Receiving a bribe: Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, composition, responsibility and punishment

Last updated - January 2022

Quite often there are two types of people. Some people believe that everything can be solved with money or other material goods. Others are ready to “help” in any matter for a fee, even if this means breaking the law, violating their oaths and oaths when entering the service and work, promises to fulfill their duty honestly, and work for the good of society and the state. The first may have to answer for giving, and the second for receiving a bribe.

During the period January-September 2022, law enforcement officers registered 1,490.9 thousand crimes, 0.7% of them were facts related to bribery (10,179). Of this impressive number, 2,974 were the receipt of a bribe. Their number increased by 8.9%.

Responsibility for this crime is established by two provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - Art. 290 “Taking a bribe” and 291.2 “Petty bribery”. The elements of these crimes are actually the same, the difference is in the amount of the bribe: under Art. 291.2, receiving a bribe of up to 10 thousand rubles is punishable, according to Art. 290 – more than this amount. There is no administrative liability for this act.

Concept of receiving a bribe

A bribe, in relation to criminal law, is an illegal remuneration received by officials for various actions, inactions associated with the exercise of their official powers. This is always a material benefit for its recipient, having a monetary value.

Thus, for liability under the Criminal Code, the remuneration must be:

illegal;
received by a person who meets the criteria specified in the law;
received for actions or inactions related to the powers of the bribe-taker, or, based on his position, he could commit them or contribute to them.

In detail: What is the penalty for giving a bribe to an official?

Practical nuances

In practice, corruption crimes have a wide variety of variations. But they always pursue the same goal - the use of official powers to the detriment of the interests of the state/municipal service.

Corpus delicti

The corpus delicti is the presence of four mandatory components (object, subject, objective side, subjective side). If one of the components is missing, no punishment will follow.

The object of the crime in question, that is, what is directly harmed by the committed act, is the normal activity of the state apparatus, in accordance with the requirements of the law.

From the definition of a bribe it follows that the subject of its receipt, that is, the one who can be held accountable for this criminal act, may be a special subject. In addition to the general requirements regarding the age of responsibility (16 years) and sanity, he is subject to specific requirements. According to Art. 290 will answer:

Official - his features are given in the Note to Art. 285.
A foreign official holding a position in a government agency. authorities of another state, or performing a public function (judge, minister, etc.).
An official of a public international organization is a civil servant or other person authorized to act on its behalf.

The subjective side (the attitude of the criminal himself to the crime) here is only direct intent. The culprit cannot fail to realize that, against the norms and rules established by law, he receives values for actions or inactions related to his service; his offense harms the effective and well-functioning mechanism of government and desires its occurrence. There is only a selfish motive .

The objective side (those actions that constitute a criminal act) consists directly in receiving a bribe.

A bribe can be received for:

Actions or inactions in favor of the bribe-giver, when they relate to the powers of the bribe-taker or he can contribute to them. For example, find employment, expedite the resolution of a question or appeal of interest to the bribe-giver, issue a license, certificate, permit, etc. But only on the condition that this can be done by law or is not prohibited.
Patronage, connivance in service. These may include unreasonable encouragement, bonuses, extraordinary leaves, promotion without the necessary prerequisites, etc.
Illegal actions, inaction. For example, releasing the offender from liability, the obligation to eliminate violations (stop trade, demolish an illegal building, evict), issuing special permits, rights contrary to the procedure, or when there are clear grounds for refusing to issue them. Inclusion of untrue data in important documents, lifting the seizure of property, failure to take measures to impose it within the framework of enforcement proceedings, etc.

Finished act

The legislator associates the end of the crime with the acceptance by the bribe-taker of part of the agreed amount of valuables. The very moment of transfer - before or after the promised actions or inactions, beneficial and desirable for the giver - does not matter for the assessment of the act. It is also not taken into account whether the bribe-taker fulfilled what he promised, or whether he received the opportunity to dispose of what he received as his own.

Depending on the subject of the bribe, the moment of completion of receiving the bribe can be divided into the following:

Money, securities - the crime will be over when the bribe is accepted. If the transfer of money occurs in the form of a transfer to a controlled account, from the moment it is credited to this account.
Property, rights to it - the crime is completed from the moment of their legally confirmed acquisition (transfer).
Property services, benefits - the end of the crime is associated with the moment when the bribe-taker began to use the service or benefit, received documents for it (voucher, ticket), or with his consent, actions began to obtain them (for example, repairs, construction began, a loan agreement was concluded at a lower than stipulated interest rate).

Acts regarded as receiving a bribe

The bribe-taker will be liable under Art. 290 even if the item transferred as a bribe is received by another person at his direction.
Receiving a bribe using the services of an intermediary and the official himself are punished equally.
Receiving a bribe, when this process was controlled by law enforcement officers during the implementation of an operational-search activity (ORM), is assessed as a completed crime under Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
A promise or offer to accept a bribe can be considered as the deliberate creation of conditions for this; under certain conditions, they can be qualified as preparation for this (Part 1, Article 30).

What is not qualified under Art. 290

If the bribe-taker is not authorized or cannot assist in resolving the issue of the bribe-giver, but misleads him into thinking that he, due to his official position, can “help” if there is an intention to take possession of the transferred material benefits, such actions may be assessed as fraud using official provisions (part 3 of article 159).
If the values are not accepted personally for the official, neither he nor his relatives acquire material benefits, the act is not regarded as an act under Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Accepting values for the use of personal relationships only is not regarded as receiving a bribe. For example, the head of a government agency, for a fee, asks his acquaintance, relative, who does not depend on him for service, to help the bribe-giver in another government agency, its division or organization. The extent of his responsibility depends on the specific circumstances - from disciplinary for a corruption offense to criminal under other provisions of the Criminal Code.
Will not be punished under Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation constitutes the act of accepting money and other things for actions related to the performance of professional duties, but not relating to power and other powers characterizing an official. For example, receiving an award from an accountant for performing any of his duties not related to the distribution of money.
Persons (not law enforcement officers) who created an artificial situation and evidence of an official receiving a bribe, knowing that he did not agree and refused to accept it, will be held liable under Art. . ” The provoked person is not subject to liability under such circumstances.

Features of committing by a group

The receipt of a bribe by a group of persons by prior conspiracy is said if 2 or more officials took part. At the same time, they must reach an agreement in advance that they will commit a crime together by each accepting their part of the bribe for “providing assistance” with their official powers. This act is over when at least one of the participants accepts the bribe . The actions of other group members who do not have the status of an official are regarded as mediation in bribery under Article 291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
When assessing a group act, they proceed from the whole amount of the bribe intended for all members of the group, and not for each.

Qualification of repeated facts

Systematic acceptance of a bribe from one person (for patronage, for example), if such actions were covered by one intention, is regarded as one receipt of a bribe.
One act under Art. 290 will be the receipt of values from several persons for performing one action in the interests of all of them.
Receiving a bribe from two or more people at the same time is regarded as several crimes if the bribe-taker commits a separate action for each.

Amount charged to the perpetrator

When receiving part of the agreed bribe, the bribe recipient is charged with the entire amount that was expected, and not just the amount that he received. The fact of suppressing the crime before receiving the remaining part is not a reason to evaluate the act as an attempt on Art. 290. This is consistent with the opinion of the Supreme Court as set out in the Resolution of the Plenum on corruption crimes.

That is why usually law enforcement officers do not interfere in the process of receiving a bribe until even a tiny part of it is accepted, they allow the person involved to accept it, and then stop further commission of the crime.

Assassination

An attempt to take a bribe - when it did not take place for objective reasons that did not depend on the bribe taker, despite the fact that for his part he did everything to receive it. Attempt introduces a restriction on the imposition of punishment for receiving a bribe to no more than three quarters of the most severe one under Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

In this case, an attempt can include, for example, obtaining dummy money, copies of expensive items, etc.

Definition

A bribe is understood as an illegal reward received by a person holding certain positions (including a foreign one) for the performance by this person, within the framework of his official position, of actions in favor of the bribe giver.

Not only money, but also other items, as well as services or benefits can serve as a bribe, and a bribe can be received by an official either directly or through an intermediary.

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, bribery is a criminal offense. Penalties for bribery are given in Chapter. 30 of the Criminal Code, dedicated to the fight against crimes against state power and civil service.

Specific penalties for committing crimes of this type and for mediation in them, depending on the size of the bribe and aggravating circumstances, are discussed in Art. 290 – 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In addition, some issues of combating bribery are considered in the Code of Administrative Offenses (Article 19.28), in the anti-corruption law No. 273-FZ and in the resolutions of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

Punishment for the bribe taker

Responsibility for receiving a so-called “bribe for legal actions ” in the amount of 10 thousand rubles, that is, for which the bribe-taker has authority, is provided for in Part 1 of Art. 290. It comes in the form of:

A fine in the amount of:
10-50 times the bribe.
Correctional labor from one to two years.
Up to 5 years of forced labor.
Imprisonment up to 3 years.

Punishment for receiving a “bribe for legal actions ” in a significant amount (over 25 thousand rubles) will follow in accordance with Part 2 of the analyzed article. It can be:

Fine:
income for 0.5-2 years;
30-60 times the bribe.
Up to 6 years in prison.

Receiving a bribe for illegal actions (inaction) is punishable under Part 3 of the article. For example, termination of a criminal case without grounds, concealment of a crime, return of rights before the expiration of the period of deprivation, etc. This may result in:

Fine:
income for a period of 0.5 – 2 years;
40-70 times the bribe.
Imprisonment 3-8 years.

Fourth part of Art. 290 establishes significantly stricter liability for acts in parts 1-3 committed by people replacing:

public position of the Russian Federation established by the Constitution, federal constitutional and federal laws (positions of the Government, Federal Assembly, State Duma, ministers, Commissioners, some judges, etc.);
a public position of a subject of the Russian Federation, established by the constitutions, charters of these regions for the implementation of the powers of government agencies (deputy heads, chairmen, legislative bodies, election commissions, their deputies and others);
position of head of local government.

For this act they may be threatened:

Fine:
income for 1-3 years;
60-80 times the amount of the bribe received.
Imprisonment 5-10 years.

Another 1 block of circumstances aggravating the punishment is presented in Part 5 of Art. 290 . This is the commission of a crime provided for in parts 1,3 and 4:

a group of persons by prior conspiracy or an organized group (clause “a”);
with extortion of a bribe (item “b”);
on a large scale over 150 thousand rubles. (item “c”)

Useful: What to do if someone asks for a bribe?

This crime may result in:

Fine:
income for 2-4 years;
70-90 times the bribe amount.
7-12 years in prison.

The most severe punishment is imposed under Part 6 of Art. 290 for acts under parts 1, 3, 4 and points “a”, “b” of part 5 for receiving a bribe provided for by them in an especially large amount (more than a million rubles):

Fine:
income for 3-5 years;
80-100 times the bribe amount.
Imprisonment 8-15 years.

Additional punishment

Additional punishment is imposed at the discretion of the court:

According to the first part of the article, deprivation of the right to hold office is applied with all types of punishment provided for, except for imprisonment, with which only a fine can be imposed.
For all other parts of the article, deprivation of the right to hold office is applied with all types of basic punishment, and with deprivation of liberty an additional fine may be imposed.

Part of Article 290	Deprivation of the right to hold positions and engage in activities specified in the sentence (years)	A fine that is a multiple of the bribe amount (bribe multiplied by)
1	until 3	10-20
2	until 3	30
3	up to 5	40
4	up to 7	50
5	to 10	60
6	up to 15	70

With deprivation of liberty, both types of additional measures can be applied at once. punishments. Taking into account all the circumstances and the identity of the perpetrator, the court may not impose any additional punishment at all.

Severity and duration

Crimes under Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation belong to different categories of severity and, accordingly, have different statutes of limitations for bringing them to criminal responsibility, calculated from the date of the crime.

Part of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation	Crime severity category	Statute of limitations
1	Small	2 years
2	Heavy	6 years
3	Heavy	6 years
4	Heavy	6 years
5	Particularly severe	15 years
6	Particularly severe	15 years

Upon expiration of these periods, the bribe-taker will not be punished for his deeds, unless their course was suspended in cases provided for by law.

Judicial practice under Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Details about the methodology for applying the norms of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in criminal proceedings is described in the Resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation N dated 07/09/2013 (as amended on 12/03/2013) “On judicial practice in cases of bribery and other corruption crimes.”

Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 9, 2013 No. 24 “On judicial practice in cases of bribery and other corruption crimes”

How to distinguish a bribe from commercial bribery

It is very simple to distinguish a bribe from commercial bribery.
In the first case, we are talking only about state and municipal officials, as well as special entities that are in one way or another connected with state/municipal/public interests. In the second, exclusively commercial interests are jeopardized. That is, we are talking about bribed employees of commercial structures. Accordingly, the object of encroachment is commercial, not state interests.

What is the liability for complicity in receiving and giving a bribe?

Mediation in receiving/transferring a bribe is already part of a completely different crime, provided for, as stated above, in Art. 291.1 CC. There is a minimum punishment:

a fine of up to 700,000 rubles, or in the amount of the salary, the income of the criminal for a period of up to 1 year, or in the amount of 20-40 times the amount of the bribe with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years;
imprisonment for up to 4 years with or without a fine of up to 20 times the amount of the bribe.

Provocations of law enforcement officers

The Criminal Code does not establish specific liability for the actions of law enforcement officers that provoke an official to accept a bribe.

These actions are committed in violation of the rules and procedures for implementing operational investigative activities (ORM), aimed at establishing and consolidating facts of criminal behavior, clearly stated in the Federal Law “On Operational Investigative Activities.”

This is the transfer of a bribe with the consent of an official, when it was achieved as a result of inducing him to receive a “bribe” in a situation that suggests that if the authorities had not intervened, the intent to commit this act would not have arisen, and no one would have committed.

These conditions exclude criminal liability due to the fact that the actions of the “bribe taker” do not constitute a crime.

This practice of our courts was formed, including taking into account the opinion of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which considered complaints from citizens of the Russian Federation about unfounded criminal prosecution, contrary to the rules of law, when one of the main evidence of guilt was precisely the results of the operational investigation, as well as in the vast majority of such criminal cases.

A number of decisions of the ECHR are interesting in this regard, in particular in the case “Nosko and Nefedov v. the Russian Federation” dated October 30, 2014.

Jurisdiction

Checks on reports of facts of receiving bribes and their investigation fall under the competence of investigators of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.

According to the general rules of territorial jurisdiction, they are carried out at the place where the criminal act was committed, that is, by the department of the Investigative Committee in whose service territory the bribe was received.

The collection, assessment and registration of evidence of a crime occur according to the rules established by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation only by authorized law enforcement officers. Evidence can be any information, the analysis of which will allow one to come to a conclusion about whether a crime occurred. Their list is indicated in Art. 74 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.

Specific evidence specifically for criminal cases involving the receipt of bribes, etc., are the results of operational investigative activities carried out in accordance with the requirements of the law, formalized accordingly. This is one of the most important evidence of these crimes. This is due to the difficulty of proving the fact of transfer, receipt of values, and the circumstances in which this happened.

However, investigators from the Investigative Committee are not given the authority to conduct operational investigations. They are carried out only by specially authorized law enforcement officers - the police, the FSB, the Federal Penitentiary Service, etc., both independently in the manner prescribed by the Federal Law “On Operational Investigation”, and on behalf of investigators.

Therefore, we can say that these bodies accompany criminal cases from the stage of receiving a message about the possible commission of this crime until the case is sent to court.

Did the article help you?

Not really

What to do?

The defense to a bribery charge may vary:

If there is no clear evidence of a bribe, then it is necessary to prove that the relationship between the parties to the crime was formed on a legal basis. It's even better to prove that they didn't know each other at all.
Evidence of provocation on the part of law enforcement agencies. If it can be proven that the bribe was staged by the authorities, the court will release the accused from liability. In addition, provocateurs may themselves be put on trial under Art. 304 CC.
If evidence of a crime is presented to the court, then you can try to find procedural violations during the investigation. For example, conducting illegal covert filming, wiretapping or searches. The presence of such violations may help the defense of the accused.
If there is indisputable evidence of giving and receiving bribes, an experienced lawyer can reduce the liability of the accused. In this case, the repentance of the accused, his desire to help in the investigation, and the fact that he committed such a crime for the first time may play a role. All this can help reduce the term of imprisonment or, instead of imprisonment, give the opportunity to pay a fine.

Example. The Buryatia court considered the issue of giving a bribe to a citizen. B. During the trial, it was found out that B. was forced to give a bribe of 15,000 rubles. employee of the department for combating tax crimes G.

G., in the process of carrying out operational investigative measures, promised to issue a fine of 200 thousand rubles. or close the store owned by B. if she does not pay the money. For copying the report on the condition of the store, he demanded a bribe, the amount of which he printed on a calculator. The woman collected the money and handed it to G. in his office. That is, the operational-search activity ended in G.’s office, where B., as a result of provocation on the part of G., gave him 15,000 rubles.

These actions were qualified by the investigation as giving a bribe (Article 290, Part 2). The court regarded this broadcast as an indirect provocation and acquitted B.