ST 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
1. A person who has reached the age of sixteen at the time of committing a crime is subject to criminal liability.
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), sexual assault (Article 132), theft (Article 158), robbery (Article 161), robbery (Article 162), extortion (Article 163), unlawful taking of a car or other vehicle without the purpose of theft ( Article 166), intentional destruction or damage to property under aggravating circumstances (part two of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), terrorist act (Article 205), undergoing training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities (Article 205.3), participation in a terrorist community (part two of Article 205.4) , participation in the activities of a terrorist organization (part two of Article 205.5), failure to report a crime (Article 205.6), hostage taking (Article 206), knowingly false reporting of an act of terrorism (Article 207), participation in an illegal armed group (part two of Article 208) , hijacking of an air or water transport vessel or railway rolling stock (Article 211), participation in mass riots (part two of Article 212), aggravated hooliganism (parts two and three of Article 213), vandalism (Article 214), illegal acquisition, transfer , sale, storage, transportation or carrying of explosives or explosive devices (Article 222.1), illegal manufacture of explosives or explosive devices (Article 223.1), theft or extortion of weapons, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices (Article 226), theft or extortion narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances (Article 229), disabling means of transport or means of communication (Article 267), encroachment on the life of a state or public figure (Article 277), attack on persons or institutions enjoying international protection (Article 360), act of international terrorism (Article 361 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
3. 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 of his actions (inaction) or manage them, he is not subject to criminal liability.
Commentary to Art. 20 Criminal Code
1. A mandatory feature of a subject is reaching the age at which criminal liability begins. The general age of criminal responsibility is set at 16 years. For a number of crimes, the social danger of which a person is able to recognize at an earlier age, or which are considered by the legislator as especially dangerous in themselves, criminal liability begins at the age of 14 (Part 2 of the article).
2. The general rules for determining age are established in paragraph 5 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 1, 2011 No. 1 “On the judicial practice of applying legislation regulating the specifics of criminal liability and punishment of minors.” The age of a person is determined by official documents, and a person is considered to have reached the age of criminal responsibility upon the expiration of the corresponding day of his birth, i.e. from zero o'clock the next day. In the absence of documentary evidence of the exact age and the known month and year or only the year of birth, the person’s date of birth is recognized as the last day of the month or December 31, respectively. When establishing an age calculated in years, the court should proceed from the minimum age of a person proposed by experts.
3. Part 3 of the article enshrines the concept of so-called age-related insanity. It is associated with a discrepancy between a person’s documented age and his social age due to reasons not related to a mental disorder (if such an age discrepancy is caused by a mental disorder, then either Article 21 or Article 22 of the Criminal Code is applicable). This concept applies to persons from 16 (14) to 18 years of age.
The medical criterion for age-related insanity is a mental retardation not associated with a mental disorder. Such a lag is expressed in social or pedagogical neglect or infantilism of the person. This condition is completely reversible with proper education.
The legal criterion of age-related insanity assumes that a person cannot fully understand the actual nature and social danger of his actions (inaction) or control them.
The temporal criterion of age-related insanity is associated with its presence during the commission of a socially dangerous act.
The legal consequence of age-related insanity is the non-bringing of a person to criminal liability.
Under what articles does criminal liability arise at the age of 14?
Imprisonment in a correctional colony is imposed for serious criminal acts, including murder, terrorism and grand theft. From the age of 14, persons convicted under the following articles can sit in the dock:
- intentional murder of one or more people - Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- Infliction of harm to health of moderate severity intentionally - Art. 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- infliction of grievous bodily harm - Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- rape - Art. 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- kidnapping for any purpose - Art. 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- robbery with the ensuing consequences, committed by one person or a group of persons in conspiracy - Art. 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- violent actions with sexual overtones - Art. 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- car theft - Art. 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- obvious extortion - Art. 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- robbery and theft - art. 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, respectively;
- participation in terrorist groups - all parts of Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- production and sale of explosives - art. 223.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- Hooliganism under aggravating circumstances - Art. 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and some other articles.
You can clarify the criminal liability of a 14-year-old teenager in a specific case from experienced lawyers by phone or on our company’s website.
Note! The legislation clearly defines the age limit at which criminal liability begins. For minors, a number of leniencies and restrictions on punishment are provided in the form of a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
Second commentary to Art. 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
1. A necessary condition for the emergence and implementation of the rights and obligations of a person is his ability to act as an active participant in public (criminal law) relations. The state recognizes such ability for a person who has reached a certain age: general - 16 years (Section 1, Article 20) and exceptional - 14 years (Part 2, Article 20).
2. The total age of the subject of the crime is 16 years. The legislator established it based on the idea of a person’s social maturity, sufficient for his responsibility, as a general rule, for all crimes.
3. The exceptional (minimum) age of the subject of the crime is 14 years. The legislator, although recognizing it as sufficient for criminal liability, strictly limits the list of crimes for which responsibility begins at the age of 14. It includes only those crimes whose social and legal meaning is understandable to a person who has not reached social maturity (Part 2 of Article 20).
4. The special age of the subject of the crime is provided for in the articles of the Special Part of the Criminal Code (for example, in articles 150, 151, 134, 135).
5. According to the legal tradition, in Russian (and foreign) criminal legislation the age of the subject of a crime is determined according to the principle of sufficiency of socio-psychological maturity for imputation (responsibility). In specific circumstances, the social and socio-psychological underdevelopment of a person characterizes his social (age-related) insanity as the inability to bear criminal responsibility due to his individual characteristics, individual underdevelopment not associated with a mental disorder (Part 2 of Article 20).
6. The age of criminal responsibility is established on the basis of documents certifying it. 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 the next day.
In cases where there are no documents certifying age, age is established by the court based on the conclusion of a forensic medical examination. When establishing the age of a defendant through a forensic medical examination, his birthday is considered to be the last day of the year, which is named by experts, and when determining the minimum and maximum age, the court should proceed from the minimum age of such a person proposed by experts.
Why does criminal liability begin at 14 years of age?
The age limit at which a person who has committed a serious crime is brought to justice was established taking into account the statistics of recent decades, during which the growth of crime among minors has increased significantly. Factors such as:
- findings of child psychologists;
- the result of personal conversations with the perpetrators;
- activities of teaching staff in school institutions.
According to Art. 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, punishment for light offenses begins at the age of 16, and for serious crimes directed against society and human life, punishment begins at the age of 14.
Third commentary to Article 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
1. As a general rule, for the commission of most crimes, criminal liability begins when a person reaches the age of 16 years. Only for some criminal acts, the social danger of which is significant, criminal liability begins upon reaching the age of 14 years. The list of these crimes is set out in Part 2 of Art. 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and is exhaustive.
2. To bring a person to criminal liability, it is necessary to accurately determine his age (day, month, year of birth). This issue is resolved on the basis of relevant documents (birth certificate, passport, etc.). Age is determined not by the beginning of the birthday, but by its end, i.e. a person is considered to have reached the age at which criminal liability begins, not on his birthday, but after the expiration of the day on which this day falls, i.e. from zero hours of the next day. In the absence of documents certifying the date of birth, the age is established in the process of conducting a forensic medical examination. In this case, the subject’s birthday should be considered 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 assumed by the experts. This procedure for establishing the age of a person who has committed an act prohibited by criminal law is defined in Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 01.02.2011 N 1 “On the judicial practice of applying legislation regulating the specifics of criminal liability and punishment of minors.”
3. Having provided for the onset of criminal liability for minors from the age of 16, and for some crimes from the age of 14, the law gives the court the right to release such a person from criminal liability in the case of committing a crime of minor or moderate gravity for the first time, if correction can be achieved through the use of compulsory educational measures ( see commentary to Article 90 of the Criminal Code). When imposing a sentence on a minor who has committed a crime of minor or moderate gravity, criminal penalties may be replaced by compulsory educational measures (see commentary to Article 92 of the Criminal Code).
4. In some cases, the rules of so-called age-related insanity apply to minors. We are talking about socially and educationally neglected teenagers, those who have mental retardation, but not due to a mental disorder. In such cases, it is necessary to order an examination of the subject’s mental state with the involvement of specialists in child and youth psychology and pedagogy. If the conclusion of a special psychological and pedagogical examination establishes that a minor, for the above reasons, could not fully possess intellect and will, then he is not subject to criminal liability.
5. In certain cases established by criminal law and in some cases by other federal laws, a special subject of the crime is subject to liability.
We are talking about additional characteristics of a subject that the legislator gives him (by gender, age, profession, position). ‹ Article 19. General conditions of criminal liabilityUp Article 21. Insanity ›
Establishing a maximum age of criminal responsibility
Khabarovsk State University of Economics and Law. 3rd year master's student Kirill Sergeevich Reshetnev
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in Article 20 establishes only the upper limit of the age of criminal responsibility, which is subject to multiple criticism in the legal literature. However, the question often arises about establishing a maximum age for criminal responsibility.
This is due to a number of circumstances. First of all, scientists point out that the subject, when committing a crime, must carry out conscious volitional actions (inaction), which in old age, taking into account physiological and psychological characteristics, becomes almost impossible.
Upon reaching 75 years of age and at an older age, a deformation of moral guidelines occurs, and, according to experts, this applies not to individual individuals, but to the entire age group as a whole, the lifestyle and social circle changes, and an exaggerated sense of justice appears.
Such a distortion of the psyche makes older people similar to minors or even in some cases to the insane, so sometimes in the literature points of view are expressed about the need for compulsory medical treatment of such subjects of crime.
We consider this provision to be somewhat incorrect, since if an examination establishes that an elderly person who has committed crimes is insane, then, according to the general rules of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, he is not considered a subject of a crime at all. Moreover, this rule is not related to the achievement of any age limit, but applies to the entire category of persons.
If a person is found sane, he must still bear criminal responsibility for his actions. And in this responsibility, it would be much more humane to place such subjects in a specialized organization that would also provide medical care for them. That is, by analogy with minors, for elderly people who have committed a crime, conditions should be provided that differ from other age groups.
In other areas of law, legislative acts often contain an indication of a certain age limit. For example, according to Article 49 of Federal Law No. 53-FZ of March 28, 1998 “On Military Duty and Military Service,” the age limit for holding senior positions in military service is 65 years. Based on such provisions, some legal scholars rightly point out that the Criminal Code also already contains a number of provisions that make it possible to take into account old age when assigning punishment, and, therefore, there is no need to regulate the situation of this category of persons in any other way. Thus, Articles 57 and 59 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establish a provision according to which men over sixty years of age are not sentenced to life imprisonment and the death penalty.
On the other hand, due to the peculiarities of the emotional and volitional sphere, as well as the ongoing changes in the psyche of an elderly person, the age limit can be established as a circumstance mitigating criminal liability.
The justification of those who propose to generally exempt older people who have reached a certain age from criminal liability is that modern conditions for serving a sentence will most likely contribute to the fact that a person will no longer be able to serve his sentence to the end. In addition, the purpose of punishment in connection with mental processes will clearly not be achieved.
Having analyzed all the above points of view, we can summarize. We believe that when we are talking about a sane person, even one of advanced age, there is no need to completely exempt him from criminal liability only on this basis. At the same time, to a certain extent it is worth agreeing that it is also hardly possible to achieve the goal of correction by placing such persons in modern places of deprivation of liberty. Criminal statistics indicate a small quantitative group of elderly criminals. Based on this, it is quite acceptable to create specialized organizations where elderly people will serve their sentences, and the conditions in them should also be different for persons who have committed serious and especially serious crimes.
Age may influence the judge's decision
GD of the RF Armed Forces dated 01.02.2011 No. 1, together with the legislation, established the rules for the consideration of criminal cases of minors. There are also some restrictions that are taken into account when investigating murders, especially serious crimes and any other violations committed by teenagers aged 14 to 18 years:
- the maximum penalty provided for under the article is reduced by half, but cannot exceed 10 years in the case of a particularly serious offense in accordance with Art. 88 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- teenagers serve their sentences in separate institutions - these are educational colonies with enhanced and general security;
- in some situations, provisions applicable to minors may be taken into account for 18-20 year old convicts (Article 96 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
- if a crime of medium or light severity is committed for the first time, then the guilty person cannot be deprived of liberty - clause 6 of Art. 88 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
The court also considers additional grounds, including:
- the family status of the convicted person, which may become a direct or indirect reason for committing a crime, for example, theft;
- the psychological state and influence of adults on his behavior often remains an unopened veil, which leads to an ambiguous conclusion. In fact, some juvenile offenders are puppets in the hands of experienced criminals who use them for personal gain;
- the standard of living is also important, since most thefts, robberies and the creation of gangs are caused by a lack of attention from parents;
- mitigating and aggravating circumstances.
Note! In the event of a combination of mitigating circumstances, criminal punishment may be replaced by house arrest, a fine, a suspended sentence, or stay in a closed educational institution.
In modern jurisdictions, the age of criminal responsibility is constantly debated. Judicial practice shows that raising the established level will lead to a worsening of the situation and an increase in crime among the juvenile population. Statistics from recent years show that violation of the law by minors is mostly associated with bodily harm, vehicle theft, robbery, theft, rape and beatings. All these acts fall within the definition of paragraph 2 of Art. 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for liability starting from the age of 14.
