The meaning of a special subject of a crime in the criminal law of the Russian Federation

A special subject of a crime in criminal law is a person who has special characteristics, the presence of which creates appropriate liability under a certain article.

The regulation and form of criminal acts have their own specifics. A special subject can be special or general; this is indicated in the provisions of the main regulations and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This area of ​​these legal relations has its own types of crimes and differences.

Before analyzing the main features of a special subject, it is necessary to consider the specifics of the criminal legal framework, which consists of a system of norms governing the determination of punishment and social relations in the field of unlawful acts.

For a clear presentation of the criminal area, there is a section characterizing the subject and the position of the criminal.

Today in criminal law and jurisprudence the main problem is establishing the crime of the subject and the sanity of the suspect.

Examples

There is such an additional object as the interests of justice.
They suffer not only in the case of a criminal act against justice, for example, in the form of contempt of court, but also in a large number of cases if the criminal act is committed after the court decision has entered into legal force. This is what it looks like:

1. For example, there is such a composition, art. 177 (malicious evasion of payment of accounts payable). Accounts payable are debts owed by one party to another under a contract. This composition is in crimes against economic activity. It is emphasized that the interests of creditors are the main object. Due to the fact that non-payment of a debt occurs after a court decision has already been made in favor of the creditor, the debtor is found guilty of non-payment and is subject to payment obligations. This violates not only the interests of the creditor, who does not receive his money, but also the interests of justice, who has wasted certain judicial resources, time, and the like. Moreover, a binding court decision was made that is not being implemented. Such evasion, seemingly similar to a civil offense, is already a judicial matter.
2. Malicious evasion of payment of alimony according to the report of the bailiff of the executor will be recognized as a crime, qualified under Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, only if it is committed after a legal court decision has entered into force that alimony must be paid. Thus, the additional object suffers if it is directly named in the article, and at the same time is protected by this composition, in a sense, incidentally.
3. An example can also be illegal actions committed in the field of land relations, which are the main object, meanwhile, when committing this lawlessness, other additional ones suffer, which include life, human health, and the environmental sphere.

In the chapter “Crimes against justice” there is an article where the interests of justice, accordingly, are the main object. It is noteworthy that if these interests were an additional object in the previously given examples of compositions, here it is the main one. But it is obvious that when an investigator or interrogator unlawfully releases a guilty person from liability, quite significant damage is caused to the interests of the victim. And it is they (interests) that are an optional object.

This type cannot be prescribed in the law, since not every criminal act has a victim, but for the court, when proceedings are underway under the article on illegal exemption from liability, this is important, since the judge needs to understand who else was harmed as a result of the crime. criminal act. That is, in the interests of the victim, the optional object influences the punishment, among other things.

Criminal law is a complex but very important branch. Its knowledge is of key importance in the life of society and the individual

The destinies and lives of people often depend on the court decision taken to impose punishment.

The theory of the object of crime is not only necessary, but very interesting and relevant science. If you want to study it more deeply, know the specifics of this subject, or if you need to replenish your existing knowledge of criminal law, the tests for studying criminal law presented on many legal websites will be useful for your studies.

What is a special category of personal data?

This group includes:

• gender and race;
• information of an intimate nature, including sexual orientation and everything related to sex life;
• philosophical views;
• religious beliefs;
• political views, etc.

If publicly available personal data allows one to collectively identify the subject, then special personal data does not provide such an opportunity. To process them, one of the following conditions must be met:

• obtaining written consent in the form established by law;
• use of information published in publicly available sources by the citizen himself;
• entry into force of international agreements;
• performing actions within the framework of judicial proceedings or by court decision;
• the emergence of a risk to the life and health of the subject or surrounding people;
• processing of information within the framework of the activities of a public or religious organization.

Special subject

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has created an understanding that a special subject of a crime in criminal law is a person who has general and special characteristics of an act that is serious for society. In any specific incident, such entities are endowed with legal responsibility, and also receive punishment for carrying out an unlawful act.

The characteristics of a special subject are reflected in Art. 263, 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

It is important that the absence of the characteristic features of the subject, which are provided for in a certain article, excludes criminal liability under this article.

Minor citizens will not be able to be subjects of an offense. A standard is put forward as a humanistic principle according to which a person who has not reached the age of majority and has psychological problems cannot be involved as a special subject, regardless of age.

In criminal law, a necessary condition for the use of sanctions is the ability of the offender to be aware of and control his behavior.

Optional features of a special subject can be expressed in several meanings:

1. Signs of composition according to the Constitution (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of Russia).
2. Signs according to classification (part 2, article 150 of the Criminal Code of Russia).
3. Circumstances that soften or make sanctions more severe (clause “m”, Article 63 of the Criminal Code of Russia).

In order to understand what this category is, you need to look at the standards. A careful study of them shows that specific offenses are structured in a special way.

Not every citizen can be held responsible for committing criminal acts, but only those who have specialized characteristics.

A special subject in criminal law should be defined according to the following classifications with the definition of articles:

1. Citizenship of a person (Article 275, 276 of the Criminal Code of Russia).
2. Demography (Article 131 of the Criminal Code of Russia).
3. Family and kinship relations (Article 156, 157 of the Criminal Code of Russia).
4. Position (Article 285, 290 of the Criminal Code of Russia).
5. Profession (Article 124, 143 of the Criminal Code of Russia).
6. Attitude to military service (Article 328, 331 of the Criminal Code of Russia).

It is also worth saying that the definition and types of special subjects of the offense are interconnected units. The correct understanding of this scientific thesis hides the principles of its systematization specifically into small components.

Limited Sanity

Based on the concept of the subject of a crime, as well as on the general characteristics that qualify this element, it is necessary to take into account that in some cases the legislation of the Russian Federation provides for liability for persons with mental disorders that do not exclude sanity.

The introduction of norms regarding limited sanity was provoked by the existing psychological and penitentiary reality, which manifests itself in the form of a wide spread of mental anomalies that limit, but at the same time do not deprive the ability to control one’s actions. The application of this kind of norms causes numerous discrepancies between judicial and medical assessments.

The legal assessment of limited sanity is expressed in an incomplete awareness of social danger. The presence of legal criteria depends only on a preliminary assessment of the person’s mental state by a forensic expert. The medical criterion creates disturbances in the intellectual and emotional spheres of a person’s life, which does not allow one to fully realize and control one’s actions.

A distinctive feature of limited sanity is the ability of a person to be aware of his actions and direct them, but at the same time, due to a mental disorder, the impossibility of full mental activity.

Limited sanity is manifested by shallow mental disorders that are not pathological in nature. This type of disorder is characterized by various abnormal behavioral processes, which are expressed by unstable psychophysical reactions (psychopathy and neuroses). Abnormal disorders include conditions that disrupt the balance between the processes of inhibition and excitation. Some of these processes mitigate the guilt of the offender when sentencing. Also, disorders that do not preclude sanity may be taken into account by the court to prescribe compulsory medical measures.

Types of special subject of a criminal act

At the moment, the following signs can be identified:

1. Characteristic features of the subject's status. The list of these traits indicates how a particular citizen communicates with government agencies. Such a block includes such features as: position in government bodies, occupation, position in relation to the law, powers associated with the official duties held, status as a participant in court proceedings, work in the field of medicine and much more.
2. Characteristics of a person according to socialized, legal, psychological and physical properties. These include the gender, age of an individual citizen, and his medical indications.
3. In order to classify many crimes, it is necessary to take into account the characteristic features of the role of the tasks performed during the commission of criminal acts. In this situation, the classification of subjects occurs through the analysis of their participation in each act that is dangerous to society. Based on this, it is worth highlighting the following types of subjects: a person who performs organizational functions, a leader and a participating citizen.

The differences between subjects predetermine a huge role not only for criminal and legal scientific orientation, but also for the practice of law enforcement agencies and courts. The development of legislation relating to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has at all times been accompanied by an established trend towards the growth of compositions with specialized criteria for subjects. The Working Code contains almost half of such articles. By understanding the role of the citizen, many legal issues can be resolved. For example, the responsibility of a special subject of a criminal act.

Socially dangerous actions are carried out by certain citizens. Any situation where a crime is committed has its own personal traits, including those that are considered to be the characteristics of the citizen guilty of this action.

Any personality has specific characteristics that make up its individuality. The main significant characteristics of each criminal are the understanding of what they have done and the achievement of a specific age. They determine the scientific understanding of the subject of a dangerous action.

The concept of a special subject

In the theory of criminal law, there is no consensus on the definition of a special subject. Yu. V. Tarasova summarizes the opinions of specialists on this issue [1]:

“Some scientists call a special subject a person who, along with the general characteristics of the subject, also has additional qualities (BC Orlov, AM Lazarev, G. N. Borzenkov). Others speak of a special subject as a person who has specific characteristics specified in the disposition of the article (N. S. Leikina, N. P. Grabovskaya, V. A. Vladimirov, G. A. Levitsky). Still others understand by a special subject persons who, in addition to the necessary signs of the subject of a crime (reaching a certain age, sanity), must also have special signs, determined by their activities or the nature of the duties assigned to them, by virtue of which only they can commit this crime (Sh. S. Rashkovskaya, R. Orymbaev)".

S. A. Semenov notes that the specificity of a crime with a special subject is such that “harm to social relations (the object of the crime) is caused from within by one of the subjects of the legal relationship, who is also the subject of the crime.”

Examples of judicial practice.

Age.

A mandatory sign of the subject of a crime is that the person has reached the age at which criminal liability is possible, established by criminal law. The age of the general subject of the crime is regulated by Art. 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, called “The age at which criminal liability begins,” consisting of three parts.

Based on part 1 of this article, “a person who has reached the age of sixteen at the time of committing a crime is subject to criminal liability”, and its part 2 “persons who have reached the age of fourteen at the time of committing a crime are subject to criminal liability for murder (Article 105),

– intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm (Article 111),

— intentional infliction of moderate harm to health (Article 112),

– kidnapping (Article 126),

– rape (Article 131),

— violent acts of a sexual nature (Article 132),

- theft (Article 158),

- robbery (Article 161),

- robbery (Article 162),

– extortion (Article 163),

- unlawful taking of a car or other means of transport without the purpose of theft (Article 166),

- intentional destruction or damage to property under aggravating circumstances (part two of Article 167),

– terrorism (Article 205),

- hostage taking (Article 206),

- knowingly false report about an act of terrorism (Article 207),

- hooliganism under aggravating circumstances (parts two and three of Article 213), vandalism (Article 214),

- theft or extortion of weapons, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices (Article 226),

- theft or extortion of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances (Article 229),

- rendering vehicles or means of communication unusable (Article 267).”

The establishment of a reduced age of criminal responsibility for the listed twenty types of crimes - fourteen years old - is explained by the fact that already upon reaching this age a person is able to recognize the actual nature and social danger of such acts as obvious even to a teenager.

It is this explanation of the indicated lower age of criminal responsibility that is confirmed by the norm contained in Part 3 of Art. 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to which “if a minor has reached the age specified in parts one or two of this article, but due to mental retardation not associated with a mental disorder, during the commission of a socially dangerous act he could not fully understand the actual nature and social danger his actions (inaction) or to direct them, he is not subject to criminal liability.” Other circumstances, the presence of which explains the establishment of a lower age of criminal responsibility, seem to be secondary and not significant.

Within the framework of the general concept of corpus delicti, age can act as an optional feature of the subject of the crime, that is, characterize a special subject of the crime. This occurs in cases where, in accordance with the norms contained in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation or another law of the Russian Federation, a person who has reached the age of eighteen is subject to criminal liability. So, according to Part 1 of Art. 150 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, criminal liability for involving a minor in the commission of a crime occurs when this act is committed by “a person who has reached the age of eighteen.”

Based on Part 1 of Art. 19 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On Military Duty and Military Service” of February 11, 1993 No. 4455-1 as amended by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 24, 1993 No. 2288 and Federal Laws of December 3, 1994 No. 55-FZ, dated 29 April 1995 No. 69-FZ and May 9, 1996 No. 42-FZ “the decision to conscript a citizen for military service can be made only after he reaches the age of 18,” which stipulates the minimum age of eighteen for the subject of any crime against military service .

The subject of a crime can only be a person who has reached the age at which criminal law establishes responsibility for a specific type of crime. Therefore, when a person aged from fourteen to sixteen years commits a socially dangerous act containing signs of two different elements of crimes, generally coinciding in the objective and subjective aspects, the subject of one of which is a person who has reached the age of fourteen, and the other - sixteen years of age, the act represents constitutes only that crime, the subject of which is a person who has reached the age of fourteen.

For example, for the murder of a statesman or public figure, committed in order to stop his state or other political activities or out of revenge for such activities, provided for in Art. 277 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the subject of which is a person who has reached the age of sixteen, a person aged from fourteen to sixteen years is subject to criminal liability for the murder of a person in connection with the performance of official activities by this person or the performance of a public duty, provided for in paragraph “b” of Part 2 of Art. . 105 of this Criminal Code, the subject of which is a person who has reached the age of fourteen.

Regarding the moment a person reaches fourteen, sixteen, eighteen years of age, it is necessary to be guided by the explanations contained in paragraph 7 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated February 14, 2000 No. 7 “On judicial practice in cases of juvenile crimes,” according to which “courts must have I mean that, in accordance with Article 392 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR, establishing the age of a minor is among the circumstances to be proven in cases of minors. It should be taken into account that a person is considered to have reached the age at which criminal liability begins, not on his birthday, but after the day on which this day falls, i.e., from zero o’clock on the next day.

When establishing the age of a defendant by a forensic medical examination, his birthday is considered to be the last day of the year named by the experts, and when determining the age of the minimum and maximum number of years, the court should proceed from the minimum age of such a person proposed by the experts.”

The same paragraph contains explanations on the application of Part 3 of Art. 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It recommends taking into account that “if a minor has reached the age from which he can be held criminally responsible, but has a mental retardation not associated with a mental disorder, limiting his ability to understand the actual nature and social danger of both actions (inaction) or to lead by them, he is not subject to criminal liability.

If there is evidence of mental retardation of a minor defendant, by virtue of Art. 78 and 79 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR, a judicial comprehensive psychological and psychiatric examination is ordered to resolve the issue of the presence or absence of mental retardation in a minor.

These questions can be put to the permission of an expert psychologist, and the question must necessarily be raised about the degree of mental retardation of a minor whose intellectual development does not correspond to his age.”

Types and examples of crime objects

The scheme of objects of crime in the science of criminal law is divided both vertically and horizontally. The vertical hierarchy is represented by four types of objects.

General

The general object is a purely scientific concept that does not have direct significance for practice, but gives a general understanding, for example, what is the difference between an offense and a criminal violation, when an offense is considered an administrative violation, and in what cases - judicially punishable.

Generic

The general object is divided into types. A special part of the Criminal Code is built on the principle of dividing all offenses into sections and chapters. The section corresponds to the generic type of the crime object. It contains a group of similar relationships protected by one section.

These may include:

1. Personality.
2. Own.
3. Moral.
4. Human security, peace.

So, according to Art. 292 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Forgery of Officials”, the object of a criminal act is the ordinary activities of government agencies, and the generic object is the interests of this public service.

Species

The generic section marks a narrower circle or group of social connections protected by law—species objects.

Thus, within one section concerning the economic sphere, there are 3 chapters relating to the following types of illegal actions directed against the following interests:

• property;
• interests of the economy;
• interests of commercial organizations.

Species objects have differences from each other, that is, different relationships protect the needs of different circles of people. This approach is necessary to qualify a criminal act.

Direct

The direct object is certain relationships that are targeted by malicious acts, which are noted in a separate crime when it is classified.

Using the example of commercial bribery, we can trace the composition of this object:

1. General - relations in economics.
2. Generic - economic sphere.
3. Species - official interests of the organization.
4. Direct - interests in the formation of relationships in the legitimate activities of organizations.

In this regard, there is a need to separate the immediate object horizontally.

The following direct objects are distinguished:

1. Basic. The main object includes relations protected by the rule of law adopted to protect them. Rarely, but there are circumstances when one element of a criminal act relates to two objects of encroachment at once. A classic, two-object example is robbery, where in addition to property there is a person. Robbery is placed in the chapter devoted to criminal actions directed against property, that is, this recognizes that property is the main object, and the person is an additional one.
2. Additional. An additional object always suffers in one form or another. According to this legislation, it was important to determine which object it would be preferable to direct a crime in the main status to protect. The additional object must be indicated in the article, that is, in the specific corpus delicti.
3. Optional. The optional object is not directly named in the article. It is needed to describe how dangerous the act is to society, how many people it causes harm, except for the victims. This type is important for qualification.

Categories of processed personal data established by law

Separation of personal data is necessary in order to establish separate processing and protection rules for information of different nature, as well as punishment for organizations that violate them. Current Russian legislation provides for 4 categories of processed personal data :

• public;
• biometric;
• special;
• others.

Despite the introduction of various changes, only the first three groups are clearly defined, but there is no specificity regarding the last one. Operators are faced with the task of understanding what information they are working with, and only then establishing the degree of IP security.

Notes

1. ↑ Tarasova Yu. V. Concept and signs of a special subject of a crime // Russian investigator. 2004. No. 10. P. 13.
2. ↑ See: Semenov S. A. The concept of a special subject of a crime // Journal of Russian Law. 1998. No. 7.
3. ↑ See: Russian criminal law. General part / Ed. V. S. Komissarova. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2005. P. 219.

This page was last edited on August 20, 2017 at 1:27 pm.

Classification of characteristics of a special subject

Signs - characteristics of a special subject can be classified by grouping them into 3 blocks [3]:

1. Characteristics of the legal status of the subject:
   state legal status (citizenship);
2. activities in the field of state defense;
3. activities in the field of transport (vehicle driver);
4. official powers;
5. other special powers (for example, keeping state secrets);
6. activity as an entrepreneur;
7. marital status;
8. the status of the subject as a participant in legal proceedings;
9. activities in the field of medicine.
10. Socio-legal and psychophysiological properties of the personality of the perpetrator:
    gender of the face;
11. age;
12. other biological indicators - venereal disease and infection;
13. Characteristics of the role performed in the process of committing a crime:
    organizer;
14. supervisor;
15. participant.

Biometric PD

Almost any enterprise has a security and video surveillance system, as well as restrictions on access to the territory or to individual premises. As a rule, photographs, fingerprints or retinal patterns are used as an identifier of persons who have the right to be in certain areas or perform certain actions. These and other physiological features are included in the category of biometric personal data, and their use requires the written consent of the owners. The document is not required only if we are talking about the use of data for the purposes of ensuring state security, the work of government agencies, as well as the implementation of law enforcement activities.

When working with such information, the operator needs to take into account the restrictions on the processing conditions - they are allowed to collect, supplement, store, etc. only until the purpose of processing has been achieved or the period specified in the consent signed by the subject has passed.

Definition

The sphere of these legal relations has its own differences and types of criminal actions. This is specifically disclosed in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The special subject is provided for in the provisions of the main regulatory act of this specification.

But before analyzing the main features of the subject, it is worth analyzing the specifics of the legal basis. It represents a system of norms regulating social relations in the field of committing illegal acts, as well as the definition of sanctions. We can say that such a field studies the position of the criminal.

In jurisprudence, there is a section that students study for a clear understanding of the legislation in the criminal field. This area formulates special facets that characterize the face. Such subjects attract responsibility.

The primary issue of the subject of a crime in criminal law at the current stage of development of jurisprudence is to establish the sane state of a citizen who is involved as a suspect.

Subject: criminal law

Criminal law presupposes a special method of regulating relations. Neither the Civil Code, nor the Tax Code, nor the Administrative Code regulate relations as strictly as the Criminal Code. It has a set of regulated norms, which are designated as a subject.

The specification of the item is based on the prohibited act itself. The subject is the initial point of departure for the mechanism of criminal and legal regulation.

All social relations in criminal proceedings can be divided into two huge groups:

1. Legal relations in the field of security. They arise between bodies that maintain order in society and persons who commit illegal actions. In this situation, the first party decides what exactly it is possible to hold law enforcement violators accountable for and what sanctions to use against them.
2. Legal relations in the field of regulation. They are associated with the education of society through the introduction of harsh punishments for criminal acts. Law enforcement agencies inform society about negative situations that are applied to every person when generally accepted standards are violated.

There are two main parts to every criminal act. They determine the object and subject of crime. In the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, such a device is mandatory for any composition.

Relations in society appear between specific subjects of the criminal process. Some of them specialize in relevant features.