The difference between robbery and robbery, theft and banditry: what is the difference between these elements of crime?

How is it different from robbery?

The difference between robbery and robbery is (which article is 162 or 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation):

in the intensity of the use of violence;
the degree of harm caused;
in the victim’s subjective perception of the threat of violence.

We are talking about robbery:

if the victim perceives the threat as real and feasible (even if this is not the case);
if he perceives the weapon as real (even if it is an imitation).

To illustrate the distinction, consider an example:

The Leninsky District Court of Kemerovo accused V.I. Petrov. in robbery with the use of violence not dangerous to life and health.

The defendant took A.S. Lyubimova from the victim. laptop. And when she tried to resist, he punched her twice in the face.

These blows did not cause serious harm to health, did not lead to health problems, but caused pain to the victim, which means that we are indeed talking about violence, but not dangerous to life and health.

Such a crime will be classified as robbery.

From extortion?

In practice, it is difficult to distinguish between extortion and robbery. There are 3 points on which it is advisable to make a distinction.

The moment of receipt or seizure of property.

The act will be robbery if, simultaneously with causing violence or uttering a threat to cause it, property is confiscated.

An action should be qualified as extortion if the moment of transfer of property is delayed and occurs after the threat is made.

The subject of robbery can only be movable property.

In contrast to extortion, where the subject of the crime can be not only movable property, but also rights to movable and immovable property, as well as the gratuitous performance of work or services.

Use of weapons.

For robbery, the use of weapons is one of the qualifying criteria, while for extortion it is not used.

Recommended reading:

The concept of robbery, signs and assigned punishments

Robbery: corpus delicti

Forms of complicity in robbery

Content

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………..3

Main part…………………………………………………………………………………..7

1 Legal analysis of banditry:

1.1 Objective signs of banditry………………………………………………………..7 1.2 Subjective signs of banditry…………………………………… 9 2 Legal analysis of robbery: 2.1 Objective signs robbery………………………………………………………. ……13 2.2 Subjective signs of robbery……………………………………………19 2.3 Differences between banditry and robbery………………………………………………………..21 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………27 Glossary……………………………………………………… …………………. .30 List of sources used………………………………………………………..32 Appendix A………………………………………………………………………………… ……33

Appendix B………………………………………………………………………………33

From theft?

Both robbery and theft are forms of theft. Based on this, the following similar features can be identified:

the subject of the crime is someone else's property;
the subject is an individual who has reached the age of 14;
selfish goal, that is, the desire of a person to enrich either himself or other people at the expense of stolen property.

However, the compositions also have significant differences:

Method of execution.

In the event of a theft, a person tries to steal property unnoticed by the owner or other persons, that is, he believes that he is acting secretly. In other words, when stealing, the culprit avoids contact with other people in every possible way so as not to be detected.

So, for example, if A., unbeknownst to B., takes out a mobile phone from his bag, then his actions should be qualified as theft.

Important! Robbery is a two-objective crime, that is, in addition to an attack on property relations, it also affects a person’s personality (his life / health).

That is, in order for a person’s actions to be qualified under Art. 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it is necessary that a person, in addition to the goal of stealing property, use such a method of seizure as an attack on the victim with the use of violence against the latter, dangerous to health or life, or a threat to use such violence.

If A. attacks B. from behind and, threatening him with a knife, demands to give up his mobile phone, then A.’s actions will be considered robbery.

Let's imagine another situation:

A., based on personal hostility, attacks B. and beats him. However, after B. falls and loses consciousness, A. decides to take his mobile phone.

In this case, A.’s actions do not fall under robbery, since he does not use violence to steal a mobile phone.

In this situation, A. will be subject to criminal liability for theft, as well as for causing harm to B.’s health (depending on the severity of the harm).

The moment of ending.

The theft is considered completed when the stolen property is confiscated and the person has the opportunity to dispose of it as he wishes. The moment of the end of the robbery has been moved to an earlier stage - the attack, that is, the robbery is considered completed regardless of whether the seizure of someone else's property has occurred or not.

The severity of the crime.

The crime under Part 1 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (theft), is a crime of minor gravity. Robbery (Part 1 of Article 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is a serious crime. The categorization of criminal acts affects the definition of punishment, as well as its type and amount.

Distinguishing robbery from banditry in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Distinguishing robbery from banditry in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

The need to distinguish robbery from banditry arises when a robbery attack is committed by an organized group using weapons. The difficulty is that in both banditry and robbery there is a stable nature of the connection between members of an organized group.

The main difference between robbery and banditry is that, in accordance with paragraph 2 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,” a gang is an organized stable armed group of two and more than persons who have united in advance to carry out attacks on citizens or organizations, and in the case of robbery, a group of persons can agree to commit one attack on citizens or an institution. The stable nature of the connection between gang members presupposes an organization that was created to carry out criminal activity, designed for repeated criminal actions. The stability of a gang, according to the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of January 17, 1997 No. 1, presupposes 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 committed1. In addition, other signs may also indicate the stability of a gang: careful planning and preparation of crimes, the presence of a group leader and organizer of specific crimes, a long or intense period of criminal activity of the group, consisting of repeated commission of crimes. However, a gang can be created to carry out one attack, requiring careful preparation. The sign of sustainability is not only objective, but also subjective. This means that an armed group cannot be a gang if its members lack the persistence of criminal intent, i.e. aspirations to constantly or at least repeatedly over a certain period of time carry out armed attacks. When deciding whether the actions of the perpetrators constitute a crime under Article 209 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, they only have connections that are due to joint criminal activity. Joint solution of everyday problems and leisure activities cannot characterize the group as a gang.

The second difference is that the legislator associates armed robbery with the mandatory use of weapons during an attack, while the presence of banditry is associated only with the presence of weapons in at least one of the gang members, even without using it, if the rest of the gang members knew about it and they were ready to use it.

The armament of a gang presupposes that its members have not only firearms, bladed weapons (including throwing weapons), gas or pneumatic weapons, factory-made or homemade, but also explosive devices2. The weapon must be in a group to carry out an attack, it must have the ability to cause harm to human health, and must be prohibited or limited in civilian circulation. This means that weapons owned by members of a stable group that are not intended for attack, but for other purposes (for example, for hunting), weapons unsuitable for their intended use or their models, aerosol devices purchased without a license, equipped with tear or irritant substances permitted for application by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, freely purchased household items (axes, pitchforks, kitchen knives, etc.) do not form a gang’s weapons.

Robbery may also constitute an attack with the use of objects used as weapons, if they are intended or adapted by members of the group for attacks on people, imitation or unusable weapons. The use of weapons in the commission of armed robbery should be understood as: causing light, moderate or serious harm to health with its help; the use of its damaging properties when, for reasons beyond the will of the perpetrator, no real harm to health occurs for the victim; use of the specified objects for mental violence (demonstration of weapons). If the weapons the criminals had were not demonstrated at all when committing a robbery, then the elements provided for in paragraph “g” of Part 2 of Article 162 of the Criminal Code are absent.

The third difference is in composition. The composition of banditry is formal, because does not include the onset of socially dangerous consequences arising from the commission of specific attacks by a gang, which are subject to independent classification under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in combination with banditry3. In addition, such qualification involves reflecting the increased danger of an attack committed by a gang, through the qualifying feature of an organized group if it is present in the relevant corpus delicti or by taking into account an organized group as an aggravating circumstance (clause “c” of Part 1 of Article 63 of the Criminal Code RF), in the absence of such a qualifying feature. The composition of banditry is complete from the moment the gang is created, regardless of whether it has committed at least one attack or not. Actions aimed at creating a gang, which did not lead to the emergence of a stable armed group due to circumstances beyond the control of the perpetrators, are classified as an attempt to create a gang. The hallmark of a gang is participation, which is presented in the form of two actions: participation in a gang and participation in crimes committed by the gang. Participation in a gang qualifies as complete banditry. In contrast, participation in a robbery group, which has the goal of taking possession of other people's property using weapons, should be qualified as preparation for robbery.

The elements of robbery are truncated, robbery is completed from the moment of the attack with the aim of stealing someone else's property, committed with the use of violence dangerous to life or health, or with the threat of using such violence.

The fourth difference is the motive of the crime. In banditry, the criminal must realize that he is a member of a gang created for the purpose of attacking organizations and citizens. In case of robbery committed by an organized group, this intent is also present, but the motive for committing the crime for these groups may be different. The motive of robbery is always only self-interest; with banditry, other base motives are also possible: revenge, creating mass unrest.

The fifth difference is based on the subject of the crime. The subject of banditry is general; criminal liability for its commission begins at the age of 16. Actual members of the gang who committed crimes as part of it at the age of 14 to 16 years are subject to liability only for specific crimes, liability for which in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation begins at the age of 144. Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code establishes liability for persons who are organizers, leaders, members of a gang or participants in attacks committed by it, if this involved the use of their official position. A special subject appeared in Article 209 of the Criminal Code. The subject of robbery is general; it includes a legally capable person who has reached the age of 14 years.

Kondrusov E.V. also highlights the difference in the object of the criminal attack. In robbery, property acts as the main direct object, human health as an additional one, and in banditry, all of the above objects are additional. The main direct object of banditry is the fundamentals of public administration in the field of ensuring public safety. It is believed that a feature of crimes against public safety, including banditry, is that they are objectively harmful to a wide range of social relations (personal security, normal activities of enterprises, institutions, organizations and other social institutions). When crimes against public safety are committed, harm is caused not to the interests of a specific person, but to socially significant interests—the safe living conditions of society as a whole5.

Thus, the greatest difficulty is caused by cases of distinguishing from banditry violent and mercenary attacks and, above all, armed group robbery. The difficulty is that both banditry and this type of robbery have many similar characteristics. In the case where robbery attacks are committed by an organized group with the use of weapons, it is difficult to correctly qualify due to the fact that both elements of the crime are truncated, so there is a need to accurately determine which characteristics of the elements of the composition relate to banditry and which to robbery.

This chapter examined the concept, qualifying features and elements of a crime such as robbery.

As a result of considering these issues, the following conclusions were made:

1) 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.

The object of robbery is property relations, and the additional one is personal health.

The objective side is characterized only by the act: attack, violence dangerous to the life or health of the victim, threat of violence dangerous to life or health.

Mandatory signs of the objective side: attack; use of violence dangerous to life or health.

The elements of robbery are truncated, that is, the moment of the end of the crime is moved to the stage of the attempt. The robbery is considered completed from the moment of the attack, combined with violence of varying degrees of intensity.

The subjective side of robbery is characterized by direct intent and the purpose of stealing someone else's property.

The subject of the crime is a physically sane person who has reached the age of 14 years.

2) Qualifying signs of robbery:

- robbery committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy;

— robbery with the use of weapons;

- robbery committed with illegal entry into a home, premises or other storage;

- robbery committed on a large scale;

- robbery committed with infliction of grievous harm to the health of the victim.

3) The difference between robbery and banditry is that:

- a gang is an organized, stable armed group of two or more persons who have united in advance to carry out attacks on citizens or organizations, and in case of robbery, a group of persons can agree to commit one attack on citizens or an institution;

- the legislator associates armed robbery with the mandatory use of weapons during an attack, while the presence of banditry is associated only with the presence of weapons in at least one of the gang members, even without using it, if the rest of the gang members knew about it and they were ready to use it;

- difference in composition. The composition of banditry is formal, because does not include the onset of socially dangerous consequences arising from the commission of specific attacks by a gang, which are subject to independent classification under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in combination with banditry;

- difference based on the motive of the crime. The motive of robbery is always only self-interest; with banditry, other base motives are also possible: revenge, creating mass unrest;

- difference in the subject of the crime. The subject of banditry is general; criminal liability for its commission begins at the age of 16. The subject of robbery is general; it includes a legally capable person who has reached the age of 14 years.

Resolution of the Plenum No. 1 of Moscow January 17, 1997 / Supreme Court of the Russian Federation [Electronic resource] – Access mode: https://www.supcourt.ru/vscourt_detale.php?id=956

Kondrusov E.V. Features of the distinction between armed group robbery and banditry / E.V. Kondrusov // Legal sciences. - 2007. - No. 6. - P. 103-107.