Special subject of crime in criminal law: concept, signs and types

The versatility of human relationships is sometimes quite striking in its scope. Because in the modern world people have discovered forms of communication that were something unreal just 20 years ago. However, there are areas of human life that have not changed over the centuries. That is, a thousand years ago they were supported by the same human desires and thoughts as at the present time. In addition, these areas can be both negative and positive. As for the regulation of human relations, in the process of a long search, their most universal coordinator was identified. Today it is known to almost everyone and is called law. Through this socio-moral category, control is exercised over all existing social relations.

It should be noted that some areas, as well as the form of their regulation, have their own specifics. One of these are legal relations that arise on the basis of the most serious violations of state-sanctioned norms. In this case, we are talking about criminal crimes, which in all countries of the world are nothing more than the most socially dangerous acts. However, in this article the author would like to consider not the branch of criminal law itself, but the subjects whose norms of behavior cover it. After all, the subjective composition of criminal law is interesting for its duality. In accordance with this, all subjects are divided into special and general, which will be discussed later in the article.

Criminal law: the concept of the industry

Features of crimes and their types are those issues that are addressed directly by the criminal law of the Russian Federation. In addition, a special subject of crime is also provided for in the provisions of the main regulatory act of the industry. However, before considering its features, it is necessary to analyze the specifics of criminal law itself. First of all, it is necessary to highlight the concept of this legal branch. In the Russian Federation, criminal law is a system of legal norms that regulate social relations in the field of committing criminal acts, as well as imposing punishment for them. In other words, criminal law is the branch of “crime and punishment”. In addition, there is also a science and academic discipline of the same name, the provisions of which were created to modernize legislation and train professional lawyers.

Subject of criminal law

Criminal law has always been a specific branch for two reasons. Firstly, it provides the most “powerful” and most stringent method of regulation. Secondly, criminal law has a special set of regulated social relations, which are called the subject. The specificity of the subject is determined, for the most part, by a mandatory factor – crime. That is, this legal event, so to speak, is the starting point for launching the mechanism of criminal legal regulation. In addition to this, all social relations of a criminal legal nature, without exception, are divided into two large groups, namely:

1. Legal relations are protective. They arise between law enforcement agencies and persons committing socially dangerous acts. In this case, the first party decides what exactly to hold the offenders accountable for and what punishment to apply.

2. Regulatory legal relations are related to the prevention of society, through the introduction of severe sanctions for socially dangerous acts. That is, criminal law, as it were, informs society about the negative aspects that can befall each person, without exception, if they commit a crime.

Taking into account the features presented above, we can conclude that social relations always arise between individual subjects of criminal law. Some of them are characterized by individual features. These include a special subject of crime in criminal law.

Crime and its components

It should be noted that the special subject of the crime in criminal law is, as we understand, an integral element of a socially dangerous act. To consider its features, you need to understand what a crime is from a legal point of view. According to the developed theory, crime is the most dangerous social act that brings the greatest harm to social relations. Usually, upon the commission of such an act, a qualification is made. However, it cannot be implemented if you do not know the elements of the crime to which the special subject belongs.

In the theory of criminal law, the following elements are usually considered to be elements of a crime, for example:

- subject;

- an object;

- objective side;

- subjective side.

All presented elements carry some information about the crime committed in each specific case. As for the subject of the crime, this element is quite important, since with its help you can see who is subject to legal criminal liability.

Who is the subject of the crime?

For a very long time in criminal law there was no consensus on the subject of the crime. The problem was that scientists could not figure out who exactly should be included in this element of a socially dangerous act. But today, a unified concept of this criminal law category has emerged. Moreover, as a rule, it characterizes both the general and the special subject of the crime. According to the theory and key concepts of criminal law, a subject is a person who influences the objects of the criminal legal branch and is capable of being held responsible for his illegal actions.

It should be noted that the subject of the crime is endowed with a number of unique characteristics that characterize him and make it possible to qualify the person as part of a socially dangerous act. The most general features, which are endowed with almost all subjects without exception, characterize the standard type of this element of the crime. At the same time, there are cases when a person is characterized by characteristics that are unique in their kind due to the socially dangerous act he has carried out. In this case, we can talk about the presence of a special subject of the crime. The presence of this element leads to changes in the classification of the crime, according to criminal law.

Sanity as a sign of the subject of a crime

Sanity as a sign of the subject of a crime means the ability of a person, during the commission of a socially dangerous act, to realize the actual nature and social danger of his actions (inaction) and to direct them.

Criminal legislation does not provide the concept of sanity; it formulates the concept of insanity , which is its antipode. In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 21 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a person who, at the time of committing a socially dangerous act, was in a state of insanity, is not subject to criminal liability, i.e. could not realize the actual nature and social danger of his actions (inaction) or manage them due to a chronic mental disorder, temporary mental disorder, dementia or other painful mental state.

Thus, insanity is formed due to the combination of two criteria:

• medical (biological);
• legal (psychological).

The medical (biological) criterion covers:

1. chronic mental disorder - a disease that tends to progress and is difficult to treat or even incurable (schizophrenia, epilepsy, paranoia, etc.);
2. temporary mental disorder - a disease that ends with recovery (pathological intoxication, pathological affect, reactive states, etc.);
3. dementia - congenital or acquired decrease or complete loss of intellectual functions; there are three degrees of it: debility, imbecility and idiocy;
4. other morbid state of the psyche is a collective concept that covers diseases that do not belong to mental disorders, but are accompanied by mental disorders (withdrawal state - drug starvation, acute hallucinatory delusional states with typhoid or typhus, etc.).

The legal (psychological) criterion is characterized by two features:

1. intellectual;
2. strong-willed.

An intellectual sign is expressed in the fact that a person is incapable of realizing the actual nature and social danger of his actions (inaction), and a volitional sign is expressed in his inability to manage his behavior. To have a legal criterion, one of the indicated signs is sufficient. This means that a person can be declared insane even if, for example, he was aware of the social significance of his behavior, but could not control it.

Medical and legal criteria are inextricably unified and complement each other. Only the presence of their combination constitutes insanity.

A person who has committed a socially dangerous act provided for by criminal law in a state of insanity may be imposed compulsory medical measures by the court (Part 2 of Article 21 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

The state of so-called simple or ordinary intoxication does not exclude sanity. In accordance with Art. 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a person who commits a crime while intoxicated due to the use of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicating substances is subject to criminal liability.

Criminal liability of persons with a mental disorder that does not exclude sanity

In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a sane person who, at the time of committing a crime due to a mental disorder, could not fully understand the actual nature and social danger of his actions (inaction) or direct them, is subject to criminal liability. In this case we are talking about limited (reduced) sanity . Limited sanity is not an intermediate state between sanity and insanity, but characterizes the degree of manifestation of sanity, reflecting the narrowing of a person’s ability to realize the social significance of his behavior and manage it.

Like insanity, it is established on the basis of medical, legal and temporal criteria.

The medical criterion of limited sanity, in contrast to the similar basis of insanity, is specific. In this case, the person’s mental disorder is not pathological in nature, i.e., it is not recognized as a mental illness. In psychiatry, this disorder is classified as a mental abnormality - a deviation from the norm. The latter include a wide range of neuropsychic disorders: psychopathy, character accentuations, disorders of desires and habits, etc.

The legal criterion of limited sanity also has a peculiarity and is characterized by a partial decrease in the intellectual and volitional abilities of a person. Such a person retains the ability to realize the actual nature and social danger of the act he commits (intellectual moment), to control his behavior (volitional moment), but not to the fullest extent. To establish this criterion, one of the specified moments is sufficient - intellectual or volitional. By the way, a decrease in the intellectual sphere, as a rule, entails a decrease in a person’s volitional abilities.

The simultaneous presence of medical and legal criteria of limited sanity is associated by law with the time of commission of the crime.

Determination of whether a person has a mental disorder that does not exclude sanity is carried out by the court on the basis of a comprehensive forensic psychological and psychiatric examination.

According to Part 2 of Art. 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the state of limited sanity has a dual criminal legal meaning:

1. it is taken into account by the court when assigning punishment (only as a mitigating circumstance, since the list of aggravating factors is exhaustive);
2. serves as a basis for the application of compulsory medical measures.

For a person who has committed a crime in a state of mental disorder that does not preclude sanity, the court, along with punishment, may apply a compulsory medical measure in the form of outpatient observation and treatment by a psychiatrist (Part 2 of Article 99 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Special subject of criminal tort

Today, in the theory of criminal law, the concept has been formed that a special subject of a crime is a person who has both general characteristics of the subject of a socially dangerous act, and special ones that are necessary in a specific case of legal responsibility for a certain crime. In order to understand what this category is, you need to look at some criminal law norms. If you study them carefully, it becomes clear that certain crimes are “constructed” in criminal legislation in a specific way. That is, not all persons can be held responsible for committing these crimes, but only those who are endowed with special characteristics. It should also be noted that the concept and types of a special subject of a crime are interconnected categories. Because it is in the classical understanding of this theoretical aspect that the principles of its classification into smaller elements lie.

Exemption from criminal liability: legal grounds

An individual who has committed a criminal act does not always receive punishment: in some circumstances, there is an exemption from criminal liability. At its core, this is the admissibility of issuing an act against an individual who has committed a crime, releasing such a citizen from the obligation to be condemned on behalf of the state and to undergo coercive measures in the form of a sanction.

The grounds for exemption from criminal liability are as follows:

Part 2 of this article states that individuals who have committed acts of other categories, that is, serious and especially serious crimes, can be released from criminal liability, but only if this is stated in the relevant article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. So, for example, taking a hostage is a serious act, but the note to Article 206 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation states that the subject of the crime is released from liability if he frees the hostage; similar, so-called “special” grounds for exemption from criminal liability are enshrined in the notes and some other articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: 126, 204-206, 228, etc.

1. Due to active repentance (Article 75 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The conditions for this are as follows: the act is not a serious (minor or moderate) crime and for the first time the subject has confessed, voluntarily reported what was committed, helped to reveal and investigate it, provided information useful for the investigation, and compensated for the damage caused. However, this may not be enough: it is necessary that the subject ceases to pose a danger to society, and to clarify this circumstance, the court carefully studies the characteristics of the person, his behavior, attitude towards the crime, etc. A first-time offender is a person who has no criminal record; If a citizen was previously brought to criminal liability, but the criminal record was withdrawn or expunged, then this person, from the point of view of criminal law, is a person who committed a crime for the first time. In practice, this provision is often violated by investigative authorities, but the courts correct such errors and apply the current legislation correctly in this regard.
2. In connection with reconciliation with the victim (Article 76 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). To use this basis, it is necessary that the act committed for the first time be classified as minor or moderate, the guilty party has reconciled with the victim and made amends for the harm caused by the crime. In connection with compensation for damage under certain articles listed in the law that provide for criminal liability for committing economic crimes (Article 76.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Such acts include tax evasion, market manipulation, illegal actions in bankruptcy, etc. In some cases, it is enough to simply compensate for losses, and in others, it is also necessary to transfer multiple monetary compensation to the federal budget. The category of the crime in this case does not matter, but the crime must be completely for the first time. It should be borne in mind that those who committed a crime for the first time from the standpoint of Art. 76.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is a person who has no criminal record precisely under that article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation from liability under which this person is exempt, that is, a person who has an outstanding conviction for murder, from the point of view of Art. 76.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is the first person who has committed tax evasion from legal entities and can be exempted from criminal liability under Art. 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
3. In connection with the imposition of a court fine (Article 76.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). A person who has committed a non-serious (minor or moderate) unlawful act for the first time and has compensated for the damage or otherwise made amends for the damage can count on release. This basis appeared relatively recently - in 2021. Unlike exemption from criminal liability in connection with reconciliation with the victim, the consent of the victim is not required for exemption from criminal liability in connection with the imposition of a court fine; the court is obliged to listen and take into account the position of the victim, however, the disagreement of the victim with the release of the victim from criminal liability in connection with the imposition of a court fine is not mandatory for the court. It should also be noted that a judicial fine can be applied to formal and unfinished crimes when there is no damage; There are corresponding court decisions in specific criminal cases, when the courts exempt from criminal liability with the imposition of a court fine in the absence of a reason specified in the law in the form of the need to compensate for damage or otherwise make amends for the harm caused; moreover, such decisions are made under the articles of Chapter 31 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Crimes” against justice”, where the object of criminal actions is relations in the field of administration of justice. The absence of real, expressed in material form or monetary equivalent, harm caused by criminal actions, and, as a consequence of this, the absence of the opportunity to compensate for the damage and make amends for the harm caused does not deprive a person of the right to be exempt from criminal liability in connection with the imposition of a court fine.
4. Due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution (Article 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The specific statute of limitations for bringing to justice depends on the severity of the act, namely on the category of the crime with which the person is charged: thus, for acts of minor gravity the statute of limitations is set at 2 years, for moderate offenses - 6 years, for serious crimes - 10 years, for especially serious crimes - 15 years. However, this basis does not apply to all crimes: for example, for terrorist attacks, attempts on the life of a statesman, or the organization of a terrorist community, there is no statute of limitations, and for crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment, the possibility of applying the statute of limitations in each case is decided by the court.
5. In connection with the publication of an amnesty act (Article 84 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The amnesty is announced by the State Duma of the Russian Federation, affects an indefinite circle of citizens and, as a rule, is timed to coincide with some important state date (the anniversary of the Victory in the Second World War, the anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution), etc. The circle of persons eligible for amnesty is determined separately in the Amnesty Resolution each time; As a rule, the amnesty covers persons who have committed crimes of minor and medium gravity, persons who have committed crimes in the field of economic activity, minors, persons who have committed serious crimes and were sentenced to imprisonment for a term of no more than 5 years, participants in hostilities, men and women older of a certain age and other categories of citizens.
6. In connection with the use of compulsory educational measures against a minor (Article 90 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Release on this basis is possible if the child committed an act of minor or moderate gravity, and the court considered that instead of punishment it would be more appropriate to use educational measures, including, for example, organizing special leisure time, establishing certain rules of behavior, etc.
7. In connection with the use of compulsory measures of a medical nature (Article 97 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), this basis in legal science is not usually considered among the grounds for exemption from criminal liability, however, the court has the right to exempt the following persons from criminal liability and punishment: those who committed a crime in a state of insanity; persons who, after committing a crime, have developed a mental disorder that makes it impossible to impose or carry out punishment. Compulsory medical measures are also applied to persons who have committed a crime and suffer from a mental disorder that does not exclude sanity; an adult who has committed a crime against sexual integrity against a minor under 14 years of age, suffering from a disorder of sexual preference (pedophilia), which does not exclude sanity. These categories of citizens are not exempt from criminal liability. The condition for the use of compulsory medical measures is the presence of a mental disorder associated with the possibility of causing other significant harm or danger to oneself or others.

Exemption from criminal liability on the above grounds does not mean that there are no signs of a crime in the actions of the subject. Consequently, these persons do not have the right to rehabilitation, and the grounds we have considered are non-rehabilitating grounds for the termination of criminal cases and release from criminal liability. .

Is it easy to obtain exemption from criminal liability?

As we can see, there are quite a lot of grounds for exemption from criminal liability under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but is it really easy to take advantage of this opportunity?

1. The only unconditional grounds for exemption from liability are compensation for damages for economic crimes, as well as the expiration of the statute of limitations. Even if an act of amnesty has been issued, the administration of the correctional institution may consider that it has nothing to do with the convicted person.
2. In order to be released from liability, a person must compensate for the damage and make amends. In some cases, the amount of damage reaches quite large values, and the subject is simply not able to collect a sufficient amount. In addition, in practice, many questions may arise, for example, how to determine the amount of damage, whether lost profits are included here, etc. An economic crimes lawyer will help to correctly resolve these issues so that his client compensates for damages in the required amount.
3. The use of many grounds for exemption from criminal liability (for example, in connection with the payment of compensation, the absence of claims from the victim) depends on the subjective opinion of the judge. For example, the court will evaluate whether the citizen really realized his guilt, whether he acted voluntarily or was under pressure, whether he needs forced correction, etc.

“On April 19, 2021, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation submitted for public discussion a bill tightening the algorithm for exemption from criminal liability. Thus, the draft states that an individual who was previously released from liability due to active repentance, payment of compensation, reconciliation with the victim or payment of a fine has no right to claim exemption from liability again. According to the drafters, these persons are considered malicious violators, and not subjects deserving leniency. However, the amendments have many disadvantages: they can lead to an increase in the number of convictions, disincentivize the accused to reconcile with victims and make amends, etc.”

It follows that getting free from liability is not as easy as it seems: in most cases, the final word remains with the judge. This means that it is extremely important for a person to enlist the support of a criminal lawyer who will collect the necessary evidence of the existence of the appropriate ground(s) for release, and also convince the court that his client does not need forced correction. This is quite a labor-intensive and responsible job that only a competent specialist can handle.

Exemption from criminal liability should be distinguished from exemption from punishment: these legal institutions are correlated as general and particular, exemption from criminal liability is always associated with exemption from punishment, but not vice versa: exemption from punishment does not mean automatic exemption from criminal liability. In this article we do not consider the grounds for exemption from punishment listed in Chapter 12 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Different aspects of understanding a special subject

Today, the special subject of a crime, the concept and characteristics of which are presented in the article, is not a completely “modified” category from the point of view of legal theory. In other words, there is no consensus among scientists regarding the definition of a special subject. As a rule, there are several theories on this matter, namely:

— a special subject is a person with general and specific characteristics;

- this is a specific person who has the characteristics described in a separate disposition of the criminal law norm;

- a special subject is a person with special characteristics due to which he can be the subject of a specific crime.

Of course, the concepts presented above are not exclusive and one of a kind. A special subject of a criminal offense is a category that is constantly being studied and modernized, due to the scientific interest that it arouses among many scientists.

Additional signs of a crime subject

In some elements of the crime, the subject of the crime, along with such signs as age and sanity, is characterized by additional signs that reflect the specifics of the offense and limit the circle of persons who may be responsible for its commission. In this case, we are talking about a special subject , which is understood as a person who, in addition to sanity and reaching the age of criminal responsibility, has additional legal characteristics provided for by criminal law that are mandatory (constructive) for a specific crime. These signs limit the circle of persons who can be recognized as the perpetrator of such a crime.

The signs of a special subject can be directly indicated in the articles of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for example, an employee of railway, air or water transport - Article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation; citizen of the Russian Federation - Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, etc.) or are established by interpreting the criminal law ( for example, when a minor is involved in committing a crime or in committing antisocial actions - Articles 150, 151 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation; when obstructing legitimate business or other activities - Article 169 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, etc.).

The absence of signs of a special subject provided for by a specific article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation excludes criminal liability under this article. However, the actions of a person in this case can be qualified under the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provide for the liability of a common subject. A person who is not the subject of a crime specifically specified in the relevant article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, who participated in the commission of a crime provided for by this article, bears criminal liability as its organizer, instigator or accomplice (Article 34 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

The signs of a special subject are optional, so they can manifest themselves in one of three meanings:

• constitutive features of the main composition (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
• qualifying characteristics (Part 2 of Article 150 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
• circumstances mitigating or aggravating punishment (clause “m” of Article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

A special subject is distinguished by:

1. citizenship of the person (Articles 275, 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
2. demographic basis (Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
3. family and kinship relations (Articles 156, 157 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
4. official position (Articles 285, 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
5. professional activities (Articles 124, 143 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
6. in relation to military service (Articles 328, 331 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Where are the characteristics of a special subject fixed?

General and special subject of crime are not only purely theoretical categories. They also play a fairly significant role in the process of practical application of the provisions of the Criminal Code and other acts of criminal legislation. In addition, it is in these regulations that both the general and the special subject of the crime are enshrined. The article, taken separately, and the chapters of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation prove this fact. For example, Chapter 30 enshrines socially dangerous acts against public service, government, and local governments. The subject of these crimes can only be an official. In addition, in a large number of cases, in order to establish a specific number of subjects of a crime, it is necessary to use the provisions of normative acts of a non-criminal legal nature.

The concept of criminal prosecution

Lawyer Antonov A.P.

In the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the term “criminal liability” appears for the first time in Part 1 of Art. 1, which states that the criminal legislation of the Russian Federation consists of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which should include new laws providing for criminal liability.

From the provisions of Part 2 of Art. 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation it follows that it is the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that establishes the basis and principles of criminal liability.

The principles of criminal liability are the principles of legality (Article 3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), equality of citizens before the law (Article 4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), guilt (Article 5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), justice (Article 6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), humanism (Article 7 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation RF).

Only persons who have committed crimes are brought to criminal liability, regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, property and official status, place of residence, attitude to religion, beliefs, membership in public associations, as well as other circumstances (Article 4 of the Criminal Code RF).

No one can be held criminally liable twice for the same crime (Part 2 of Article 6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

The basis of criminal liability, in accordance with Art. 8 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is the commission of an act containing all the elements of a crime provided for by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Article 55 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation contains the concept of criminal prosecution - procedural activities carried out by the prosecution in order to expose a suspect accused of committing a crime.

Thus, criminal liability occurs under the above conditions contained in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, and involvement in it is carried out through the implementation of the procedures enshrined in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.

Criminal liability is a criminal legal concept and institution. The essence of criminal liability in a state governed by the rule of law in its most general form is a legal relationship, one party of which is the person who has committed a crime and is obliged to incur or undergo certain legal restrictions in connection with the crime committed, and the other is the state, which has the right to publicly condemn the perpetrator and determine his legal, justified and fair punishment.

Criminal prosecution is one of the functions of criminal proceedings, which has its own legal nature and is separated in the exercise of its powers from the function of defense and resolution of a criminal case. Criminal prosecution can be defined as the criminal procedural activities of relevant government bodies and officials to bring to criminal responsibility persons (persons) who committed crimes, including the initiation of the investigation process, and the investigation of the circumstances of the crime itself, the search and capture of the person who committed the crime, the approval of the person about guilt in a crime committed, by putting forward a thesis about his guilt before the judicial authorities, as well as proving his guilt in a court hearing, etc.

Some authors rightly believe that criminal prosecution, being a criminal procedural concept, means bringing a person as an accused (Article 171 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation) so that the person can fully protect himself from the possibility of imposing an unreasonable obligation to be punished. In a conceptual sense, it is necessary to understand that only the accused can be held criminally liable. Bringing to criminal liability a person who is not placed in the position of an accused would deprive that person of the right to defense. Therefore, the legislator establishes, by the act of bringing a person as an accused, the limits of the proceedings in the case in personam.

At the same time, it seems that the approach to the concept under consideration should be expanded.

Indeed, bringing a person as an accused is closely related to the concept of criminal prosecution, but they are not identical.

Involving a person as an accused indicates the need for the state to exercise its right to apply legal restrictions on such person’s rights. This accusation actually determines the essence of such claims, the content of the “criminal legal dispute.” Involving a person as an accused does not mean finding him guilty of committing a crime, which can only be established by a court decision.

Under such circumstances, bringing a person as an accused is one of the stages of bringing a person to criminal responsibility, and not at all the first.

The possibility of shifting the initial stage of bringing a person to criminal responsibility to an earlier stage is indicated by some norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.

Let us recall that criminal prosecution is a procedural activity carried out by the prosecution in order to expose not only the accused, but also the suspect

in committing a crime.

The suspect is also provided with the right to defense, as well as the opportunity to defend himself by all methods and means not prohibited by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation (Article 16 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). The prosecutor has the right, after initiating a criminal case, to conclude a pre-trial agreement on cooperation with the suspect (Part 5 of Article 21 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation), termination of a criminal case in the event of the death of the suspect is impossible without the consent of his close relatives (Clause 4 of Part 1 of Article 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation , Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated July 14, 2011 N 16-P “In the case of verifying the constitutionality of the provisions of paragraph 4 of part one of Article 24 and paragraph 1 of Article 254 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation in connection with complaints from citizens S.I. Alexandrin and Yu. F. Vashchenko"), a preventive measure may be applied to the suspect (clause 13 of Article 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation), criminal prosecution against the suspect may be terminated (Article 27 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation).

In addition, in accordance with clause 2, part 1, art. 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, a criminal case against a minor suspect brought to criminal liability can be separated into a separate proceeding, which indicates that a person will be brought to criminal liability already at the time he is recognized as a suspect.

In accordance with Art. 46 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, a suspect becomes a person against whom a criminal case has been initiated on the grounds and in the manner established by Ch. 20 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, or a person who was detained in accordance with Art. Art. 91, 92 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, or to whom a preventive measure has been applied before charges are brought in accordance with Art. 100 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, or who has been notified of suspicion of committing a crime in the manner established by Art. 223.1 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.

Under such circumstances, and also taking into account that the legislator also refers to the expiration of the statute of limitations for bringing to criminal liability (Article 78 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation) as “expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution” (Clause 3, Part 1, Article 24 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation), which prevents Even the initiation of a criminal case, criminal liability can be considered from the moment a criminal case is initiated against a specific person.

Sincerely, lawyer Anatoly Antonov, managing partner of the law firm Antonov and Partners.

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The meaning of a special subject in criminal law

Very often in the scientific community the question arises about what role a special subject of a crime plays in law. In this case, the Criminal Code provides virtually no answers. This normative act establishes only some signs of the presence of a special person in each specific case. Definition, meaning and other theoretical categories were formed in the process of understanding the special subject. There are several main points that explain the question of the meaning of this category.

Firstly, the special subject of the crime very often acts as a constructive component element. That is, along with other elements of a socially dangerous act, a special subject has the same weight. Simply put, if there is no person endowed with certain characteristics, then we cannot talk about the existence of a crime. Secondly, in cases stipulated by law, a special person acts as a qualifying feature. Typically, this situation can be seen in articles with several parts. The presence of a special subject in this case aggravates the committed act. Thirdly, in some situations, a special person may be punished by an individual method of punishment. Thus, we are talking not only about the aggravating meaning of the presence of a special subject, but also about the mitigating one.

All the presented features prove that a special subject is not just an ordinary category, the existence of which can be challenged in some way, but a real element of a crime that plays a key role in the process of qualifying some socially dangerous acts provided for by the Criminal Code of Russia.

Special subject and its criminal legal significance

Special subject of the crime

is an individual who, along with the general characteristics of a subject (reaching the age of criminal responsibility and sanity), also possesses additional characteristics that are mandatory for a given crime. Additional characteristics of the subject of a particular crime are either directly named (or described) in the disposition of the relevant norm, or are established through interpretation. Sometimes the characteristics of a special subject are indicated in a special norm.

All signs of a special subject can be divided into three large groups:

1. signs characterizing the social role and legal status of the subject:
   citizenship (citizen of the Russian Federation, foreign citizen or stateless person);
2. official position of the person (official in general or certain types of officials: head of an organization, government representative, law enforcement officer, judge, prosecutor, etc.);
3. profession, type of activity, nature of the work performed (person driving a vehicle; athlete; doctor; teacher; private notary; private auditor; ship captain, etc.);
4. attitude towards military service (serviceman, conscript);
5. participation in the trial (witness, victim, expert, translator);
6. conviction or detention (a person sentenced to imprisonment; a person serving a sentence or in pre-trial detention);
7. characteristics of the roles performed in the process of committing crimes - organizer, leader, participant, accomplice;
8. physical properties of the subject
   – signs related to:
   by age (adult);
9. semi (male);
10. state of health and ability to work (a person with a venereal disease or HIV-infected; an able-bodied person);
11. relationship between the subject and the victim
    – signs characterizing:
    family relations of the subject with the victim and other persons (parents, mother, children, other relatives);
12. service relationships (subordinate, boss);
13. other relationships (person on whom the victim depends financially; guardian).

Criminal liability of persons who committed a crime while intoxicated

– a person who commits a crime while intoxicated is subject to criminal liability. In this case, we are talking about physiological intoxication, which does not exclude sanity, since there is no medical criterion for insanity. In this case, the state of intoxication is neither a circumstance mitigating punishment nor a circumstance aggravating punishment.

Unlike physiological intoxication, pathological intoxication refers to temporary mental disorders and entails recognition of the person’s insanity. Signs by which pathological intoxication can be determined include:

• asthenic factors suffered the day before (physical or mental fatigue of the face);
• the occurrence of this condition after drinking a small amount of alcohol;
• presence of psychomotor agitation;
• lack of purposefulness of actions, their external lack of motive, inadequacy of the surrounding reality;
• subsequent deep sleep;
• forgetfulness, etc.

Types of special subject of crime

Earlier in the article, the author pointed out that the presented category is nothing more than a set of certain features that must be present in some cases, due to the specifics of individual crimes. If you analyze the Criminal Code, it becomes clear that the law provides for a lot of such cases. In addition, the gradual development of the criminal law industry gives rise to their rapid growth. Thus, the various features need to be somehow ordered. This process is carried out by classifying them. That is, by the words “types of classification”, scientists, as a rule, mean various blocks of homogeneous characteristics, on the basis of which various special subjects are identified. Today, the following sets of characteristics exist:

1. Characteristics of subjective legal status. A number of these signs show how a particular person is connected with the state. Typically, this block includes the following features: position in government, activities, legal status, powers of the position held, status as a participant in litigation, medical activities, etc.

2. The second set of characteristics characterizes a person by socio-legal and psychophysical properties. This may include the gender and age of an individual, his biological health.

3. For the qualification of many crimes, the nature of the role of the tasks performed during the commission of crimes is of great importance. In this case, the classification of subjects is made by analyzing their participation in the entire socially dangerous process. Based on this, the following types of subjects are distinguished, for example: organizer, participant and leader.

It should be noted that the classification of subjects plays a big role not only for criminal law science, but also for the practical activities of law enforcement and judicial authorities. By clarifying the role and characteristics of a person, many legal issues can be resolved. For example, the responsibility of special subjects of crime.