Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Hooliganism”: what punishment faces

Hooliganism, or a gross violation of public order, expressing obvious disrespect for society, is a crime that occurs quite often in Russia. So, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, in 2021, more than 2 thousand such crimes were registered in our country, and more than half of them remained unsolved. It is noteworthy that criminal liability for hooliganism in its current criminal legal understanding has existed for more than 90 years, although the composition of this crime and the sanctions for it, of course, have undergone changes many times, and the term itself goes back to the times of Russian Pravda.

Let's consider the composition of simple hooliganism under Part 1 of Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (that is, an act that does not contain aggravating circumstances):

Objective side: a gross violation of public order, demonstrating obvious disrespect for society (the culprit violates generally accepted norms and rules of behavior, wanting to oppose himself to society, to demonstrate his negative attitude towards it). To qualify the actions of the perpetrator as hooliganism, the law requires the presence of the necessary characteristics: the person must use weapons (objects as weapons), or must be guided by motives of intolerance towards a particular social group, or the act must be committed on public transport.

In the absence of at least one of the three above-mentioned qualifying signs, if hooligan actions involve obscene language or destruction or damage to property, the actions of the person who committed such actions fall under the signs of petty hooliganism in accordance with Art. 20.1 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Object: public order, normal functioning of public institutions.
Subjective side: direct intent, hooligan motive.
Subject: a sane person who has reached the age of 16.

The article “Hooliganism” also has qualified clauses. So, aggravating features are:

commission of an act by a group of entities (organized group of individuals);
resisting a government official trying to stop a violation;
the perpetrator's use of explosives or devices.

Corpus delicti

To qualify an act, it is necessary to establish the presence of four mandatory elements.

An object

This is what the action is aimed at, that is, social order, its stability and guarantees.

Subject

This is the one who committed the crime, that is, a person with three characteristics:

age from 16 years;
capacity;
sanity.

Important! Hooliganism while intoxicated does not exclude prosecution - it is an aggravating circumstance.

Objective side

This is a characteristic of the act. The article identifies three types of it:

hooliganism in which a weapon, such as a pistol, is used;
actions caused by political or religious hostility, for example, the desire to destroy representatives of a certain nation;
hooliganism committed on a public vehicle, for example, on an airplane.

Subjective side

This is the attitude of a person towards his action. It is expressed in the form of intent, that is, a person understands the illegality of his actions and continues to commit them.

Let's talk about hooliganism. Part 2. Legal regulation

In the previous article “Let's talk about hooliganism. Part 1. History” we made a brief excursion into the history of the emergence of hooliganism as a crime in Russian legislation. Let's now determine the main introductory legal regulation of hooliganism in the current legislation, and in the next article we will move on to covering hooliganism itself as a crime under Art. 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Let's consider what the current law offers us regarding the regulation of criminal hooliganism.

The main legal acts of Russia regulating the issues of qualifying actions as hooliganism are today:

1. Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Article 213 and other articles);

2. Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia dated November 15, 2007 “On judicial practice in criminal cases of hooliganism and other crimes committed out of hooligan motives”;

3. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

Hooliganism in Russia is divided into two types: 1) hooliganism as a crime; 2) petty hooliganism as an administrative offense.

In addition, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in addition to hooliganism as a crime under Art. 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains a number of independent elements of crimes committed out of hooligan motives.

All articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provide for hooligan motives as a sign of a crime, are divided into three groups:

1. Articles in which hooligan motives are a mandatory element of a crime, namely: Art. 116 “Beatings”, Art. 207 parts 1 and 2 “Knowingly false report of an act of terrorism”, Art. 215.2 “Making life support facilities unusable”, Art. 215.3 parts 3-5 “Unauthorized connection to oil pipelines, oil product pipelines and gas pipelines or rendering them unusable”, Art. 245 “Cruelty to animals”, Art. 267.1 “Actions that threaten the safe operation of vehicles.”

2. Articles in which hooligan motives are a qualifying feature entailing more stringent criminal liability, namely: Art. 105 h. 2 p. “i” “Murder”, art. 111 part 2 p. “d” “Intentional infliction of grievous harm to health”, Art. 112 part 2 p. “d” “Intentional infliction of moderate harm to health”, Art. 115 part 2 paragraph “a” “Intentional infliction of slight harm to health”, Art. 167 part 2 “Intentional destruction or damage to someone else’s property.” When bringing the perpetrator to criminal liability under the specified articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, if these actions were committed in the process of hooliganism, his actions are subject to qualification under the totality of crimes provided for in the relevant article and Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, since the use of violence and causing harm to human health are not covered by the criteria elements of hooliganism (see paragraph 11 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia No. 45 of November 15, 2007). At the same time, the qualification of a crime as committed out of hooligan motives does not mean that the actions of the perpetrator are automatically subject to classification in the aggregate as hooliganism.

3. Articles in which hooligan motives are not a sign of a crime provided for by the disposition of the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but are present as an accompanying sign that does not affect qualifications, namely: Art. 214 “Vandalism”, Art. 243 “Destruction or damage to cultural heritage sites (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of the Russian Federation included in the unified state register of cultural heritage sites (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of the Russian Federation, identified cultural heritage sites, natural complexes, objects taken under state protection , or cultural property”, Art. 243.4 “Destruction or damage to military graves, as well as monuments, steles, obelisks, other memorial structures or objects perpetuating the memory of those who died defending the Fatherland or its interests or dedicated to the days of military glory of Russia,” Art. 244 “Desecration of the bodies of the dead and their burial places.”

In this group of articles, hooligan motives are not at all specified in the corresponding article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, however, these elements are essentially special norms in relation to Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: they, like hooliganism, violate public order, express clear disrespect for society, but unlike hooliganism in them, the attacker’s goal is to destroy or damage property, and gross violation of public order is not covered by the direct intent of the attacker, acting as an accompanying object of criminal attacks. When committing crimes provided for by articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation from the group we have designated, the acts must be qualified precisely under the relevant article; additional qualification of criminal acts under Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is necessary only in the case when the attacker also commits hooliganism, for example, when committing vandalism and hooliganism, the actions of the perpetrator are subject to qualification for the totality of crimes provided for in Article 214 and Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The definition of hooligan motives is contained in paragraph 12 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia, according to which “criminal acts committed out of hooligan motives should be understood as intentional actions directed against the person or his property, which were committed without any reason or using minor reason." As a determining factor in qualifying motives as hooliganism when the perpetrator commits violent acts during a quarrel or fight, the Supreme Court of Russia proposes to find out who initiated the conflict, whether the conflict was provoked to use it as a reason to commit illegal actions. “If the instigator of a quarrel or fight is the victim, as well as in the case where the conflict was caused by his illegal behavior, the person is not subject to liability for committing a crime against such victim out of hooligan motives.”

With respect to you, lawyer of the Kurgan City Bar Association “Paritet” V.N. Vagin

Responsibility

The article provides for five types of punishment:

fine up to 500,000 rubles,
forced, compulsory or correctional labor,
imprisonment - up to five years.

When hooliganism is committed by a group of people or when disobeying authority, the degree of punishment is increased:

fine - up to 1,000,000 rubles;
forced labor;
imprisonment - up to seven years.

The use of explosives or explosive devices only entails imprisonment for up to eight years.

When bankruptcy will not free a citizen from debts

Lawyer and head of the “Arbitration Dispute Resolution” department, Evgeniy Sokolov, has prepared useful material in which he explained in which cases Russians should not count on relief from debts as a result of bankruptcy.

One of the consequences of completing the bankruptcy procedure for an individual is the release of such a citizen from fulfilling obligations after the sale of his property and the distribution of the proceeds among creditors.

At the same time, based on the general rule about the inadmissibility of benefiting from dishonest behavior, a citizen-debtor who acted unlawfully during a bankruptcy case or before the initiation of a bankruptcy case is not subject to relief from debts.

The legislator has provided a mechanism for releasing a citizen declared bankrupt from obligations. One of the elements is the conscientiousness of the citizen’s behavior in order to prevent abuses in the release of debts as a result of bankruptcy.

These rules are aimed at preventing the debtor from concealing any circumstances that may adversely affect the ability to fully satisfy the claims of creditors, complicate the court's resolution of issues arising during the consideration of a bankruptcy case, or otherwise impede the consideration of the case.

This achieves a balance between the social rehabilitation goal of consumer bankruptcy and the need to protect the rights of creditors (decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated January 23, 2017 No. 304-ES16-14541).

Now we will briefly examine the main cases in which a citizen will not be released from debt.

Circumstances related to the debtor’s dishonest behavior

By a judicial act that has entered into legal force, a citizen is brought to criminal or administrative liability for unlawful actions in bankruptcy, deliberate or fictitious bankruptcy, provided that such offenses were committed in this citizen’s bankruptcy case ((Clause 4 of Article 213.28 of the Federal Law “On Insolvency (Bankruptcy) )").

For example, the debtor was brought to justice by the court under Part 2 of Article 14.12 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation or Art. 196 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for deliberate bankruptcy.

The citizen did not provide the necessary information or provided deliberately false information to the financial manager or the arbitration court considering the citizen’s bankruptcy case, and this circumstance was established by the relevant judicial act adopted when considering the citizen’s bankruptcy case (clause 4 of Article 213.28 of the Federal Law “On Insolvency (Bankruptcy) )").

For example, the debtor avoided transferring to the financial manager all the bank cards he had, information about the composition of his property, the location of this property, the composition of his obligations, creditors and other information relevant to the case.

It has been proven that when an obligation arose or was fulfilled, on which a bankruptcy creditor or an authorized body based its claim in a bankruptcy case of a citizen, the latter acted illegally. Including committing fraud, maliciously evading repayment of accounts payable, evading paying taxes and (or) fees from an individual, providing knowingly false information to the creditor when receiving a loan, hiding or deliberately destroying property (clause 4 of article 213.28 of the Federal Law "On insolvency (bankruptcy)").

Example 1. The debtor assumed obviously unfulfillable obligations, maliciously avoided paying off accounts payable, in particular, entered into credit agreements (loan agreements), the obligations under which he was obviously unable to fulfill due to insufficient income.

Example 2. The debtor made transactions aimed at causing harm to the property rights of creditors, in particular, the alienation of his property free of charge to third parties on the eve of his bankruptcy.

To establish the above circumstances, the appointment (conducting) of a separate court hearing is not required. These circumstances can be established by the court at any stage of the debtor's bankruptcy case in any judicial act, during the adoption of which these circumstances were examined by the court and were reflected in its reasoning (for example, in a ruling on the completion of debt restructuring or the sale of the debtor's property).

If the arbitration court establishes one of the circumstances described above, the determination on the completion of the sale of the citizen’s property indicates the non-application of the rule on exemption from fulfillment of obligations in relation to the citizen.

These circumstances can be established by the court even after a ruling has been made to complete the bankruptcy procedure of a citizen. In this case, at the request of a bankruptcy creditor, an authorized body or a financial manager, the court issues a ruling not to apply the rule on exemption from fulfillment of obligations in relation to the citizen, if these circumstances were not and could not have been known to the applicant on the date the arbitration court issued a ruling on the completion of debt restructuring a citizen or the sale of a citizen’s property.

Such an application can be filed by the indicated persons in the manner and within the time limits provided for in Article 312 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (revision of judicial acts based on new and newly discovered circumstances). All persons participating in the bankruptcy case and other interested parties are notified of the time and place of the court hearing.

Other circumstances entailing non-exemption of a citizen from debts

In case of repeated recognition of a citizen as bankrupt (within 5 years from the date of recognition of the citizen as bankrupt in a previous case) at the request of a bankruptcy creditor or an authorized body during a newly initiated bankruptcy case of a citizen (Clause 2 of Article 213.30 of the Federal Law “On Insolvency (Bankruptcy)” ).

For example, a citizen was declared bankrupt and released from fulfilling his obligations, about which a judicial act was issued in 2021. At the same time, in 2021, at the request of his creditor, another bankruptcy case was initiated for new debts. Upon completion of this next case, the citizen will not be released from fulfilling his obligations.

In addition, the release of a citizen from obligations does not apply to claims of creditors about the existence of which the creditors did not know and should not have known at the time the determination was made to complete the sale of the citizen’s property (paragraph 2 of paragraph 3 of Article 213.28 of the Federal Law “On Insolvency (Bankruptcy)”).

A citizen-debtor is not exempt from claims of creditors for current payments, as well as claims for compensation for harm caused to life or health, for payment of wages and severance pay, for compensation for moral damage, for the collection of alimony, as well as other claims inextricably linked with the identity of the creditor, including claims not stated when introducing the restructuring of a citizen’s debts or the sale of a citizen’s property (clause 5 of Article 213.28 of the Federal Law “On Insolvency (Bankruptcy)”).

Such demands remain in force and can be presented after the end of the bankruptcy proceedings of a citizen in the outstanding part of them.

Latest changes to Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

This article, which regulates criminal punishment for hooliganism, was amended in 2021. Legislators added hooliganism in public transport - airplane, train, water transport, bus - to consideration as a criminal offense. Such an addition to the article became an absolute necessity as a result of the cases of inappropriate and aggressive behavior of passengers that have become commonplace. Responsibility for hooliganism under Article 213 in accordance with Russian legislation begins when the offender reaches the age of sixteen, but in cases where the act falls under part 2 or 3, the age of punishment can be reduced to 14 years.

Preventive actions

Considering the fact that hooliganism carries with it an almost unjustified surge of aggression, in order to prevent such actions, it is advisable for society to pay more attention to preventive measures to prevent this type of crime leading to criminal liability. To do this, we need to clearly identify the reasons that lead to inappropriate behavior in the form of hooliganism and try to exclude them from the life of our society. The reasons contributing to the increase in hooliganism statistics are:

low level of education and culture as a result of poor upbringing;
easy access to alcohol, the use of which in itself often leads to inappropriate behavior in society;
inability to spend quality leisure time and an uncontrollable desire for thrills;
feeling of impunity.

The rampant hooliganism occurs in a society that pays little attention to the education of the younger generation. Low income levels also have a huge impact, which is why full-fledged leisure is often unavailable. Given these factors, society must understand that the main responsibility for the hooligan behavior of its members lies with it, and everything possible must be done to reduce the number of people prone to hooliganism, be it petty or malicious.