Banditry Article 209 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

ST 209 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

1. Creation of a stable armed group (gang) for the purpose of attacking citizens or organizations, as well as leadership of such a group (gang) - shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of ten to fifteen years with a fine of up to one million rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to five years or without it and with restriction of freedom for a period of one to two years.

2. Participation in a stable armed group (gang) or in attacks committed by it - is punishable by imprisonment for a term of eight to fifteen years with 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 or without such and with restriction of freedom for up to one year.

3. Acts provided for in parts one or two of this article, committed by a person using his official position, are punishable by imprisonment for a term of twelve to twenty years with 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 the period up to five years or without it and with restriction of freedom for a period of one to two years.

Qualification of banditry

The basic concepts of this crime are described in Art. 219 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Let's consider the points characterizing the crime:

the attacker will be punished depending on his actions and participation in the gang. Therefore, both the leaders of the association and the active participants in the attacks will not escape responsibility;
A group is called a gang if it unites two or more members.

The gang has distinctive features that characterize this particular criminal cell. These include:

sustainable nature of the association;
creation for carrying out robbery attacks on law firms and ordinary citizens;
presence of weapons.

Let us describe in more detail the above-mentioned features inherent in the gang. For example, it can be created to commit only a single, but grandiose criminal plan, so attackers carefully prepare for it. Traits that indicate gang stability:

the group has a permanent composition;
there is a close relationship between the participants;
they act in concert;
gang members use the same methods to commit crimes;
the union exists for a long time;
are not limited to one attack.

As for weapons, it is worth saying that attackers carry out all their criminal actions using bladed weapons or firearms, and it does not matter whether they made them themselves or purchased them from third parties.

What else applies to weapons? These can be explosives, gas or pneumatic weapons. This group will not include: gas cartridges, stun guns and other special devices that do not require a permit to carry.

For a crime to be classified as banditry, the weapon must be in good working order and suitable for use. Only in this case can the attacker face punishment under the Criminal Code. If, in order to intimidate citizens, criminals threaten with a dummy or a faulty weapon, then this crime will relate to another article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Note!

If at least one member of the group has a serviceable weapon, and the other participants were aware of this fact, then the gang is already considered armed.

So what will be included in the crime? It is important to know some features that characterize banditry:

attack is considered the main feature of crime; bandits sometimes act aggressively, using violence against their victims to achieve their criminal intent. In any case, even if they did not use weapons in an armed attack, this will be considered banditry;

illegality of the community - all the actions of the group are aimed at developing their illegal activities. This can occur in the form of financing a gang, organizing a conspiracy, searching for new accomplices, purchasing and manufacturing weapons;

leadership of a group - this implies that individuals plan their further actions, provide material support to their participants, each of whom has their own role, and develop a specific crime plan;

participation in a gang - any illegal manipulation of group members, including financial support, provision of weapons and information, provision of possible options for attacks.

Note!

Even citizens who were not members of the gang will face punishment if they knew about its existence and crimes and provided all possible assistance.

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation distinguishes separately crimes related to the use of official position. Some features of the actions will speak about this:

the attacking persons are vested with certain powers;
they are wearing uniforms;
use information obtained through official position;
use special permits and permits, etc.

Of course, when determining the punishment, the court will take into account not only the role of the members of the union, but also what criminal acts they committed, for example, taking the money or property of the victims, killing citizens, damaging other people’s property, rape, etc.

Note!

In addition to punishment for banditry, the attackers will be held accountable for crimes committed during the bandit raid.

The concept and signs of banditry

Banditry is one of the most dangerous crimes in the theory of criminal law.
Criminal legislation also distinguishes the special composition of banditry, but in the legislation of other countries this concept is adjacent to such crimes as robbery, extortion, and other violent crimes. Note 1

The criminal legislation of the CIS considers banditry as a stable armed group of people who are closely related to each other by the goals of their criminal activities; this group has such characteristics as organization, stability, attacks on government organizations, public institutions, enterprises, and citizens.

Signs of banditry are as follows:

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Participation of two or more persons, each of whom has the characteristics of a subject of a crime (sanity, reaching the age of criminal responsibility). Legal entities cannot be considered gang members.
Armament and awareness of gang members about the goals of its activities. All participants must know what the gang is doing.
Gang members must be united and organized.

The gang must have signs of being armed, and the weapons can be either legal or prohibited (for example, a license is required for some types of weapons). It is also possible to use objects that are adapted for attacking and hitting people, for example, brass knuckles, a stick, a baton. Persons who both organized a gang and joined it are subject to criminal liability. Persons over 16 years of age may be held criminally liable.

In the 90s of the 20th century, many similar gangs operated. Thus, the Volgovskaya organized crime group, created by residents of the city of Togliatti, who were employees of the local Volga hotel, was quite powerful. Their criminal activity consisted of stealing and selling parts from. Gradually the group grew, as did its income. Gang members earned over 400 million dollars a year. Subsequently, the gang members were detained, and its leader was shot by his competitors. The last head of the so-called “Volgovskys,” Viktor Pchelin, was caught in 2007, and until that moment he had been on the run for 10 years.

Finished works on a similar topic

Course work Criminal-legal characteristics of banditry 410 ₽ Abstract Criminal-legal characteristics of banditry 220 ₽ Test work Criminal-legal characteristics of banditry 200 ₽

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One of the most dangerous gangs is the Yakuza. This group was founded in the 17th century. Currently, according to rough estimates, there are about 100 thousand members of this group. In 2014, according to Forbes estimates, the income of this group amounted to about 6.6 billion dollars.

Comments on legislation

Law enforcement agencies must be well versed in their field and know many laws in order to correctly apply them in practice, so they additionally use special explanations. What can you learn about banditry?

For this crime, you can only be held accountable from the age of 16, and the person prosecuted must be legally competent. But sometimes such groups can also include young children. If they are already 14, but not yet 16, then minors will be punished for those crimes that are subject to sanctions according to their age category. It can be:

murder of citizens;
kidnapping or taking victims hostage;
rape of victims and other acts of a violent nature;
intentional infliction of serious injury;
robbery;
theft or robbery;
Act of terrorism;
participation in mass riots.

When assigning punishment, the justice authorities will take into account the role of each of them in the criminal group. It will be necessary to establish the extent and role of each gang member, assess the severity of the consequences of their actions, etc.

Banditry. Corpus delicti. Separation from adjacent compounds.

Banditry (Article 209 of the Criminal Code). The objective side of the crime provided for in Part 1 of Art. 209, consists of the following alternative actions:

1) creation of a gang;

2) gang leadership.

A gang is an organized, stable armed group of two or more individuals who have united in advance to carry out attacks on citizens or organizations. A gang can also be created to commit one attack, but one that requires careful preparation. The gang differs from other organized groups in its armament and its criminal goals - committing attacks on citizens and organizations (not only for the direct seizure of property, money or other valuables of a citizen or organization, but also murder, rape, extortion, destruction or damage to other people's property, etc. .d.). The stability of a gang can be evidenced, in particular, by such signs as 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 committed. A mandatory sign of a gang, provided for in Art. 209, is its armament, which presupposes that the gang members have firearms or bladed weapons, including throwing weapons, both factory-made and homemade, various explosive devices, as well as gas and pneumatic weapons. A gang is considered armed if at least one of its members has a weapon and other gang members are aware of it.

An attack should be understood as actions aimed at achieving a criminal result by using violence against the victim or creating a real threat of its immediate use. An attack by an armed gang is considered to have taken place even in cases where the weapons owned by the gang members were not used.

Creating a gang involves committing any actions that result in the formation of an organized, stable armed group for the purpose of attacking citizens or organizations. They can be expressed in conspiracy, finding accomplices, financing, purchasing weapons, etc. In cases where the active actions of a person aimed at creating a stable armed group, due to their timely suppression by law enforcement agencies or due to other circumstances beyond the control of this person, did not lead to the emergence of a gang, they should be qualified as an attempt to create a gang. The creation of an armed gang is in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 209 completed crime, regardless of whether the crimes she planned were committed.

Gang leadership refers to decision-making related to both the planning, material support and organization of the criminal activities of the gang, and the commission of specific attacks by it.

The crime has a formal composition.

The subjective side is characterized by direct intent and a special purpose - an attack on citizens or organizations.

Subject - special: an organizer or leader of a gang who has reached 16 years of age.

The objective side of the crime provided for in Part 2 of Art. 209, includes the following actions:

1) participation in a gang;

2) participation in gang attacks.

Participation in a gang is not only direct participation in the attacks it commits, but also the performance by members of the gang of other active actions aimed at financing it, providing weapons, transport, finding targets for attack, etc. Participation in an attack is also classified as banditry by persons who, while not members of a gang, are aware that they are taking part in a crime committed by a gang.

The actions of persons who were not members of the gang and did not take part in the attacks committed by it, but who assisted the gang in its criminal activities, should be qualified under Art. 33 of the Criminal Code and the corresponding part of Art. 209.

Since the law does not provide for liability for gang members committing criminal acts during an attack that constitute independent crimes, in these cases one should be guided by the provisions of Art. 17 of the Criminal Code, according to which, in the event of a combination of crimes, a person is liable for each crime under the relevant article or part of an article of the Criminal Code.

The subject is a gang member (if participating in a gang) or another person who is not a gang member (if participating in gang attacks). Persons aged 14 to 16 years who have committed various crimes as part of a gang are subject to liability only for those specific crimes for which liability is provided from the age of 14.

A subject of qualified banditry (Part 3 of Article 209) is a person who used to commit crimes under Part 1 or Part 2 of Art. 209, his official position.

Committing banditry using one’s official position should be understood as the use by a person of his authority or other official powers, uniforms and paraphernalia, official identification cards or weapons, as well as information that he has in connection with his official position, in preparing or committing a gang attack or when financing its criminal activities, weapons, material equipment, selection of new gang members, etc.

Distinguishing banditry from related crimes

Distinguishing banditry from illegal armed groups. An important feature of a gang, which distinguishes it from the crime of “organizing an illegal armed group or participating in it,” is the purpose of its creation—an attack on citizens or organizations. The organization of an illegal armed group pursues other goals: political, social (for example, to “protect” a city or town from criminal attacks), nationalistic, etc.

In cases where members of an illegal armed group take direct part in an attack on military arsenals, duty units of internal affairs bodies in order to seize weapons, their actions must be qualified as banditry under Art. 209 of the Criminal Code, since these actions are not covered by the composition of an organization of an illegal armed group. The crime provided for in Art. 208 of the Criminal Code, here it develops into banditry, and, in my opinion, additional qualifications under this article of the Criminal Code are no longer required.

Distinguishing between banditry and robbery. Comparing banditry with robbery committed by an organized group and with the use of weapons, we note the criteria by which these groups should be distinguished. These criteria are:

1. Banditry, compared to group robbery, is characterized by a higher level of organization and cohesion, and stability. These properties are not typical for groups committing robbery attacks. They are created, as a rule, for a one-time crime, after which they disintegrate.

2. for a gang, it is mandatory to be armed, which acts as a constructive feature of this crime. It does not matter whether it was used in the course of a gang attack or not. As part of robbery, the presence of a weapon acts as a qualifying feature, and the law talks about its use. At the same time, robbery involves the use, along with weapons, of other objects used as weapons, while with banditry we are talking about weapons in the narrow sense of the word.

3. Banditry differs from armed robbery in motives, as well as in a wider range of goals. If during robbery the attack is committed only for mercenary purposes, i.e. with the goal of taking possession of someone else’s property, then in banditry such a goal is not necessary. The actions of a gang can be aimed at both seizing property and causing harm to people’s health, murder; rape, destruction of property, etc.

4. The difference also appears at the moment of completion of these acts. Banditry is considered a completed crime from the moment a gang is created, regardless of whether it has committed specific attacks or not. To have the corpus delicti of completed robbery, a real attack with the aim of taking possession of property is required.

Distinguishing banditry from organizing a criminal community, murder and extortion. When distinguishing banditry from the organization of a criminal community, we proceed from the fact that the basis of a criminal community, like a gang, is the concept of an organized group. This circumstance makes these forms of joint criminal activity similar. The difference lies in the sign of cohesion that the legislator gives to the concept of a criminal community, while when characterizing an organized group, a type of which we consider a gang, the sign of stability is indicated.

Within the meaning of the law, a criminal community represents a more highly organized criminal structure, a more harmonious hierarchy, since it can consist of individual structural units, as well as an association of organizers, leaders of organized groups and their representatives (Part 4 of Article 35 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). To recognize a community as criminal, it does not need to be armed, which also distinguishes it from a gang. The significant difference between the crimes being compared lies in the objectives. The goal of the gang is to carry out attacks on citizens or organizations. The purpose of creating a criminal community is to commit serious or especially serious crimes in the absence of an attack.

A similar position can be noted regarding the possibility of a combination of banditry and murder. In accordance with this position, murder, as a general rule, should also be covered by banditry, since the purpose of a gang attack may also be to take the life of the victim.

The question of the similarity of extortion (Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) with banditry, and, consequently, the need to distinguish them, in the author’s opinion, arises in the case of qualified extortion - committed by an organized group (Part 3 of Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) , if, moreover, this group is armed, i.e. when this group has all the characteristics of a gang. Extortion develops into banditry when the perpetrators use an armed attack as a means of reclaiming someone else’s property. As for the combination of banditry with extortion, then, according to what has been said, the problem of the combination of banditry with other acts cannot take place in this case, because, in the author’s opinion, all acts committed by a gang in the process of attack are covered by banditry.

Mass riots.

The main object of the crime is public safety.

An additional object is relations to ensure the bodily integrity of a person, his health, property, public order, normal activities of enterprises, institutions, authorities and management.

By mass riots, the legislator understands a crime that violates public safety and can cause grave consequences in the economic, political, environmental, military sphere, and paralyze the activities of public authorities and administration.

The objective side of the crime (Part 1 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) consists of organizing mass riots, accompanied by violence, pogroms, arson, destruction of property, the use of firearms, explosives or explosive devices, as well as armed resistance to a representative of the authorities.

The organization of mass unrest is recognized as active actions to organize, gather a crowd, calls for all citizens at the scene of the commission of a crime to join a certain group of “activists” to commit pogroms, arson, destruction of property, the use of firearms, explosives or explosive devices, as well as rendering armed resistance to government officials, explanation of the motives and reasons for committing these actions; further determination of the direction of movement of the crowd, the specific content of its actions, giving signals to begin actions, etc. In a number of cases, when organizing mass riots, work is carried out to arm the rioters and prepare items that can be used by them as weapons. The organizers plan the development of unrest, distribute roles among themselves during its implementation, prepare and train so-called provocateurs and militants, influence the mood of people directly at the event, distributing leaflets with calls for violent action, and organize speeches by specially trained speakers. The actions of organizers carried out on the grounds of inciting national or religious hatred are especially dangerous, since, as practice shows, in these cases, as a rule, attacks on people’s lives are inevitable. Already directly during the commission of mass riots, the organizers personally or through their proxies direct the actions of the crowd, coordinate them for the most effective resistance to law enforcement agencies, constantly maintain an excited and aggressive mood among people by putting forward new slogans, communicating information that causes indignation of people.

Mass riots accompanied by violence are understood as the infliction of beatings by a crowd on random victims, government officials, local government officials, the infliction of light or moderate harm to health, and torture of victims. If during mass riots their participants cause serious harm to the health of one or more victims or death, then the act is qualified in conjunction with Art. Art. 212 and 111, 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

A pogrom is the destruction and desecration of buildings, structures, residential buildings, vehicles, and infrastructure. Arson is the deliberate ignition of property, buildings, structures, residential buildings, cars and other vehicles. Destruction of property means bringing it into a state unsuitable for use, which is impossible or economically impractical to restore. The use of firearms , explosives or explosive devices means their use to cause harm to human health, destruction, damage to property, as well as the threat of immediate use (on the issue of the use of firearms, see the commentary on Article 206 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Providing armed resistance to a representative of the authorities means active opposition by participants in mass riots to representatives of the authorities (police officers, special services, military personnel performing duties to protect public order, vigilantes, etc.) by using or threatening to use weapons (firearms or cold steel) when performing their assigned duties. their duties, as well as other representatives of any branch of government. The composition of the organization of mass riots is formal, responsibility comes for actions that culminated in the gathering, creation of a crowd that followed the calls of the organizer and began pogroms, arson, etc., regardless of the consequences of the act of mass riots. The subjective side of organizing mass riots is characterized by direct intent. The perpetrator realizes that he is organizing mass riots and wants to carry out these actions. The motives for the crime do not affect qualifications. They can be reactionary-chauvinistic sentiments, hooligan motives, protest against the lawful or unlawful actions of officials, government officials, etc. subject of organizing mass riots is a sane person who has reached the age of sixteen.

Part 2 of Art. 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes liability for an independent crime - participation in mass riots, provided for in Part 1 of Art. 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Participation in mass riots is the commission by a person of violent acts, pogroms, arson and other acts listed in Part 1 of Art. 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. If a person is in a crowd, but does not commit any of those listed in Part 1 of Art. 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, then there is no corpus delicti. If a person who is a participant in mass riots commits acts not provided for in Part 1 of Art. 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, for example, steals property from a destroyed building, causes death to someone, commits rape, then such actions require independent qualification under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The subjective side of participation in mass riots is characterized by direct intent. The subject of the crime is common. A sane person who has reached the age of sixteen can be recognized as a participant in mass riots.

In Part 3 of Art. 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains another independent crime - calls for active disobedience to the legal demands of government officials and for mass riots, as well as calls for violence against citizens. The corpus delicti of this crime occurs if the person made a corresponding persistent proposal to a personally unspecified wide range of persons. In contrast to appeals to potential participants in mass riots, aimed at immediately organizing mass riots under Part 1 of Art. 212 of the Criminal Code, actions under Part 3 of Art. 212 of the Criminal Code are calls of a general nature. Statements can be voiced, transmitted using the media, presented in the form of leaflets, etc. Attention should be paid to the fact that in Part 3 of Art. 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation refers to calls specifically for active disobedience to legal requirements, which can be expressed in resisting police officers, building barricades, using smoke bombs, etc. Calls for passive disobedience do not form part of the crime in question. The corpus delicti of this crime is formal, the act is completed from the moment of dissemination of calls for active disobedience to the legal demands of government officials, mass riots, violence against citizens (on the concept of calls, see also the commentary to Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). subject of the crime is a sane person who has reached the age of sixteen.

Criminal liability for banditry under Art. 209 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

The judge must clearly define the roles of each participant. For creating a gang or its leadership, you face:

fine (the amount can reach 1 million rubles);
imprisonment for 10-15 years.

If the offender took part in the attacks, then the following are possible:

prison term of 8-15 years;
fine.

When officials use their official position, the punishment increases:

may be imprisoned for 12-20 years;
fine up to 1 million rubles.

In addition, the offender may have his freedom of movement restricted for a period of 1 to 2 years.

Note!

The attack will be classified as banditry, even if violence or weapons were not used against the victims, since the final goal of the bandits was achieved without their use, for example, through threats, a surprise attack, when the victims themselves gave money and valuables out of fear.