Criminal legal characteristics of robbery

Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the latest edition:

Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Robbery

1. Robbery, that is, open theft of someone else’s property, -

shall be punishable by compulsory labor for a term of up to four hundred eighty hours, or correctional labor for a term of up to two years, or restriction of freedom for a term of two to four years, or forced labor for a term of up to four years, or arrest for a term of up to six months, or imprisonment for up to four years.

2. Robbery committed:

a) by a group of persons by prior conspiracy;

b) has become invalid. — Federal Law of December 8, 2003 N 162-FZ;

c) with illegal entry into a home, premises or other storage;

d) using violence that is not dangerous to life or health, or with the threat of using such violence;

d) on a large scale, -

shall be punishable by forced labor for a term of up to five years, or by imprisonment for a term of up to seven years, with a fine in the amount of up to ten thousand rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to one month, or without it, and with restriction of freedom for a term of up to one year. or without it.

3. Robbery committed:

a) an organized group;

b) on an especially large scale, -

c) has become invalid. — Federal Law of December 8, 2003 N 162-FZ

shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of six to twelve years with or without a fine in the amount of up to one million rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to five years and with or without restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years.

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The concept of robbery in the Criminal Code

Note 1
Robbery is the open theft of someone else's property (Part 1 of Article 161 of the Criminal Code). A characteristic feature of robbery is the open taking of someone else's property. The criterion for determining an open nature is the subjective perception of the method of crime by the perpetrator and the victim themselves. Theft, in contrast to robbery, is the secret non-violent seizure of property with its use for one's own benefit or for the benefit of third parties.

Open actions aimed at taking possession of property for the purpose of its destruction or for its temporary use, or in connection with an alleged or actual right to this property, or committed out of hooligan motives do not constitute robbery.

Robbery includes the taking of property both in the presence of victims (legal owners or possessors), under the protection or control of which it is located, and of unauthorized persons. The specific object of robbery is property relations. The owner has the rights of ownership, disposal, and use of property (Part 1 of Article 209 of the Civil Code). When a robbery is committed, the owner's rights to own and use the stolen property are violated.

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The direct object of robbery is the right of ownership of a specific person to certain property. The subject of robbery is things in civil circulation (property, securities, money). Items that cannot be stolen openly are not items of robbery.

The objective side of robbery is expressed in the open gratuitous seizure of someone else's property in favor of the thief or other persons who caused damage to the owner (owner of the property). It does not matter: when the taking of property began to be open in nature (initially, as a result of the escalation of theft, which began as theft and grew into open theft); Whether or not during the theft there was actual resistance to the seizure of property from any side. Open theft, committed with illegal entry into a premises, home, or storage facility, is the basis for recognizing robbery as a qualified type.

Robbery is a material element of the crime. It is considered completed from the moment when the perpetrator has seized the property and acquired a real opportunity to dispose or use it at his own discretion.

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Forensic characteristics of robberies and robberies

Robberies and robbery are one of the most dangerous forms of theft. In criminal law terms, robberies and assaults are independent types of crimes. Robbery is the open theft of someone else's property (Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation); robbery - an attack for the purpose of stealing someone else's property, committed with the use of violence dangerous to life or health, or with the threat of such violence (Article 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Robbery is distinguished from robbery by an aggravating circumstance such as the use of weapons or objects used as weapons during the robbery.

Robberies and robberies are crimes against property and pose a significant social danger, since they entail not only material damage to the victims, but are also often associated with attacks on their life and health. Robberies and assaults combine such qualifications as an open method of stealing property, the use of violence or threats of violence, illegal entry into a home, premises or other storage facility, the commission of a crime by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, etc. The coincidence of most structural elements in criminal law provides an opportunity to combine robberies and assaults in the forensic aspect and develop a unified investigation methodology.

The forensic characteristics of robberies and robberies are made up of the following elements: the setting of the crime (place, time), the objects of the criminal offense, methods of committing and concealing crimes, the mechanism of trace formation, the instruments of the crime, characteristics of the personality of the criminals and victims, etc. The unity of the subject of the criminal offense, the similarity of the methods of committing robberies and robberies, factors such as attacks, the same type of situations, initial investigative actions and operational search activities determine the commonality of the methodology for their investigation. This is due, first of all, to the similarity and sometimes coincidence of most of the structural elements that make up their forensic characteristics.

The situation in which a crime was committed is characterized by such elements as place and time.

Typical places of robberies and assaults are:

attacks in open areas, including on the streets, in the yard, using the factor of surprise (yanking hats, bags, removing outer clothing);
attacks involving entry into a home, including under a plausible pretext;
attacks on government and public institutions (shops, banks, cash desks, cash collectors);
attacks on offices, warehouses, offices of manufacturing, trading, purchasing enterprises, etc.;
attacks in city and railway transport, at train stations and airports;
Particular attention should be paid to attacks on the roads, including intercity traffic: against truck drivers, as well as taxi drivers.

Often, criminals choose places that are sparsely populated, poorly lit, and remote from housing. But they can commit robberies and robbery in front of a large crowd of people, using the surprise of the attack and the ability to easily hide in the crowd.

In terms of time, street robberies and assaults mainly occur in the evening and at night. Attacks on apartments or businesses occur equally during the day or at night. Robbery attacks and robberies against employees of savings banks, banks, and collectors are carried out mainly during the day during working hours.

The subject of criminal encroachment during robberies and robberies is someone else's property (property or money) and human health. The property subject to encroachment is:

cash, foreign currency, securities; payment bank cards;
jewelry, jewelry; antiques (paintings, icons, etc.);
collections, coins, stamps, medals, etc.;
items of clothing, shoes;
video equipment, computers and other electronics;
household items, sometimes food;
vehicles;
large consignments of goods (electronics, clothing, food, medicines).

The methods of committing the crimes in question are distinguished by significant audacity, and in robberies they are often associated with the infliction of grievous bodily harm and even murder of the victims. An important element in the method of committing some robberies and many robberies is their careful preparation.

Preparatory actions include:

selection of accomplices, distribution of roles between members of the criminal group;
preparation of weapons or items that replace them, acquisition of special means that criminals intend to use to suppress the victim’s resistance;
preparation of vehicles necessary for movement to the target of attack, rapid removal from the scene of the incident, transportation of stolen property;
thinking over an alibi for accomplices;
choosing the time of the crime and the safest escape routes;
preparation of means of camouflaging appearance;
studying the target of the attack: determining the presence of valuables, places of their storage, the lifestyle of the victim and his family members, the operating hours of a legal entity, security conditions;
determination of places of storage and sale of stolen property, selection of persons who will be involved in its sale.

In open areas, criminals most often act in groups, waiting for someone in advance on dimly lit streets, vacant lots, parks, etc. When they meet a victim, criminals stop or catch up and surround her, and then, threatening violence or causing harm to health, they take money and things and hide. Robbery or robbery, as a rule, occurs in the dark, in secluded places and is a short-term moment. Victims are not always able to see and remember the signs of the criminals. In addition, the latter often take measures to change their appearance (pull a hat low on the forehead, put on dark glasses, cover part of the face, etc.). Therefore, in cases of this category, it is rarely possible to identify witnesses who could provide details of the event.

One of the methods of robbery and robbery is that criminals, taking advantage of the victim’s drunken state, offer to take him home, take him to a remote place and take away valuables there, and sometimes, taking advantage of the fact that the victim cannot resist, the criminals do not hide their actions commit theft. In other cases, criminals, having noticed a valuable item or a large sum of money on someone, get acquainted with the victim, specially drug him or drug him with potent drugs and take away the property. If contact with the victim fails, then they follow him and attack him in a suitable place and take away his money and valuables.

Methods of entering a residential premises can be divided into two main groups: secret entry of criminals into a home, accompanied by overcoming a barrier (by breaking into the front door and its locking devices, exposing or squeezing out glass, destroying other structural elements of buildings) or without breaking into - using a master key, the key to the front door, stolen in advance from the victim or left by him in an accessible place, as well as through shafts, ventilation ducts and open entrance doors, balconies, windows. The second group includes methods of criminals entering an apartment under a fictitious or plausible pretext for the residents or through a trusting relationship established with the victim shortly before the attack. Criminals enter apartments under the guise of employees of the police, public utilities, post office, social security, etc.

Attacks are being prepared with special care against employees of savings banks, banks, cash collectors, and employees of various commercial and trading enterprises. To do this, criminals study the operating hours of the institution, the route of movement of employees, security conditions, etc.

In road transport, taxi drivers are most often attacked. Criminals get into the car, threaten or commit violence, take the driver's proceeds and escape. Committing robberies against drivers in order to take possession of a car, criminals, threatening with weapons, force the driver to leave the vehicle, after which they hide in it. Such crimes are common in big cities. Attacks in the vestibules of railway cars are carried out before the train stops; the criminals make threats, take the stolen goods, quickly get out and hide.

Typical methods of committing robberies and assaults are:

an attack in an open area carried out using the factor of surprise without the use of violence “dash”;
attack on citizens in residential premises with penetration under any pretext or by force;
taking possession of property by introducing potent drugs into the victim’s body;
attack on citizens in rolling stock of railway, water or other transport;
attack on car drivers with the aim of taking possession of a car, stealing money, valuable cargo;
attack on employees of government or other organizations on the premises of these institutions.

Criminals use various methods to conceal a crime.

When committing a crime, these may be:

Disguise (putting stockings, masks on the head, using makeup, sunglasses, etc.).
Misinformation of victims (reporting fictitious names, nicknames, using police uniforms, bright clothes; leaving false traces).
Quickly leaving the scene of an incident using vehicles.

After committing a crime:

destruction of traces;
creating a false alibi;
leaving the populated area;
concealment of weapons, stolen goods, and camouflage items;
counteracting the investigation (persuasion, threats, bribery of witnesses and victims; refusal to testify, giving knowingly false testimony, etc.).

The mechanism of trace formation during the commission of robberies and robberies is expressed in the presence of the following traces:

there are signs of a struggle at the scene of the crime; traces of fingers and palms of hands, shoes; microparticles. The most likely places where such traces can be found are those objects that the criminals touched in the presence of the victim: door handles, electrical switches, walls and glass of cabinets, tables, chairs, the floor surface near the front door and other objects with a smooth surface. Microparticles can most often be found on sofas, chairs, and armchairs indoors; on the interior decorative trim of doors, roofs, side panels, floor elements, seats, as well as on seat belts and sun visors in a car;
ropes, wires, tape and similar items that were used by criminals to bind victims;
objects that carry odor information about criminals: things left by the criminal at the crime scene; places where criminals stayed for a long time - armchairs, sofas, car seats, etc.;
edged weapons, firearms and traces of their use, objects used as weapons;
on the escape routes of criminals there are traces of fingers and shoes; traces of vehicles, etc.

The weapons used in this type of crime are knives, other bladed weapons, nooses, household items (axes, crowbars, bats, dummy firearms). Recently, firearms (pistols, machine guns), gas weapons, and electric shocks have often been used. There have been cases of the use of psychotropic drugs (clonidine, sleeping pills, etc.) with the help of which the victim is rendered helpless and property is stolen.

The category of victims most often includes elderly people, women, teenagers, and people who are drunk, i.e. that group of the population that cannot provide active resistance to criminals. The second group of victims consists of representatives of wealthy sections of society who have large amounts of money, including currency, jewelry, other valuables, expensive items and luxury items.

Persons posing as victims sometimes stage a robbery or assault, falsifying traces. Persons seeking to hide property from division resort to staging; those wishing to conceal assets obtained by criminal means; financially responsible persons who misappropriated or squandered the received values.

Typical personality traits of criminals. The vast majority of robbers and robbers are men (more than 97%), only about 3% are women.

The differentiation of criminals by main age groups is as follows: minors - 10%; persons aged 18 - 25 years - more than 30%; persons aged 26 - 30 years - about 33%; persons aged 31-40 years - about 24%; persons aged 41 years and older are slightly more than 3%.

Noteworthy is the significant number of criminals who do not work anywhere - about 37%. Among persons who commit assaults and robberies, the level of general and special recidivism is very high. Quite a few of these types of crimes are committed by so-called “guest performers.”

Robberies and assaults, as evidenced by an analysis of investigative and judicial practice, are often committed by a criminal group of two or three, less often four people, and very rarely by more numerous groups. Often groups of criminals are very stable and consistently commit a series of similar and other crimes. Such groups are headed by previously convicted persons with criminal experience. This makes it difficult to investigate crimes and complicates the operational environment.

Adult criminals are often members of a criminal group that is equipped with cars, weapons, special equipment, and telephones. The group is headed by a person who has previously been convicted, who knows how to hide traces of a crime, develop a legend and a line of conduct in case of failure.

Groups of teenagers are less organized and, as a rule, not permanent. Lone robbers usually attack in order to get money for necessary needs, including for the next dose of a drug or the drug itself (attack on emergency doctors).

Circumstances to be proven in cases of robbery and assault:

During the investigation of robberies or robberies, it is necessary to establish the following circumstances:

whether there was a robbery, assault or other crime;
method of committing robbery or assault;
time, place and other circumstances of the crime;
what are the reasons and conditions conducive to the commission of a crime;
what was stolen, who owns the stolen property; the amount of material damage;
the identity of the victim; what consequences the crime had for his life and health; how the accused and the victim behaved at the crime scene;
who committed the robbery (robbery); if this is a group of persons, then what is its composition and the role of each participant;
motives, purpose, direction of criminal intent;
when and in what way the criminal and the victim left the scene;
whether the crime was premeditated, what preparatory actions were taken, whether the attacks were committed repeatedly;
whether actions were taken to conceal the crime;
circumstances excluding criminality and punishability of the act;
circumstances mitigating and aggravating punishment;
circumstances that may lead to release from criminal liability and punishment.

Qualified types of robbery

According to the Criminal Code (Part 2 of Article 161), qualified types of robbery include:

robbery by prior conspiracy committed by a group of persons;
robbery committed by an organized group of persons;
robbery accompanied by illegal entry into a premises, home or storage;
robbery committed with the use (threat of use) of violence that does not pose a danger to health or life;
robbery committed on a large (or especially large) scale.

The content of certain qualifying signs of robbery is identical to some of the signs of theft.

Violent robbery is accompanied by the use (threat of use) of violence that does not pose a danger to human health or life: beatings; violent actions that caused pain but did not lead to health problems or loss of ability to work, the introduction of intoxicating substances that do not pose a danger. The nature of violence is physical (the use of force directly against another person against his will) and/or mental (the threat of using force) in nature.

Mental violence is present and real. When confronting a robber, the threat of violence is carried out immediately. Mental violence has a definite (threat of imprisonment, tying up, beating, etc.) or indefinite (“it will be bad”, “it will be worse”, “you will not be happy”, etc.) character. The issue of qualification in case of an uncertain nature of the threat is decided taking into account all the factual circumstances of the case (time, place of commission of the criminal act, number of offenders, subjective perception of the nature of the threat, the essence of the objects with which the victim was threatened, etc.).

An unfinished theft can transform into a robbery. If the actions were started as theft, but they were discovered by the victim or other persons, then such actions qualify as robbery if they were continued by the perpetrator with the aim of taking possession (holding) of the property.

Without aggravating circumstances

Part 1 of Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – simple robbery without any aggravating circumstances. Such theft is committed by the criminal alone, openly and without any use of violence against the victim.

An example of such a robbery would be a situation where a criminal rips a fur hat off a citizen on a sparsely populated street and runs away. Or, for example, a motorcyclist at speed snatches a bag from a woman walking along the sidewalk and drives off. In these cases, the robber does not encounter resistance from his victim or the people around him, and the theft occurs without violence.

The subject of such a crime can be an individual of sanity and who has reached the age of 14 years.
When discussing the subjective side of robbery, we can only talk about direct intent and the motive of self-interest. The goal of the criminal is illegal enrichment at the expense of another person or organization.
The object of the crime is property relations. Any other person's property is considered an item.
The objective side of simple robbery: open non-violent seizure of someone else's property.

You can read more about the components of the robbery here.

The robbery is considered completed when the criminal has taken possession of someone else's property and has the opportunity to dispose of it at his own discretion (whether this disposal occurs or not does not matter: only the possibility of it is important).

Responsibility

For unskilled robbery, criminal law provides for the following sanctions.

Works:
mandatory (maximum 480 hours);
forced (up to 4 years).
Arrest for up to six months.
Restriction of freedom from two to four years.
Imprisonment in places of deprivation of liberty (MPL) for up to four years.

As in the case of the criterion of secrecy for theft, the criterion of openness for robbery is determined subjectively : based on how the criminal himself perceives the surrounding situation. If the owner of the stolen property or third parties observe the actions of the criminal, realizing their criminal nature, we are talking about robbery. If the ongoing illegal episode is observed by persons from whom the offender does not expect resistance (for example, his relatives), then the act cannot be classified as robbery.

In the case when such persons try to prevent the criminal actions of the criminal (even in words), then the crime should be classified as robbery. When people watching what is happening do not understand that a crime is being committed, this situation will not be considered a robbery by the court. Also in a situation where the criminal himself does not notice that third parties are watching him, and believes that he is acting secretly.

Read more about liability for robbery here.

Street

Street robbery is one of the most common types of open theft.

This is explained by the fact that it is difficult to find the criminal, since despite the openness of the seizure of other people's property, eyewitnesses rarely remember the appearance of the culprit.

Also, such robberies are more difficult to prevent, since they often occur suddenly: robbers like to use the effect of surprise.

As a rule, street robberies are committed without preparation , but in practice there are also pre-planned cases. Street robberies can take place either in a deserted place or in a place full of people.

Reference.
The most common way of committing a robbery on the street is a jerk, that is, when something is suddenly snatched from the victim’s hands, torn off his head, etc.
In most cases, such a jerk does not involve the use of violence against the victim. But situations also arise when the robber makes a jerk with such force that physical pain is caused to the victim. In this case, we are talking about the use of violence that is not dangerous to life/health (clause “d”, part 2 of article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Let's look at an example from judicial practice:

At about 5 a.m., Bibikov approached a woman he didn’t know and tried to snatch her bag. However, he was unable to pull the bag out the first time, so he began to pull with greater force. This caused the handle of the bag to break, he grabbed it and ran away. The bag contained property worth 44,000 rubles.

In this case we are talking about the most common case of street robbery - open theft in a deserted place by jerking.

The Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Khabarovsk qualified Bibikov’s actions under Part 1 of Art. 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and sentenced him to imprisonment for 2 years.

Recommended reading:

Concept and signs of robbery

Criminal legal characteristics of robbery

The difference between robbery and related compounds

Particularly qualified

Part 3 of Article 161 speaks of especially skilled robbery. Its signs are a particularly large amount of damage and the commission of a crime by an organized group.

For example, under Part 3, a crime will be classified in which, in front of the driver and passenger, a diplomat with a sum of one million rubles is stolen from a car stopped at a traffic light through an open window. If robberies for smaller amounts are regularly committed by a gang of criminals that meets the criteria of an organized group, then qualification under Part 3 will also follow. Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Clause 15 of the above-cited Resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation dated December 27, 2002 No. 29 “On judicial practice in cases of theft, robbery and robbery” makes it clear that among the characteristics of a group of criminals are its stability, the distribution of functions between participants, the presence of an organizer in the composition , as well as a clear plan to commit one or more criminal acts.

The composition of especially qualified robbery is identical in subject, subjective side and object to other parts of the article. On the objective side, additional signs are added that elevate the crime to the rank of especially serious.

Crimes classified under this part of Article 161 are punishable by placing the offender in a prison cell for a period of 6 to 12 years with a fine of up to one million rubles or in the amount of the income of the convicted person for a period of up to five years, and with restriction of freedom for up to two years (or without it). ).

Statute of limitations

Let's look at what penalties are provided for robbery and what statute of limitations they have:

Part 1 of Article 161 - unskilled robbery - is a crime of medium gravity (punishment by imprisonment - up to four years). The statute of limitations for such crimes lasts for 6 years.
Part 2 of Article 161 - a serious crime (sanction - placement in a prison camp for up to 7 years). The statute of limitations will be 10 years.
Part 3 of Article 161 is already a crime that belongs to the category of especially serious ones (maximum punishment - up to 12 years of isolation from society in a correctional institution). The statute of limitations for such acts expires only after 15 years.