ST 35 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
1. A crime is recognized as committed by a group of persons if two or more perpetrators jointly participated in its commission without prior agreement.
2. A crime is recognized as committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy if it involved persons who had agreed in advance to jointly commit a crime.
3. A crime is recognized as committed by an organized group if it is committed by a stable group of persons who have united in advance to commit one or more crimes.
4. A crime is recognized as committed by a criminal community (criminal organization) if it is committed by a structured organized group or a union of organized groups operating under a single leadership, whose members are united for the purpose of jointly committing one or more grave or especially grave crimes in order to obtain directly or indirectly financial or other material benefits.
5. A person who created an organized group or criminal community (criminal organization) or led them is subject to criminal liability for their organization and management in cases provided for in Articles 205.4, 208, 209, 210 and 282.1 of this Code, as well as for all acts committed by the organized group or criminal community (criminal organization) of a crime, if they were covered by its intent. Other participants in an organized group or criminal community (criminal organization) bear criminal liability for participation in them in cases provided for in Articles 205.4, 208, 209, 210 and 282.1 of this Code, as well as for crimes in the preparation or commission of which they participated.
6. The creation of an organized group in cases not provided for in the articles of the Special Part of this Code entails criminal liability for preparation for the crimes for which it was created.
7. The commission of a crime by a group of persons, a group of persons by prior conspiracy, an organized group or a criminal community (criminal organization) entails a more severe punishment on the basis and within the limits provided for by this Code.
Commentary to Art. 35 Criminal Code
1. A crime is recognized as committed by a group of persons if two or more perpetrators jointly participated in its commission without prior agreement. This differs from all other forms of complicity in the absence of prior agreement, i.e. spontaneity, the suddenness of the emergence and implementation of intent to commit a crime. A mandatory feature of this group is the presence of two or more co-executors; aiding and abetting a single perpetrator in the commission of a crime (incitement to commit it) does not constitute this form of complicity.
2. A crime is recognized as committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy if it involved persons who had agreed in advance to jointly commit a crime. A preliminary conspiracy to commit a crime presupposes an agreement expressed in any form (written, oral, conclusive) that took place before the actual execution of the objective side of the crime.
In judicial practice, it is considered that the constitutive feature of a group of persons in a preliminary conspiracy is the presence of two or more co-principals.
3. In relation to the types of groups considered, the rule of group execution of a crime should be noted. In this case, we mean the joint execution of the objective side of a crime by several persons, of whom only one (“fit” subject) is capable of bearing criminal liability, and the rest are not subject to it due to not reaching the age at which criminal liability begins, insanity, or any other other reasons. In such a situation, the actions of a “suitable” subject if the article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code provides for liability for the commission of a crime by a group of persons or a group of persons by prior conspiracy (for example, clause “g”, part 2 of article 105, clause “b”, part 2 Article 131, Part 2 Article 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), must be qualified with this qualifying attribute imputed to him, despite the fact that the rest of the group members are not held criminally liable.
4. According to Article 35 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a distinctive feature of an organized group is stability. Stability can be evidenced by such signs as the stability of the group, the close relationship between its members, the coordination of actions and their planning, the presence of recognized leadership, the constancy of the forms and methods of criminal activity, technical equipment, the duration of the group’s existence, the number of crimes it has committed, etc. (Clause 4 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of January 17, 1997 No. 1 “On the practice of application by courts of legislation on liability for banditry”). At the same time, the law does not exclude the creation of an organized group of only two persons and for the commission of one crime, but requiring careful preparation.
5. Criminal community (criminal organization) due to established judicial practice (Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated June 10, 2010 No. 12 “On judicial practice in considering criminal cases on the organization of a criminal community (criminal organization) or participation in it (it)" ) are characterized by three distinctive features: a) structuredness; b) organization, i.e. a clear distribution of functions between accomplices, careful planning of criminal activities, the presence of strict internal discipline; c) the purpose of the creation is to commit grave and especially grave crimes to obtain directly or indirectly financial or other material benefits.
6. Persons who created an organized group or criminal community (criminal organization) or led them are subject to criminal liability for their organization and management in cases provided for by criminal law (Part 1 of Article 205.4, Part 1 of Article 208, Part. 1 Article 209, Part 1 Article 210, Part 1 Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code), as well as for all crimes committed by an organized group or criminal community (criminal organization), if they were covered by their intent. Moreover, such crimes are committed without the direct participation of the organizer as either a co-perpetrator, or a leader in their commission on the spot, and in order to be held accountable, the organizer must know before committing the crime what crime will be committed, at least in general terms.
Other participants in an organized group or criminal community (criminal organization) bear criminal liability for participation in them in cases provided for by criminal law (part 2 of article 205.4, part 2 of article 208, part 2 of article 209, part 2 of article 210, part 2 of article 282.1 of the Criminal Code), and only for those crimes in the preparation or commission of which they participated.
Structure of a criminal organization
A criminal society must be organized in a certain way; it has an appropriate structure. This includes certain units that may be part of the group.
They are limited by functional and territorial criteria and must include at least two people.
One such organized link usually contains a leader and other citizens involved in complicity.
Attention ! They are united by a common goal and their own methods of performing certain functions.
Typically, criminal organizations have leaders
Second commentary to Art. 35 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
1. According to the law, there are four forms of complicity: a group of persons, a group of persons by prior conspiracy, an organized group and a criminal community (criminal organization).
2. A group of persons is characterized by the presence of two or more perpetrators (co-perpetrators) who deliberately participate in the joint commission of an intentional crime. This form of complicity occurs when a joint criminal activity suddenly arises or when one person joins the criminal activity of another that has already begun.
3. A group of persons in a preliminary conspiracy differs from the previous form of complicity in the presence of a preliminary conspiracy. Such a conspiracy must be concluded before the execution of the objective side of the joint crime in any possible form, for example, oral, written, implied.
4. An organized group is a stable group of persons by prior conspiracy. The stability of a group can be evidenced by such signs as the stability of its composition, the close relationship between its members, the consistency of their actions, the constancy of the forms and methods of criminal activity, the duration of its existence and the number of crimes committed. An organized group can also be created to commit one crime, but one that requires careful preparation (resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated January 17, 1997 No. 1 “On the practice of application by courts of legislation on liability for banditry”).
5. A criminal community or criminal organization is a structured organized group or association of organized groups operating under a single leadership, whose members are united for the purpose of jointly committing one or more serious or especially serious crimes in order to obtain directly or indirectly financial or other material benefits.
The structure of a criminal community, in addition to a single leadership, presupposes the presence of functional or territorial divisions (subgroups, units, etc.), characterized by stability of composition and coordination of their actions.
The association of organized groups presupposes the presence of a single leadership and stable connections between independently operating organized groups, joint planning and participation in the commission of crimes, as well as the joint implementation of other actions related to the functioning of such an association (Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated June 10, 2010 No. 12 “On judicial practice of considering criminal cases on the organization of a criminal community (criminal organization) or participation in it (it)”).
Receiving financial or other material benefit is understood as the unlawful circulation in favor of members of a criminal community or other persons of funds, other property, property rights, etc., directly as a result of committing a crime (for example, fraud committed by an organized group) or indirectly, using the conditions prevailing as a result of committing a crime (for example, involvement in prostitution committed by an organized group).
6. The creation of an organized group or criminal community or the leadership of them is qualified as an independent crime in cases provided for in Articles 205.4, 208, 209, 210 and 282.1. In such cases, the functional organizer is responsible as a performer not only for the creation or management of an organized group or criminal community, but also for all crimes committed by their members, if they were covered by his intent.
A few words about criminal gangs
Such criminal groups are legally divided into two categories.
| View | Description |
| Strictly structured, with corresponding departments and divisions | Typically, they are characterized by either committing independent criminal acts or functional support of larger criminal associations. |
| A grouping of citizens united in a certain way, under strict guidance and in compliance with certain planned algorithms | As a rule, such groups are involved in committing crimes of a particularly serious nature. |
As a rule, groups are involved in particularly serious crimes.
Russian criminal groups
A criminal group or community is, unfortunately, an integral episode in the life of all countries of the world. Modern Russia today hosts a large number of huge criminal groups.
All of them can be divided into the following categories.
- Those involved in connections and supporting intergroup relations of a criminal nature.
- Organizations working to communicate between gangsters and organized groups. The tasks of such organizations include information support for groups, work with the law enforcement system, and provision of one kind of assistance to the perpetrators.
One of the largest criminal groups is the mafia.
Attention ! You can give the most striking and well-known example of a large criminal organized group, both in the world and directly in Russia - this is the mafia. And it can include other units and groups of a criminal nature.
International criminal organizations
It also happens that criminal actions spread wider, going beyond the borders of one state - then it comes to creating a criminal group of an international nature.
In this case, we are talking about so-called transnational crime. Such groups, especially the largest ones, are considered particularly dangerous due to the presence of an extremely powerful organizational system.
There are also criminal groups of an international nature
As an example, let's look at the phenomenon of the Italian mafia. Its structure and organization is very complex. For example, we can highlight separately the most brutal group “Cosa Nostra” from Sicily. The Italian mafia is involved in drug trafficking, supports large businessmen and even has a certain influence on politics in the country.
Attention ! But the Chinese mafiosi are primarily involved in supervising prostitution; their area of interest also includes gambling and drugs. These criminals are distinguished by the fact that their activities do not extend beyond the borders of China.
Of course, everyone has heard about the Japanese mafia group “Yakuza”. This is the largest criminal group in the country. Her areas of interest are the transportation of drugs to other continents, corruption, as well as illegal actions in business. They are also charged with prostitution, human trafficking and much more.
Criminal gangs may be involved in drugs, prostitution
The actions of the mafia from Colombia are also known throughout the world: they openly carry out sabotage against the government of the country, and are widely involved in drug trafficking both in their country and around the world.
About the participants of the criminal organization
In order for a group to be a criminal community, at least several of its members are required, which can include:
- directly the organizer of the group;
- leading members of society;
- instigators to commit criminal acts;
- accomplices and accomplices;
- perpetrators of crimes.
The organizer of the group is usually busy developing the conditions for carrying out an action of a criminal nature. He plans, selects the necessary methods, fixes the place, time, etc.
Usually the group organizer is involved in planning the crime
Managers typically deal with the physical components of crime.
The activities of an instigator include inducing other citizens to commit crimes.
Attention ! This is often done through various persuasion, blackmail, threats or bribery.
The perpetrators bear all the responsibilities for carrying out the criminal act itself. They are brought to criminal punishment.
As for accomplices, they usually perform actions that assist in the commission of an illegal act (if they have personal knowledge of the events), as well as concealing actions, intentions and results after everything has already been committed.
Accomplices help commit crimes
