Almost every day the media flashes news that a daring theft, robbery or even robbery has been committed. Everyone knows that this is an illegal way to seize property. But not everyone fully understands how to distinguish them.
The proposed material describes the difference between theft and robbery and robbery, and what punishment is provided for attackers. It also highlights the peculiarities of the investigation of these types of crimes and provides some examples of court decisions.
As the outstanding Polish poet and philosopher Stanislaw Jerzy Lec once said: “Ignorance of the law does not exempt you from responsibility! But knowledge often liberates.” Therefore, it is important for all citizens to know what rules are legally established and to comply with them.
Theft, robbery or robbery: qualifying features
Getting someone else's property or money is a prospect that always attracts thieves, burglars, and "robbers." It all depends on how far the criminals can go to achieve their goal.
Each of the criminal attacks under consideration has its own qualifying features, which indicate a greater danger to society of the committed act.
For clarity, let us present a table consisting of specific elements of criminal acts.
| Part | 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (theft) | 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (robbery) | 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (robbery) |
| Theft of property in secret | Taking possession of property in the presence of the victim or eyewitnesses | Theft combined with life-threatening violence or the threat of its use | |
| Qualifying Features | |||
| 2 | a group of persons by prior conspiracy; with unlawful entry into the premises or other storage; causing significant damage to a citizen; from the pockets of clothes, bags, and other carry-on luggage that were with the victim | a group of persons by prior conspiracy; with illegal entry into housing, premises or other storage; with the use of violence that does not pose a threat to life or health, or with the threat of such violence; on a large scale | a group of persons by prior conspiracy; using weapons or similar objects |
| 3 | with illegal entry into a residential premises; from the pipeline; from a bank account | organized group; extra large size | with illegal entry into real estate; large size |
| 4 | organized group; on a particularly large scale | _ | organized group; especially large size; causing grievous bodily harm to the victim |
The listed signs give the court grounds to toughen the punishment for an already committed crime.
What is the difference between robbery and robbery
When investigating these property crimes, it is necessary first of all to study the place where the theft took place. There it is also necessary to look for traces that could have remained from the kidnapper, subject to careful examination. Therefore, one of the main investigative measures is to inspect the scene of the theft, where any traces of the attacker can be found, including biological ones (fingerprints, traces of shoes, clothing, personal items, cigarette butts). All discovered items must be properly removed from the scene and entered into the protocol. After which the traces must be examined to find the possible thief or his accomplices.
Compositions, differences
All criminal offenses included in Chapter 21 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation make it possible to protect the values of citizens and legal entities from illegal attacks. Accordingly, the tasks of the law enforcement system include investigating all cases of crime with the return of stolen property to the victim or recovery of damage caused.
So what are these “horrible” offenses that are mentioned almost every day? What is the difference between theft and robbery? Which crime is the most dangerous? And what sentence does the violator face?
In general, the delimitation of these compounds is carried out according to the following criteria:
- The degree of danger for the owner.
- The moment the crime ends.
- Ways to do it.
- Intent.
The listed signs are not exhaustive, but basic. If you conduct an analysis, you can easily determine which crime was committed. Next, we will consider each of them separately.
What is considered robbery?
Robbery is the explicit or open taking of someone else's property, provided for in Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The term "overt" means that the theft occurs in front of the victim or witnesses.
Note! If the victim himself does not realize that his property is being taken away, or the robbery is committed by a close relative, then such a crime is considered as theft.
For example, when attackers entered a store, tied the saleswoman's hands with tape and then took several bottles of alcohol and emptied the cash register, their actions would fall under robbery. Such robbery is punishable by imprisonment for up to four years.
Theft or embezzlement
In accordance with Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, theft is the secret appropriation of other people's material assets for one's own benefit or that of others. Sanctions for ordinary theft are up to 2 years in prison.
This is the everyday situation. The attacker "asked" to visit the victim and, while she was setting the table, quietly took the money accumulated by the victim. Theft is also considered to be cases when the criminal is sure that his actions are invisible to prying eyes.
In the case where the attacker was noticed by the owner or outsiders, however, despite this, he continued his illegal actions and threatened them, such an atrocity is regarded by law enforcement agencies as robbery. And if the robber also uses life-threatening violence, then this is robbery.
Theft and robbery become complete when the attacker has the opportunity to dispose of the received property at his own discretion.
Attention! If they take property considered as their own or for temporary use, then the described actions do not fall under theft.
Interesting situation with vehicles. Many people do not distinguish between “theft” and “hijacking”. However, from a legal point of view there are differences. They steal cars in order to take possession of them and resell them, including for spare parts. They steal cars for the purpose of using them for a ride.
Robbery
By virtue of Article 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, robbery is an attack with the aim of appropriating property. It is necessarily accompanied by violence that is dangerous to the life of the victim or threats of violence. Any harm caused to human health (mild, moderate or severe) will be dangerous.
Let's say a criminal decides to attack a victim in order to take his cell phone, hits the victim with a knife, and then disappears. The crime described will be completed at the moment of the attack. The maximum penalty is from 8 to 15 years in prison with or without a fine of up to one million rubles.
The use of objects that look like weapons is also considered robbery. This, for example, includes a high-quality toy machine gun and a pistol.
If, as a result of the attack, the victim dies from the injuries received, the court additionally applies Part 4 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (causing grievous harm resulting in death).
Procedure for initiating a criminal case
To legally initiate a criminal case, the investigation needs to collect evidence confirming the presence of all elements of the crime. That is, there must be an object and an objective side, a subject with a subjective side. If at least one of the components is missing, the case cannot be sent for further investigation.
The subjects of the crimes under consideration are persons over 14 years of age. If we talk about theft and robbery, then in order to initiate a case it is necessary to prove that the desire to appropriate property arose before the implementation of the intentions. A thief must understand that he is encroaching on other people's property. For robbery, the very fact of the attack is important.
Criminal cases based on the offenses under consideration are initiated after the victim’s statement is received by the police. And they cannot be terminated by the investigator if the parties come to mutual agreement and reconcile.
When there is no corpus delicti
In situations where the alleged perpetrators are under 14 years of age, they cannot be prosecuted. It follows that one of the elements of the crime is missing – the subject of the crime. Accordingly, no criminal case will be initiated.
It is also possible that cheap things are stolen, shoplifting is an example of this, but “fall short” of significant damage, that is, they cost less than 2,500 rubles. However, it is important to know that there must be no other qualifying features for the crime committed. That is, a burglar will be punished for petty burglary, even if he was able to take away property worth only 1,000 rubles.
If the thief thinks that he is taking back what is his, the punishment will be under another article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. For example, when one acquaintance lends his gaming console to another, and then takes it away and says nothing. The same thing happens when minors steal a car to drive it and then return it.
Character traits
Article 158 of the Criminal Code states that property stolen in a secret manner will be considered theft. Qualifying features, in contrast to robbery, are manifested here in the following:
- the act is committed in the absence of the owner of the thing or other citizens;
- the theft is carried out in the presence of the owner of the property, as well as other persons, but unnoticed by them;
- if the secret theft of an item occurs in the presence of people who are confident that the removal of the item is completely legal (for example, a thief takes a painting out of a museum under the pretext that he is a master and is taking the item for restoration);
- the act is carried out in the presence of a person who, due to circumstances or characteristics of the body, is not capable of realizing the illegality of the attacker’s actions;
- the crime is committed in the presence of the owner of the thing, but the latter, realizing the fact of the illegal actions of the culprit, does not reveal his location (for example, a person, having noticed a thief from the room, hid from him under the bed or in a closet), thus the attacker believes that he is acting secretly.
Examples of judicial practice
The practice of courts regarding the punishment imposed on the accused is very ambiguous. The analysis shows that the more qualifying features in the committed act, the more serious the responsibility.
Sometimes it happens that a conviction occurs under several articles. This happens when an attacker damages someone else's item.
Below we give several examples of real sentences handed down by courts in the Russian region. Despite the different years, these decisions have not lost their practical significance.
Punishment for theft
The Karymsky District Court of the Trans-Baikal Territory found Ushakov guilty of burglary and gave him a suspended sentence with a probationary period of 2 years. This is confirmed by the verdict in case No. 1-114/2020 dated April 29, 2020.
Circumstances of the crime. Ushakov, being drunk, decided to steal property from the victim’s apartment. To do this, he broke a window and climbed into the closet, from there, breaking the lock, he entered the victim’s apartment. After which he took the electric kettle and disappeared in an unknown direction.
The defendant admitted his guilt, had no previous convictions, and there was also a mitigating circumstance such as Ushakov’s state of health. As a result, he was given only a suspended sentence.
Robbery
The Kirovsky District Court of Kemerovo, by its verdict in case No. 1-283/2017 dated December 1, 2017, found Kite guilty of robbery and set a sentence of 2 years and 4 months in prison.
The collected evidence established that Kite asked the victim for a cell phone to make a call, but had no intention of returning it and, contrary to the victim’s requests, fled with the stolen property.
The accused was previously convicted, but fully admitted his guilt and assisted in the investigation. In this regard, the court sentenced him to imprisonment for 1 year and 6 months. But due to the remaining unserved previous sentence, he extended the sentence to 2 years and 4 months.
Robbery
Rozum committed four episodes of robbery at once. To do this, he used a knife, which was later recognized by experts as a bladed weapon.
The investigation established that the accused went into cafes and grocery stores in the evening and, showing the saleswomen a knife, demanded to give him all the money from the cash registers, sometimes taking away alcohol or cigarettes. All victims perceived his threat as real and feared for their own lives.
During the investigation, the defendant fully admitted his guilt and actively contributed to the detection of all crimes. Based on these circumstances, the Prikubansky District Court of Krasnodar found Rozum guilty of committing four crimes under Part 2 of Art. 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and imposed a total of four years in prison.
What to do?
Unfortunately, various situations happen in life, and therefore even a law-abiding citizen can find himself in the role of a suspect in the theft of someone else's property. In such a case, you should immediately seek help from an experienced and professional lawyer who works specifically on such cases. After all, only a competent lawyer will be able to figure out who exactly committed the theft. Theft, robbery, robbery - the differences between these acts are very significant, therefore, if a person is accused of one of them, but he did not commit it, then the latter simply cannot do without consulting an experienced defense lawyer. In addition, the suspect should not rely on the help of a government lawyer, because his income does not depend on the outcome of the investigation of the case. Therefore, the latter is not always interested in acquitting the accused.
Thus, if an innocent person finds himself under investigation, then he definitely needs the help of a professional defense attorney who can competently defend the interests of the client not only in law enforcement agencies, but also in court.
