According to sociological studies conducted annually in Russia, many citizens treat police officers with great distrust. There are undoubtedly quite objective reasons for such an attitude. The consequence of citizens' distrust of law enforcement officers is the so-called legal nihilism, in the ideals of which not a single generation of Russians is brought up. Nevertheless. let's figure out where to complain about police officers?
Today, the majority of our compatriots do not want to write a statement to the police if they have become the victim of a crime of minor severity that did not entail significant damage. This situation gives rise to a large percentage of latent crime. As a result, criminals feel impunity and continue their illegal activities.
Even fewer people try to protect their rights if they have become a victim of police brutality or inaction of police officers. However, Russian legislation has in its arsenal quite effective measures directed against violators in uniform, therefore, in order to be able to protect their legitimate interests if necessary, every citizen must know a clear algorithm of actions in such a situation.
For what reasons can I complain?
There can be many reasons, but the most common are the following:
- A police officer (precinct) acts unlawfully, violates the law, acts not in accordance with the regulations, exerts pressure;
- Law enforcement officers did not come when called,
- The employees accepted the statement that a crime had been committed, but were in no hurry to carry out verification activities;
- If a check on the application was carried out, but rather superficially and formally, and based on its results, the initiation of a criminal or administrative case was refused;
- If the police fail to act in other situations;
- If, after the initiation of a criminal case, police officers do not carry out the necessary investigative measures and rush to quickly close it and put it in the archives;
- Employees of internal authorities behave defiantly and not in accordance with the regulations.
In the above situations, it is highly undesirable to delay writing an appeal to the supervisory authorities, therefore measures must be taken without delay.
Responsibility
For committing actions that threaten a person’s life, a court decision is made against the guilty person indicating one of the following types of punishment:
- Imprisonment (up to 2 years).
- Arrest (up to 6 months).
- Mandatory work (up to 480 hours).
- Forced labor (up to 2 years).
If the subject of the unlawful act is a person under the age of majority, the sentence is reduced by half.
Punishment in the form of forced labor is also halved from the total term established by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. When committing a crime under Part 1 of Art. 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, with accompanying aggravating circumstances, the following liability arises:
- Forced labor. The maximum period for completing the work is 5 years. In this case, the court may establish a ban on engaging in certain activities or working in certain positions. The period of such a ban reaches three years.
- Deprivation of liberty. The sentence does not exceed 5 years. At the discretion of the court, the guilty person is also deprived of the right to carry out economic activities in certain industries or hold certain positions.
Aggravating circumstances include hostility against a citizen (social group) who is performing a public duty or official activity.
Bodies to which you can file a complaint against police officers
According to current Russian legislation, in the event of unlawful behavior, actions, or inactions of police officers, you can submit an appeal to the competent authorities.
Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation
The Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation - this state body is called upon to oversee compliance with the law, including compliance with the law in the activities of law enforcement agencies. Any prosecutorial check against employees of internal affairs bodies, in accordance with the law, within the established time frame. If, as a result of this inspection, the prosecutor reveals violations in the activities of the police, he can issue an order to eliminate them, and can also draw up a presentation addressed to the head of the police department, in which he indicates the need to bring the perpetrators to justice. The applicant is notified in writing of the results of the inspection.
Judicial authorities
Courts of the Russian Federation - according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, every citizen has the right to defend their legitimate interests in court, including if they were violated by government bodies or their officials. In court, the inactions or actions of police officers can be declared illegal. The corresponding application is submitted in accordance with the procedural procedure provided for by the Code of Administrative Proceedings.
Senior management
The head of the police department - he is the immediate supervisor, therefore he has the right to punish his subordinates in some cases. For example, you can write a complaint to him if the police officers subordinate to him allowed themselves to treat you incorrectly or rudely, and also used profanity when communicating with you. Based on the results of an internal audit, police officers who commit such offenses may be subject to disciplinary action.
Department of Internal Security
Department of Internal Security - you should write a complaint to this structural unit of the police if a police officer has committed a criminal act. Typically, this body receives complaints about corrupt police officers, concealment of evidence, or violent actions against suspects. Based on these facts, verification measures must be carried out, based on the results of which a decision may be made on the need to initiate criminal proceedings against the perpetrators.
Qualifying signs of a crime
In accordance with Part 2 of Art. 119 of the Criminal Code of Russia, the qualifying criteria include the commission of a crime based on political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or on motives of hatred or enmity in relation to any social group, as well as in relation to a person or his relatives in connection with the implementation of this a person performing official activities or performing a public duty
Forms of death threat:
- planning to commit illegal actions;
- expression of a threat to a person’s life at the time of violation of legal norms.
Threatening acts are committed through the use of third parties or specifically against the victim. A crime is committed at the moment the threat is expressed. The following types of threat are distinguished:
- Verbal . If this option is used, intentions are clearly formulated through telephone conversations, during a personal meeting, or by sending a recorded video message. The presence of a recording made during a telephone conversation, a saved SMS message, acts as evidence in court.
- Intimidation with a life-threatening third-party object. Demonstration of an object (for example, a knife) puts the victim in a state of fear for his own life.
- Threat using web resources.
In each case, the threat must be recorded and transferred to the judicial authorities for further proof of the position. Also, based on the presented materials, calculations and searches are carried out. The threat can be multiple or expressed once. When a threat is addressed to one person and is repeated repeatedly, systematically, implying the same intent, the actions of the perpetrator are qualified as a single violation of legal norms. Sending threats to several persons at once is considered a single crime if the intentions of the attacker are common to all victims. In other situations, a threat to several citizens at the same time is classified as a combination of crimes.
Distinctive features of a complaint against police officers
A complaint against police officers has the following characteristic features:
- It can be written by any person who believes that police officers have violated his rights and legitimate interests.
- An application or appeal to the court can be written handwritten or typewritten. To go to court, you must comply with the procedural order. You can't do without lawyers and attorneys.
- The application must necessarily indicate the passport details of the applicant, as well as the details of the authority where it is being submitted.
- The appeal shall indicate all relevant facts. They must be stated clearly and concisely.
In general, the law does not define a clear form for writing a complaint against police officers, so it is drawn up in free form, but with mandatory compliance with the above rules. Let me remind you that when going to court, you must follow the procedural order.
How to determine the reality of the threat
Human actions are qualified under Art. 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the presence of a real threat to life and fear for the implementation of the plan. The criminal's goal is to intimidate the victim. A threat expressed towards another person during a quarrel, general insults, or on emotions is not considered as an object of Art. 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The real threat is characterized by:
- specific form of expression;
- characteristics of the offender;
- nature of the threat;
- place and time of the incident;
- content of the threat;
- relationship between the parties.
The characteristics of the criminal include a previous criminal record, alcohol abuse, cruel acts, and violent acts. When determining a threat, the relationships that previously existed between the parties are taken into account.
During robbery, vehicle theft, and extortion, criminals use intimidation to take life. In accordance with paragraph 4 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court, if there was a real danger to the life of the victim, the actions of the violator of the law are additionally qualified under Art. 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
How to file a complaint against police officers and how it is considered
After you have written a complaint (an administrative claim to the court), you can send it to the appropriate authority in two traditional ways: in person or by mail . In addition, nowadays it is possible to file a complaint by e-mail (this option is not always provided for in court). In particular, if you visit the official website of any prosecutor’s office in your city, then pay attention to the fact that there is a so-called online reception. This electronic service was created specifically for filing various complaints. If you decide to use this service, be sure to provide an email address to which information about the measures taken in response to your request can be sent to you.
If you wish to file a complaint in person, this is usually done through the office of a particular authority. So, in the office of the prosecutor's office, when registering your complaint, a copy of it, which will be given to you, is marked with the date of its acceptance and the official who will deal with your case. You can check with him about his progress by phone or by making an appointment.
Based on the results of the inspection, an appropriate decision must be made, of which the author of the complaint must be notified. Such notice is usually sent in an envelope by mail or by email. In addition, you can indicate in the appeal that you want to pick up the answer to it personally. Then it can be obtained from the office of the relevant authority against signature. If the applicant is dissatisfied with the decision taken on the complaint, he has every right to appeal it to a higher authority or to court. Let me remind you once again that when going to court, it is necessary to comply with the procedural order.
Composition of the crime Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
The object of a crime is understood as the mental state of a person. The person influencing the object is the subject. It is characterized by the following features:
- at the time of committing illegal actions the person was 16 years old;
- sanity;
- Possession of legal capacity from birth.
When a subject intends to violate the law with the aim of causing harm to health, damaging property or robbing him, other penalties are applied to him and his actions are qualified according to other standards. The main attention is paid to the objective side, which is as follows:
- receipt by the victim of information about the intention on the part of the subject to cause grievous bodily harm;
- obtaining information about the subject’s intentions to commit murder.
If intent is established under Art. 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the method of expression of the threat is not taken into account. This could be phone calls, behavior, letters, SMS messages.
Actions in case of threats
When threats arise, first of all, victims need to protect themselves from possible illegal actions of the perpetrator - if the threat occurs without witnesses, they must immediately call the police and, if possible, move to a safe place.
After taking security measures, bringing the offender to justice occurs in the following order:
- Collecting evidence and filing a statement with the police.
- Conducting an inquiry and choosing a preventive measure.
- Pre-trial investigation.
- Conducting a trial, passing a verdict.
- Execution of sentences by bailiffs and correctional officers.
Voice recordings, screenshots of chats on social networks, as well as witness statements and data from the criminal’s arrest report are usually used as evidence of threats.
When filing a complaint with the police, it is important to indicate the circumstances of the threats, describe their possible motives and nature in as much detail as possible - regular or one-time, episodic. The text must also indicate:
- Full name, passport details of the applicant;
- Full name and any known information about the violator;
- date and time of the threat;
- content of the threat;
- list of available evidence;
- accompanying actions of the offender.
An example application for review and download is available here.
At the investigation stage, it is important to establish whether the offender has real intentions to commit murder, or whether the threats are made for other (selfish) purposes. If the fact of receiving threats is proven, the violator may be arrested during the investigation, and if necessary, a psychiatric examination is carried out. Arrest is mandatory as a preventive measure if the threat was accompanied by other illegal actions - beating, holding captive, etc.
A criminal case may be terminated at the stage of pre-trial investigation in the following cases:
- when reconciling the victim and the offender;
- if the offender does not have an outstanding conviction for a similar crime;
- with full compensation for the harm caused to the victim.
The decision to terminate the case or transfer it to court is made by employees of the prosecutor's office, taking into account the circumstances of the case.
A threat to kill a violator in a state of alcoholic or other intoxication, as well as one made against obviously helpless persons - pregnant women, children, disabled people - is an aggravating circumstance and is suppressed by arrest; in such cases, a real or suspended prison sentence is imposed.
Cases of threats are heard in magistrates' courts of general jurisdiction. The initiation of the process occurs on the basis of a statement of claim by employees of the prosecutor's office or victims - if it is necessary to recover monetary compensation.
Judicial practice shows that admitting guilt and cooperation with the investigation can help avoid imprisonment if the offender can prove the absence of real intentions to harm the victim or voicing a threat in a state of passion.
