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION Case No. 310-P13 Moscow January 23, 2014 Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation...
Ruling of the ECtHR dated 02/14/2017 EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS THIRD SECTION CASE “MASLOVA VS. RUSSIAN FEDERATION” (Complaint No. 15980/12) JUDGMENT…
Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases, appeal:... THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION Case No. 72-APU 17-21 APPEAL DECISION Moscow October 04, 2021 Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases...
Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated March 13, 2018 N 578-O THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION RULING dated March 13, 2018 N 578-O ON THE REFUSAL TO ACCEPT A CITIZEN’S COMPLAINT FOR CONSIDERATION...

Nuances of the criminal norm

Such an illegal act as failure to report a crime appeared in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation recently, namely in 2021. An article for failure to report a crime exists in the Criminal Codes of many countries. It was also in the Criminal Code of the RSFSR under the name “Failure to report crimes.”

It should be noted that Article 205, 6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and a norm of a similar type that existed during the USSR have a number of fundamental differences. For example, norms differ in dispositions.

In the current Criminal Code, the act is of a public nature, while in the Soviet Code it is personal. Outdated norms of criminal law provided for liability for failure to report crimes such as rape, murder, etc.

There is no such thing now.

Article 205, 6 of the Criminal Code states that it is impossible to bring close relatives of the criminal to justice. For example, if a son is a member of a terrorist cell, then his parents have the right not to report this to law enforcement agencies, despite the possible loss of life.

On the one hand, inaction in such a situation is an obvious crime, but on the other hand, forcing close relatives to inform is contrary to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, namely Article 51. It says that a person has the right not to testify against himself or his close relatives.

In addition to close relatives, the following persons have the right not to report a crime:

clergy who received information during confession;
lawyers (due to their profession, they can obtain information from a client about an impending crime).

Like any other criminal act, failure to report a crime has an object and a subject, and is also characterized by the presence of subjective and objective sides:

The objective side of a criminal act is the absence of the fact that information about the crime was reported to law enforcement agencies. Here there is an obvious failure to realize the possibility of fulfilling a moral duty and protecting society from impending danger.
The object of a criminal act is the safety of society or its individual representatives.
The subject of a criminal act may be a person who has reached the age of fourteen. Opinions differ on this issue. Many experts argue that at the age of 14 a person is not able to understand the degree of responsibility. However, the law states that responsibility begins at this age. In this case, the same sanctions can be applied to a minor as to an adult. The only difference is that the fine for a minor is paid by legal representatives, that is, parents or guardians.

The relevant provision of law does not specify the period for failure to report a crime. Therefore, it is not entirely clear during what period a person who has relevant information must report it to law enforcement agencies.

Expert opinion

Morozov Ivan Severinovich

Legal consultant with 6 years of experience. Specialization: criminal law. Has experience in defense in court.

At the same time, the General Part of the Criminal Code states that a person cannot be held accountable if he learned information about an impending crime more than two years before it was committed.

Background

The history of responsibility for “failure to report a criminal” has its roots in ancient times. In particular, the rule on liability for failure to report heard malicious intent “against the king or the prince” was already in the Charter of Yaroslav (12th century). Subsequently, responsibility “for failure to inform on a criminal” migrated from ancient legal sources to modern codes and laws. Criminal punishment for failure to report existed both in pre-revolutionary Russia and during the existence of the USSR.

In Soviet criminal legislation, this type of liability concerned only failure to report the most serious crimes.

In the Criminal Code of Russia of 1996, criminal liability for failure to report a crime was completely excluded and returned to legislation only in 2021, with the introduction of Article 205.6 into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which we will talk about later.

By the way, criminal liability for failure to report a crime is also typical for many foreign legal systems.

Arbitrage practice

The work of law enforcement agencies is structured in such a way that, if desired, they can be held accountable not only for the person who failed to report a crime, but also for incomplete information provided. For example, in the city of Ulan-Ude, two citizens were brought to justice who reported a murder, but did not clearly indicate who did it.

So, the situation turns out to be twofold. On the one hand, having information about an impending terrorist attack, you must definitely go to the police and report it.

At the same time, on the other hand, if law enforcement agencies fail to prevent a terrorist attack, they will make the ultimate informer, convincing the court that the latter knew where, for example, explosive devices were installed.

The only relatively protected group of people are close relatives of criminals. If they wish, they can provide law enforcement officers with some of the truthful information, and they will not be convicted for incomplete information.

How to exclude the possibility of being held liable? The answer is obvious, you need to contact the police if you become aware of crimes being prepared or committed from the list above. At the same time, this must be done competently.

If the notification to law enforcement agencies was carried out by telephone, then it is better to record the conversation. If the application was made in writing, then it is better to make two copies of the document and keep one with the signature of the official.

Silence about preparation for a crime carries with it extremely negative consequences, because if a person aware of this had reported it to law enforcement agencies, it could have been prevented. Not long ago, amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation came into force - a new article 205.6 has now been introduced, which regulates liability for failure to report a crime.

How it works and what sanctions can be applied will be discussed below.

Commentary to Art. 205.6 of the Criminal Code

1. The objective side of the crime is characterized by failure to report to the authorities authorized to consider reports of a crime about a person (persons) who, according to reliably known information, is preparing, committing or has committed at least one of the crimes specified in the disposition. Failure to report is a silence about a fact when there is a real opportunity to fulfill a person’s moral duty. In this case, the person must be aware of the preparation, attempt or commission by another person of one of the crimes specified in the disposition. Whether the failure to report was promised in advance or not is irrelevant for criminal prosecution.

The authorities authorized to consider reports of crimes are the prosecutor's office, internal affairs, federal security service and other bodies specified in Art. 151 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.

2. The legislation does not specify the period after which a person must make a corresponding report to the authorities. A possible interpretation of the criminal law suggests that this should be sufficient time for reporting. By a very rough analogy of law, we can assume that this period is equal to one week (see paragraph 2 of Article 314 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), however, it is preferable to consider this norm, which does not specify the period for fulfilling the obligation as an integral condition for bringing to criminal responsibility, as unconstitutional on this basis basis. In any case, by virtue of paragraph “a” of Part 1 of Art. 78 of the Criminal Code, a person cannot be held criminally liable for failure to report a crime about which he became aware more than two years ago.

3. By virtue of the note to the article, spouses or close relatives of the person preparing or committing the corresponding crime are not subjects of the crime. Clergymen also cannot be considered as subjects of this crime if they are informed about a crime during confession (clause 7 of Article 3 of the Federal Law of September 26, 1997 N 125-FZ “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations”) and lawyers, if the relevant circumstances became known to them in connection with applying for legal assistance or in connection with its provision (clause 2 of article 8 of the Federal Law of May 31, 2002 N 63-FZ “On advocacy and the legal profession in the Russian Federation”).

The criminality of an act can also be eliminated by Art. 40 of the Criminal Code (see commentary to this norm).

4. A person who acted as an accomplice in one of the crimes specified in the disposition or was involved in it and is brought to criminal liability under Art. 174 - 175, 316 CC.

Article 205.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – corpus delicti

People will be held accountable for failure to report a crime if they personally had information regarding the preparation or commission of the following actions:

Propaganda of terrorism.
Involving a person in terrorist activities, especially if he is a minor.
Preparation for a terrorist act, its implementation.
Creation of a terrorist group.
Undertaking training to participate in terrorist acts.
Creation of an illegal paramilitary or armed formation.
Taking a person hostage.
Seizure, theft of any type of transport for the purpose of committing a crime.
Purchase, transfer for storage of weapons, chemicals, nuclear weapons.
Attempt on the life and health of a government official.
Forceful retention of power, preparation for a coup.
Armed uprising.
Committing terrorism outside the Russian Federation.
An attack on a person who is under international protection.

Have a question for a lawyer? Ask now, call and get a free consultation from leading lawyers in your city. We will answer your questions quickly and try to help with your specific case.

In what cases can liability not be applied?

According to Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, a person has the right not to testify if the alleged criminal is his close relative: child, spouse, parent, blood relative.

Also, criminal liability will not apply if information about the crime was received by:

A clergyman during the confession of a criminal.
Lawyer for his client.

The statute of limitations for such a crime is 2 years. After this time, the “silent person” can no longer be punished under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation or any other legal act.

Why were such changes made?

The reason for making such an adjustment to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is the fight against terrorism. This article was introduced along with other amendments to the laws under the unspoken name “Yarovaya package”.

Along with the signing of this package of laws, mobile operators also had additional responsibility - they are now required to save conversations and messages of their subscribers for a year and provide them at the lawful request of the FSB and the police.

Often, some illegal action becomes the reason for committing a crime. However, sometimes inaction can lead to a criminal sentence. For example, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation also qualifies failure to report a crime as an illegal action that entails criminal punishment.

Failure to report a crime of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation article

In Russian legislation, this offense is regulated by article

The article prescribes the punishment imposed in a situation where a person who knew about the crime being prepared did not consider it necessary to come with a corresponding statement to law enforcement agencies.

Expert opinion

Morozov Ivan Severinovich

Legal consultant with 6 years of experience. Specialization: criminal law. Has experience in defense in court.

That is, if a citizen behaves law-abidingly, the police could obtain information that would allow them to prevent the commission of an illegal act or at least minimize its consequences.

The document also lists a list of crimes , silence about which may result in criminal punishment. Such acts are:

Act of terrorism (preparation and actual execution);
Formation of a community that plans to engage in terrorist activities;
Conducting training courses in terrorist techniques;
Complicity in terrorist activities (assistance to similar organizations);
Call for participation in terrorist acts, organization of rallies during which calls for terrorism are carried out;
Participation in the hostage taking process;
Formation of an armed group in the absence of a legal basis;
Theft (hijacking) of vehicles such as trains, planes, ships and other aircraft and ships;
Acquisition, storage and use of nuclear substances and materials;
Participation in an attempt on the life of a government official or public figure;
Violent seizure of power and its retention;
Rebellion carried out with the use of weapons;
Carrying out an assassination attempt on persons or employees of organizations under international protectorate;
Acts of international terrorism.

As we see, all these crimes are especially serious, and accordingly, information about them received in advance could be of great help in preventing them, which is extremely important in such situations.

This article appeared quite recently - in 2021. The previous edition implied punishment for failure to report a crime of a personal nature, for example, murder, rape, and so on. In addition, the title of the article contained the word “underreporting.”

In its modern version, the document implies responsibility for acts against public safety. Some experts also believe that the change in the title of the article was not accidental: the new version does not have a negative connotation and encourages citizens to comply with the laws .

The article also has one caveat: a person who knows about a crime being prepared has the right not to disclose this information if his close relative or spouse is involved in illegal actions.

Thus, the wife will not be punished for concealing information about an armed rebellion in which her husband is participating, despite the fact that her honesty could have saved many lives.

In this vein, we can mention several more cases provided for by law, when a person who learns the details of a crime is not subject to criminal liability for disclosing information about it.

Thus, a priest to whom a criminal has revealed himself during confession and told about a committed or impending act of violence will not be condemned.

The lawyer defending the criminal will not be held liable. He has the right to keep secret everything that the client tells him, despite the gravity and cruelty of the actions committed by the latter.

It is also important to note that the article does not apply to persons who were directly involved in the above crimes . They will be convicted not for failure to report information, but for the criminal act of particular gravity that they committed or helped to commit.

Although the article does not indicate how long the offender can hide information about a crime being prepared, the general rules of criminal law state that a person cannot be punished if he learned about the crime being prepared more than two years before it was carried out.

How to file a crime report?

This material has been prepared on the basis of the norms of the current legislation of Russia, taking into account established judicial practice. If you encounter any difficulties when writing an application, you can contact the Domkins and Partners Law Office and use legal advice. Such assistance is provided to Principals, including remotely.

There are different life situations and in the modern world it is not at all uncommon for a citizen or legal entity to need to contact law enforcement agencies regarding the initiation of a criminal case.

Of course, before filing a corresponding application, it would be correct to obtain legal advice from a practitioner in the field of criminal law or delegate to him the authority to protect your interests, but various everyday circumstances sometimes force you to protect your interests on your own.

Using the material below, you can independently write or draw up a statement (appeal) to the police or other law enforcement agencies.

The criminal procedure law does not impose clear and mandatory requirements for a written statement of a crime to law enforcement agencies.

Moreover, Article 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation states that a statement about a crime can also be made orally. It should be noted that this form of appeal in most cases is used when a citizen reports a crime committed “in hot pursuit,” that is, by calling the emergency services call line or contacting the first police officer.

The current law does not prevent a citizen from personally contacting the police department and verbally reporting a crime. In this case, the statement of crime is entered by a law enforcement officer into the appropriate protocol, which is signed by the applicant himself and the officer who accepted the statement.

Sample statement of crime

To be fair, it is worth noting that this form of registration of an application is used extremely rarely in practice, and most often the applicant is asked to submit an application in writing.

So, in front of you is a blank sheet of paper:

It is advisable that you initially, independently or with the help of a criminal lawyer, give the correct preliminary qualification of the crime committed. Such qualifications will allow you to ensure fast and smooth movement and consideration of your application. The classification of a crime is established on the basis of the norms of a special part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which lists all criminal offenses. After reviewing the specified law, you can determine which article the crime you are reporting falls under and immediately indicate this in your application. For a person who does not have legal knowledge, the issue of qualifications may cause difficulties. In this case, it is recommended that the text of the application simply indicate what exactly happened: theft of property, beating, damage to property, etc.

To illustrate the above, we will accompany the presented material with a simulated example.

For example, in the evening, secretly, that is, under unknown circumstances, a lady’s bag with personal belongings and a sum of money in the amount of 10,000 rubles was stolen in a restaurant from citizen A. Since we are dealing with a secret theft, that is, Ms. A. did not observe the act itself, this crime should be qualified under Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - theft. Due to the fact that the stolen bag was expensive, and the amount of money was 30 percent of Ms. A.’s monthly salary, the crime caused her significant damage. In this case, the unlawful act is subject to qualification under Part 2 of Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - theft causing significant damage. This is the qualification that should be reflected in the application.

Establishing the classification of a crime, that is, indicating the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, will allow you to easily determine which law enforcement agency should file a statement about the crime. In accordance with the current law, you can contact any law enforcement agency: the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Investigative Committee, the Prosecutor's Office, the Federal Security Service, etc. If your statement about a crime does not fall within the competence of this law enforcement agency, it will independently forward the statement to the authorized agency. Let us note that an error when filing an application to an unauthorized body, as a rule, entails a delay in the process of considering a crime report due to the length of interdepartmental redirection of correspondence. You can establish the investigative jurisdiction of the crime you are reporting by referring to the contents of Article 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, by which the law assigns to each law enforcement agency a list of crimes that it is obliged to investigate.

Regarding our example, we can establish the following - In accordance with Article 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the crime provided for in Part 2 of Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation falls under the jurisdiction of investigators of internal affairs bodies. Accordingly, a crime should be reported to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (police).

Having determined the investigative jurisdiction of the crime, the citizen, in order to quickly consider his application, is also recommended to determine the so-called territorial jurisdiction of the crime, that is, to which specific territorial unit he should submit the application. According to the rule established by law (Article 152 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation), the investigation of a crime is carried out at the place where it was committed.

The example under consideration is the restaurant in which the theft of property of citizen A. occurred is located on the territory of the Moskovsky district of the city N., accordingly, a statement of crime should be submitted to the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (OMVD) of the Moskovsky district of the city N.

Having determined the article of the criminal law, jurisdiction and territorial division of the law enforcement agency, one should begin to draw up the statement of the crime itself. In the header of the application you should indicate to whose name you are addressing the application. The authorized person in this case is the head or head of the law enforcement agency. You can find out information about who heads a particular body by calling the department or by accessing the Internet. If the specified information is not available to you, you can limit yourself to indicating the official position of the commanding officer.

The example under consideration is that Gr-ka A. must reflect the following in the “header” of the application: “To the head of the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation of the Moskovsky district of the city of N., police colonel P.P. Petrov.

After indicating the authorized person, you should reflect your own data, indicating your last name, first name, patronymic, registration address, place of actual residence, as well as your contact (mobile) phone number. Do not forget that the successful investigation of the case depends to a certain extent on you. The investigator or detective will need to contact you and obtain more detailed information for further investigation.
After the “header” in the center of the sheet, you indicate the name of your appeal, namely, Statement of a Crime.
In the main (descriptive) part of the application, you should briefly state what happened and why you are contacting law enforcement agencies. It is mandatory to indicate:
when the crime occurred (date, time);
time of events (if you find it difficult to indicate the time, you can indicate the approximate time, as well as the date);
place of the crime (where the act occurred);
the culprit of the crime, if he is known to you (if you have only partial information about the person, you can indicate that the person who committed the crime is known to you, for example, as an acquaintance named “Andrey”);
what exactly happened (free description of the events that took place);
whose legitimate interests were harmed and in what form (how the damage and/or harm was caused);
what article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for liability for the crime committed;
reflect other data that is significant in the case.

You should not describe what happened down to the smallest detail. The statement must be sufficiently concise, but at the same time informative, so that the authorized person can obtain from it sufficient information to begin an investigation.

Sample statement of fraud

In the final part of the application, we recommend that you reflect that you are aware of criminal liability for committing a knowingly false denunciation of a crime, that is, that if you report a non-existent crime, then criminal liability may arise for such an act. In the absence of such a record, authorized persons will ask you to draw up an additional document - a receipt indicating liability for knowingly making a false denunciation.
As additional material to the crime report, you can attach copies of documents that may be required during the initial investigation: audio and video recordings, financial documents, checks. You can also indicate in the text of the statement who was an eyewitness to the crime, indicating his personal data and methods of contact with this person.
As required by law, the application is signed personally by the person affected by the crime. If we are talking about a minor victim or a person with limited legal capacity, the application is signed by a legal representative. The application must be dated.

Guided by the outlined legal algorithm, you can independently draw up a statement about the crime committed.

Lawyer Pavel Domkin

Corpus delicti

The object of such a crime will be social relations. This act is classified as a crime against public safety.

As we have seen, the article covers the failure to report data on crimes that pose a danger to the general public, as well as to the constitutional order and the state as a whole.

Expert opinion

Morozov Ivan Severinovich

Legal consultant with 6 years of experience. Specialization: criminal law. Has experience in defense in court.

From the objective side, a criminal act consists of the absence of actions on the part of a person who knew about the crime, but did not report it to the authorized bodies.

Accordingly, a citizen who will be punished under this article could have saved the lives and health of his compatriots, but through his inaction he allowed illegal actions to be carried out.

The subject can be any citizen who is over 14 years old.

There is quite a lot of controversy on this score, since not everyone believes that teenagers can fully understand the danger of the upcoming action or the value of the information they have.

Peculiarities

This crime can only be committed with direct intent, that is, the person understood that he had reliable facts regarding the crime, but did not report this to the police or the prosecutor's office.

It is also important to distinguish between the concepts of failure to report and concealment of a crime . In the first case, the perpetrator simply remains inactive, without providing information about the offense, and in the second, he takes deliberate actions to hide the offense.

Sometimes the article covers persons who nevertheless reported a crime, but did not provide all the information known to them . In this case, they can also be charged under the article. In this situation, it is necessary to submit documents that confirm the fact of transfer of information to the competent authorities.

By law, a crime can be reported either in writing (handwritten or electronically) or verbally.

Find out how to anonymously report drug-related people here.

Qualification of the crime

Despite the fact that the punishment under the article is intended for concealing information about serious or especially serious crimes, the illegal act itself is regarded as an offense of moderate gravity and implies a relatively lenient punishment .

What is the “Yarovaya package” and how is it related to Article 205.6 “Failure to report a crime”?

Irina Yarovaya is a State Duma deputy from the United Russia party.

The Yarovaya package is a series of laws that stipulate that mobile operators must preserve correspondence and conversations of their customers for at least six months. This data can be used by FSB and police officers.

The Yarovaya package has already been signed by the president. This law has already come into force on July 1, 2021.

The fight against terrorism is a very important task for the Russian Federation. For the citizens of our country, the time of relaxation and detachment has passed.

It is necessary to understand that the Yarovaya law does not punish terrorists. It is designed to assist law enforcement agencies in their professional activities.

Among the innovations developed by Yarovaya, additional changes were included in a number of criminal articles. Thus, the Criminal Code was supplemented with a new article - Art. . ”

Responsibility for failure to report a crime

Article 205.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is included in Chapter 24 of Section 9 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It was introduced into the Criminal Code in 2021 after the President signed Federal Law No. 375.

The sanction of the article provides for the following punishment for failure to report a crime or its concealment:

a fine of up to 100 thousand rubles or in the amount of salary for a period of up to six months;
forced labor for up to 12 months;
imprisonment for up to 1 year.

The bill submitted by Yarovaya was adopted with the aim of effectively combating terrorism.

Which persons cannot be held liable under Art. 205.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation?

A person is exempt from criminal liability for failure to report a crime under Art. 205.6 in such cases:

if the crime under the above article was committed by the suspect’s spouse or his close relative (children, parents, brothers, sisters);
if a person learned about the criminal act of another person when he confessed to him (we are talking about the responsibility of clergy);
if we are talking about a lawyer who became aware of the circumstances of the unlawful actions of a client who turned to him for legal assistance.

Legal education: is there a duty to report a crime?

April 28, 2020

Is there a duty to report crime?

Surely, each of us during our lives at least once witnessed the commission of some unseemly act on the part of other persons, which could well attract an article of the Criminal Code. Have you asked yourself the question: am I obliged to report what I saw to law enforcement agencies or not?

Is there a legal duty for a citizen to report a crime to the police? Let's try to figure it out.

History of the issue.

In Soviet criminal legislation, this type of liability concerned only failure to report the most serious crimes.

By the way, criminal liability for failure to report a crime is also typical for many foreign legal systems.

What crimes is a citizen required to report to the police?

In accordance with the law, criminal liability under Article 205.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for failure to report a crime is established only in relation to a number of acts that have a high degree of public danger, mainly of a terrorist nature. An exhaustive list of these crimes is listed in Article 205.6 of the Criminal Code and now we will name them.

A citizen will bear criminal liability if he does not report reliably known facts of committed or impending crimes of the following categories:

Terrorism and related acts (assistance, calls for terrorism, etc.)

• Hostage taking

• Organization of an illegal armed group

• Theft of an aircraft, water vessel or railway transport

• Illegal actions with nuclear and radioactive materials

• Encroachment on the life of a state or public figure

• Violent seizure of power

• Armed rebellion

• Attack on diplomatic missions

• International terrorism

But if a citizen saw that, for example, a theft or sale of drugs was taking place somewhere and did not report it to the police, he will not bear any responsibility for this. And even for failure to report a murder, the law does not establish any sanctions.

This is important: in any case, a citizen cannot be held accountable for failure to report a crime if it is committed or is being prepared by his close relative. It will also not be possible to hold a lawyer accountable if he became aware of the crime committed in connection with the defense of the accused, even if we are talking about a new crime

Also, failure to report to the police about facts that, for one reason or another, raise certain doubts in a citizen is not punishable. Only failure to report such circumstances that are reliably and unambiguously a crime and the citizen clearly understands this is criminally punishable. The responsibility to prove that the citizen reliably knew about the crime, but did not make a report to the police, lies with the investigative authorities.

You should also understand the difference between failure to report and concealment of crimes. In the first case, criminal liability arises under Art. 205.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation simply means the very fact of keeping silent about the crime, and in the second (Article 316 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) - only in the case of active concealment of especially serious crimes not promised in advance (for example, when assisting a murderer in transporting and hiding a corpse, in the absence of signs of complicity in the murder itself).

Responsibility for failure to report a crime.

As we have already mentioned, criminal liability for failure to report criminal actions of third parties is provided for in Article 205.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The sanction of this article provides for the following types of punishment:

Fine of up to 100,000 rubles;
Forced labor for up to 1 year;
Imprisonment for up to 1 year;

At the same time, it should be borne in mind that such a punishment as imprisonment under this article can be imposed only if the perpetrator has an outstanding criminal record or aggravating circumstances, the list of which is specified in Article 63 of the Criminal Code of Russia.

By the way, contrary to popular belief, there is no administrative liability for ignoring a citizen’s duty to report a crime to the police. There is only criminal law, but we have already talked about this above.

The age of criminal responsibility under Art. 205.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation begins at the age of 16.