Types of legal liability: key classifications

Legal liability is a system of formal negative sanctions provided by law for specific types of offenses.

The main types of legal liability are the following: civil, material, financial, procedural, constitutional, family disciplinary, administrative, criminal.

Knowing these types of legal matters is important not only in order to understand what sanctions may apply for unlawful actions. But also for successfully completing the tasks of the first and second parts of the Unified State Examination work. In this article we will briefly examine them using examples.

Can I be held criminally liable?

This procedure involves the implementation of a criminal procedural measure. Judicial officials are not exempt from such measures of influence. For example, if the law is violated, the relevant structures have every right to bring the investigator to criminal responsibility, regardless of his rank. Authorities that prosecute criminal cases use in their work the laws set out in the Criminal Code. We have filed a complaint against the investigator to the prosecutor’s office more than once, and we will help you too.

This concept presupposes the need for criminals to be punished for the atrocities they have committed. Now bringing an expert to criminal liability means handing over to the judicial authorities evidence of the unlawful actions of such an expert with the aim of punishing him. Based on the decision made by the judicial authorities, the expert will or will not suffer the appropriate punishment.

The question of whether it is possible to hold lawyers criminally liable has the following answer: yes, but if there is an evidence base. The same requirements are presented, for example, if there is an intention to bring the husband to criminal liability.

Key classifications

Traditionally, the basis for classifying types of legal liability are branches of law. However, one cannot simply go ahead and declare some kind of “forest” responsibility only on the basis of the fact that there is a Forest Code of the Russian Federation. It is necessary to understand that for many offenses one type of liability may arise.

That is why you need to clearly understand the object of regulation of each branch of law .

So, according to one of the classifications (authors: Doctor of Legal Sciences T.V. Kashanina and Candidate of Legal Sciences A.V. Kashanina), nine types of liability are distinguished:

1. Criminal - occurs for committing crimes provided for by the Criminal Code.
2. Administrative liability - occurs for committing administrative offenses.
3. Disciplinary - provided for offenses related to labor relations and the Labor Code.
4. Financial liability - occurs for actions that caused property damage to the subjects.
5. Civil liability is associated with civil offenses resulting in property or non-property damage (for example, moral damage, or violation of a good name, honest reputation, etc.).
6. Financial responsibility - occurs for violating the rules for handling money.
7. Procedural liability - provided for violation of the procedure for the passage and consideration of a legal case in a state authority.
8. Constitutional responsibility is usually expressed in the repeal of those laws that contradict the current Constitution.
9. Family responsibility - related to family misconduct.

It is clear that this classification is very controversial in itself. After all, it is obvious that some acts related to the family (for example, malicious evasion of alimony payments) are subject to criminal liability. And financial liability is very closely related to civil liability, since both individuals and legal entities operate in civil law.

It is obvious that the above classification is based not only on the sectoral principle (by branches of law), but also on the spheres of society in which certain offenses may be committed.

Be that as it may, in an exam assignment that requires you to write a plan on a given topic, I would recommend using the following types of legal liability:

1. Constitutional
2. Civil law
3. Disciplinary
4. Administrative
5. Criminal
6. Material
7. Ecological

Financial responsibility is generally a stable expression. Always, if, for example, a contract for the provision of services is concluded, there is a clause on financial liability. When you go to work as a security guard, it’s the same.

Constitutional responsibility is also present today both in specialized literature and in practice.

Environmental responsibility is increasingly mentioned in numerous scientific articles that are written based on changes in both legislation and law enforcement practice. Next, we will analyze each type with examples. Schemes and tables are not needed here - everything is clear!

Basis of criminal liability

Criminal liability - the obligation of a person to obey a court sentence and bear punishment, arises from the moment the sentence comes into force.

The basis for criminal liability is a crime. A crime is an act that is provided for in the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, the act is not the only basis for criminal prosecution. To bring a person to criminal liability, it is necessary to establish the presence of elements of a crime.

"Criminal bankruptcy":

criminal articles and amount of punishment

The paradox of bankruptcy is that unscrupulous debtors are trying to use it to implement “gray” enrichment schemes and attempts to evade responsibility, but at the same time, the same procedure provides creditors with working “punitive” mechanisms for effectively influencing the debtor: attracting to liability and debt collection.

Russian legislation provides for criminal penalties for violations of bankruptcy laws under three main articles:

Unlawful actions in bankruptcy - Article 195 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Criminal liability occurs if: the debtor hides property and information about it, transfers assets into the hands of third parties; falsifies, distorts accounting documents, interferes with the activities of the arbitration manager, etc.

Intentional bankruptcy – Article 196 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Criminal liability arises if: representatives of the debtor deliberately “bring” the company to bankruptcy, commit actions (or, conversely, inaction) that lead to the inability to answer for debts to creditors and fulfill public obligations.

Fictitious bankruptcy – Article 197 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Criminal liability arises if: the management of a company declares bankruptcy to the company, while there are no signs of insolvency, or they are fictitious.

THE AMOUNT OF CRIMINAL PENALTIES PROVIDED FOR IN THE ABOVE ARTICLES VARY FROM IMPRESSIVE FINES (RUB 150,000 – 500,000) TO ACTUAL IMPRISONMENT FOR UP TO SIX YEARS.

Important: in theory, everything is simple. But in practice, criminal prosecution is a difficult task.

Procedure for criminal prosecution

The procedure for punishing the culprit includes sequential stages:

1. Criminal proceedings
2. Investigation of the case
3. Judicial proceedings
4. Sentencing and execution

For a citizen, the moment of beginning to bring him to criminal responsibility is considered to be his involvement as an accused. From this moment on, he is obliged to submit to legal measures of influence on him, including the application of a preventive measure against him.

The investigation of a case is the activity of special investigative bodies. The investigation may take the form of an inquiry or a preliminary investigation. The purpose of the investigation is to prepare the case for trial and to obtain evidence.

Judicial proceedings in a criminal case include many stages, including the judicial investigation. This stage ends with a verdict. The entry into force of the sentence is the moment of criminal prosecution.

How to bring to justice those responsible for fabricating a criminal case?

A successful entrepreneur and public figure, V., in August 2017, decided to run for an elected position in local government in the city of Kimry, Tver Region. By “amazing coincidence,” some time after this, officers from the local police department came to search the apartment of his elderly mother, where he was registered but had not lived for 17 years.

According to operatives, the search was carried out as part of a criminal case initiated on the theft of a laptop from a citizen previously unknown to V.’s family. The basis for the search was the detective's report, which contained the assumption that the stolen items could be in V.'s apartment. The search was carried out without a court decision; the investigator of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a decision to conduct a search in an urgent case.

It is not surprising that during the search the required items were not found, however, a large number of prohibited items were found in the apartment of the law-abiding pensioner, including: a Makarov pistol with a silencer and live ammunition for it, an F-1 grenade, explosives, and a roll of tape with amphetamine. It was obvious to us that all these items were planted in the apartment with the knowledge of the police officers and this search was nothing more than the first step towards the illegal criminal prosecution of V. in connection with his social activities.

The absurdity and paradox of the situation is expressed in the following details.

1. The search in the apartment took no more than 30 minutes, during which the investigators were able to find a large number of the listed items. Typically, such investigative actions last for several hours. This suggests that the employees knew what and where they would find even before entering the apartment.
2. Amazingly, some of the mentioned items, including the F-1 grenade, were found in the lower compartment of the gas stove, i.e. under the oven. At the same time, V.’s mother often cooks baked goods in the oven. It’s scary to imagine what the consequences could have been if the grenade had lain there longer.
3. The highlight of the program, of course, is the procedural design of the action:

• the search was carried out as part of a criminal investigation into the theft of a laptop;
• the basis for the search was a report from a police detective, in which he reported the possible presence of stolen gold jewelry in V.’s apartment;
• As a result of the search, neither a laptop nor gold jewelry was found, but prohibited items were discovered and seized.

Subsequently, I went to the Kimry City Court in accordance with Art. 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, a complaint was filed in which I indicated that in this case there were no urgent circumstances and, accordingly, the search was illegal.

It is not surprising that the complaint was satisfied, and the decision of the Kimry City Court declared the search illegal. However, this did not prevent a criminal case from being initiated against V. under Art. 222 and 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

In order to prevent the illegal criminal prosecution of my client, I appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office in accordance with Art. 124 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, pointing out numerous violations by the investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and suggesting that they were unbiased. As a result of the prosecutor's inspection, the criminal case was withdrawn by the prosecutor's office from the proceedings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and transferred to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation; At the same time, a criminal case was initiated against the police under Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – abuse of official powers. I entered the case as a representative of V.

Currently, V. is a victim in two criminal cases. One of them was initiated under Art. 222 and 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the former leader of one of the local criminal groups was brought forward as a defendant, who organized the illegal search, having previously planted prohibited items in the apartment of my client’s mother, and another case was opened against police officers under Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It seems to me that the initiator of the criminal case has personal scores with my client.

However, criminal proceedings are carried out extremely slowly, and the investigation is accompanied by unacceptable red tape. After I appealed the inaction of the investigation in accordance with Art. 124 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the Kimry prosecutor's office has submitted several demands to eliminate violations to the local department of the Investigative Committee, but no significant steps have been taken by the investigation yet. It is striking that some police officers involved in this crime are not only not brought to criminal responsibility, but still continue to retain their positions.

It is unfortunate that the positive dynamics in the investigation of these criminal cases began only after an appeal to the Prosecutor General.

It is interesting that even the initiation of criminal cases did not protect V.’s apartment from criminal attacks. Many months after the events described, V.’s mother again discovered a package of amphetamine in her refrigerator. After this event, she, of course, turned to the Investigative Committee. The arriving officers inspected the scene of the incident and opened a criminal case, connecting it with the one they are working on. The substance found was sent for examination.

At the moment, according to the investigator, the preliminary investigation into the criminal case initiated under Art. 222 and 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is being completed, and the case will soon be brought to court. The accused has been in custody for many months. I plan to take part in the trial as a representative of the victim in order to achieve the most severe punishment for the perpetrator. As for the criminal case against police officers initiated under Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it should be noted with disappointment that the investigation is being deliberately delayed and, apparently, it will be necessary to repeatedly submit complaints to the prosecutor’s office in order to speed up the criminal process.

Application for criminal prosecution

In order to bring an employer to criminal liability, it is necessary to apply to the Investigative Committee, since cases of non-payment of wages and illegal dismissal of certain categories of employees are under the jurisdiction of this body. The prosecutor's office can facilitate the initiation of a criminal case in the interests of workers who have not received wages for more than two months or illegally dismissed workers.

The chairman of the HOA or the director of the organization (depending on its type), as officials, may be held criminally liable for fraud, misappropriation, embezzlement, abuse of power, non-payment of mandatory contributions and non-payment of taxes. For example, if residents observe facts of the loss of common property or facts of improper spending of funds, they can apply to initiate a criminal case to the internal affairs bodies or the investigative committee.

USEFUL: read more about how to draw up a statement about initiating a criminal case using the link

Who can be criminally punished?

As part of the bankruptcy procedure, controlling persons can be held criminally liable. That is, citizens who, for two years before the onset of bankruptcy, managed the organization, gave orders binding on the company, or in some other way directed the actions of the debtor.

So, the following persons can be punished criminally:

Head

The leader is punished first. He can be called differently: “president”, “general director”, simply “director”, but there is a main criterion that allows you to accurately “identify” the manager - this is permission to act on behalf of the company without a power of attorney.

Chief accountant

All finances go through the chief accountant. Despite the fact that the chief accountant “sees” money only on paper, he is criminally responsible for deliberate fraudulent actions and causing damage to creditors and the state.

Participants of a business company, shareholders

Participants in a business company (a legal entity created on a contractual basis) who have combined their property assets for the purpose of making a profit, shareholders, if the court finds them guilty, for example, in the bankruptcy of the company, can be punished criminally in a bankruptcy case.

Owners of property of a unitary enterprise

According to the law, the owners of the property of a unitary enterprise are not responsible for the debts of the company. But if the dishonest acts of the owners led to the bankruptcy of the company and damage to creditors, they may be brought to criminal liability during bankruptcy.

"Shadow" controlling persons

Even if the company is actually managed by a person not legally associated with it, he will bear criminal liability for illegal actions against creditors and bringing the company to bankruptcy.

Read further: what specific actions (inactions) are subject to criminal liability?

Who is the victim here?

A significant part of the document is devoted to the crime provided for in Article 143 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - “Violation of labor protection requirements.” The document establishes that liability under this article lies with the employees of the company in which the accident occurred, as well as employees of the labor protection service. Managers of an organization can also be prosecuted under this article if they have not taken measures to eliminate “a violation of labor safety requirements known to them” or have given instructions that contradict such requirements.

Victims in such cases can be not only employees under an employment contract, but also those who did not enter into such an agreement, but started working with the knowledge or on behalf of the employer (trainees, interns, as well as guest workers with whom the enterprise did not enter into an employment contract ).

In this case, the courts must take into account the specific work during which the incident occurred: if a violation of labor protection rules was committed during construction work or at hazardous production facilities, then the crime must be qualified under the “core” articles 216 or 217 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The victim of such crimes can be any person who has suffered property or physical harm. For example, if a tragedy occurred at a construction site (for example, an unfinished bridge collapsed or the wall of a house collapsed), not only the builders who were trapped under the rubble, but also the drivers of cars parked nearby and any other people who suffered physical or property damage will be recognized as victims.

Causes and Effects

During the consideration of each criminal case under Articles 143, 216 or 217 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, courts must establish and prove not only the fact of violation of special rules, but also the presence or absence of a cause-and-effect relationship between these violations and the harmful consequences that have occurred. This connection must be reflected in the court decision. Moreover, in such cases, the court must also clarify the role of the victim in the incident. “If it is established that an industrial accident occurred only due to the negligent behavior of the victim himself, the court must, if there are grounds for this, decide on the issue of acquitting the defendant,” the draft says.

It is prescribed that the head of the company or the chief engineer directly punish with prison for fractures or death of an employee if they have not taken measures to eliminate a violation known to them in the workshop, on a construction site or on a farm. Also, a manager will go to jail if he gave a worker an order that contradicts labor safety standards. For example, forced him to weld without a protective mask or do work at heights without a safety rope. But if it turns out that the employee, due to his own negligence, neglected safety rules and was injured, the court will acquit his boss. If both the foreman and the arrogant subordinate are to blame for the injuries, the general director will be able to get off with a more lenient punishment.

When assigning punishment to persons guilty of a criminal violation of special rights, the courts must take into account the nature and degree of public danger of these crimes, the nature of the violations committed, the consequences and other circumstances.

A separate explanation is given for situations where an accident occurred with an employee under a contract or paid services. In such circumstances, the customer does not bear criminal liability.

And again “skew”?

Lawyers are wary of the proposed wording of the resolution. Moreover, some of them see a “skew” towards the employer, while others see it as “biased” towards the employees. In the sense that, on the one hand, the authors of the project urge the courts, when making decisions, to avoid a formal approach, not to limit themselves to stating the circumstances of the commission of a crime, but to identify cause-and-effect relationships between the actions or inactions of responsible persons and take into account the totality of factors that led to the emergency, but in at the same time, they very abstractly indicate the responsibility of the organization’s leaders. They say that Russian practice, in contrast to the “presumption of employer responsibility” in force in a number of countries, even now tends to simply find “switchers” among ordinary employees and place all responsibility on them.”

One way or another, the document has been sent for revision. We can only hope that the sought-after “balance of interests” will still be found, and the “distortions” will be eliminated. In the meantime, we will remind you about the rules for investigating cases of industrial injuries. Yes, just in case.

Who? Where? When?

Accidents are considered events as a result of which the victim received (Article 227 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation):

• bodily injuries (injuries), including those caused by another person;
• heatstroke;
• burn;
• frostbite;
• drowning;
• electric shock, lightning, radiation;
• bites and other bodily injuries caused by animals and insects;
• damage due to explosions, accidents, destruction of buildings, structures and structures, natural disasters and other emergency circumstances, other health damage caused by external factors.

An event can be recognized as an industrial accident if, as a result, it became necessary to transfer the victim to another job, he received a temporary or permanent loss of ability to work, or his death occurred (paragraph 10 of Article 3 of Law No. 125-FZ “On compulsory social insurance against accidents”) cases at work and occupational diseases").

The need for transfer to another job must be confirmed by a medical report - a certificate of the final diagnosis of the victim of an industrial accident (Appendix No. 2 to Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation dated April 15, 2005 No. 275), and the incapacity for work must last for at least one day (Part 1 of Art. 230 Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

It is necessary to investigate accidents that occurred with employees and other persons involved in the employer’s production activities (including with persons subject to compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases), while they were performing their job duties, performing any work on behalf of the employer, as well as when carrying out other actions determined by the employment relationship with the employer or performed in his interests.

Persons participating in the employer’s production activities, in addition to employees performing their duties under an employment contract, in particular include:

• employees and other persons receiving education in accordance with an apprenticeship contract;
• students undergoing practical training;
• persons suffering from mental disorders who participate in productive work at medical and industrial enterprises in the form of occupational therapy in accordance with medical recommendations;
• persons sentenced to imprisonment and forced to work;
• persons involved in the prescribed manner to perform socially useful works;
• members of production cooperatives and members of peasant (farm) households who take personal labor participation in their activities.

In addition to an accident that occurred at work, it is necessary to investigate incidents that occurred:

• during breaks at work;
• when preparing tools and clothing for performing work, as well as when putting them in order after completion of the work;
• on the way to and from work on the employer’s vehicle or on a personal vehicle with his
• use for official purposes under an agreement with the employer;
• during the inter-shift rest of shift workers, conductors, shift drivers, members of the mail car crew;
• when traveling to and from the place of business travel, during business trips on public or official transport, as well as when following the order of the employer (his representative) to the place of work (assignment) and back, including on foot;
• when taking actions aimed at preventing a disaster, accident or accident.

The employer must conduct an investigation into the accident that occurred not only with its employee, but also with other participants in the production process, for example, students and trainee students.

If an accident occurs at the company, the employer is obliged to:

• immediately organize first aid for the victim, and if necessary, take him to the hospital;
• take measures to prevent an accident or emergency;
• maintain the situation at the scene of the accident until the investigation of the accident begins. If this is not possible, then it needs to be recorded (for example, photographed);
• within 24 hours, report to the territorial branch of the FSS of the Russian Federation in the form approved by order of the FSS of the Russian Federation dated August 24, 2000 No. 157;
• if the victim died, inform relatives;
• organize an accident investigation.

note

Victims in criminal cases of violation of labor protection requirements can be not only full-time employees, but also unregistered persons who began work with the knowledge or on behalf of the employer, including employees working “under apprenticeship contracts.” Not only the fact of violation of the rules is subject to establishment and proof, “but also the presence or absence of a causal relationship between these violations and the harmful consequences that have occurred.”

If two or more people were injured or a person died as a result of an accident, the employer is obliged to report this within 24 hours in the form approved by Resolution of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation dated October 24, 2002 No. 73:

• to the labor inspectorate;
• to the prosecutor's office at the location of the company;
• to the regional government;
• to the company where the employee is registered (for seconded victims);
• to the federal service that controls the facility (for example, if the accident is related to special equipment, to Rostransnadzor);
• to the territorial association of trade unions (if a group accident occurred);
• to the insurer on issues of compulsory social insurance against accidents.

The employer (his representative) reports cases of acute poisoning to the relevant body of the federal executive body exercising the functions of federal state sanitary and epidemiological supervision.

Sometimes an accident can escalate into the category of serious accidents or fatal accidents. In such a situation, the employer is obliged to report it to the labor inspectorate, the trade union, the federal service that controls the facility where the accident occurred, and the employee’s insurer within three days after receiving information about it (Article 228.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).