1. Giving a bribe to an official, a foreign official or an official of a public international organization personally or through an intermediary (including when the bribe, at the direction of the official, is transferred to another individual or legal entity) -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to five hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to one year, or in the amount of five to thirty times the amount of the bribe, or by correctional labor for a term of up to two years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years or without it, or forced labor for a term of up to three years, or imprisonment for a term of up to two years with or without a fine in the amount of five to ten times the amount of the bribe.
2. Giving a bribe to an official, a foreign official or an official of a public international organization personally or through an intermediary (including when the bribe, at the direction of the official, is transferred to another individual or legal entity) in a significant amount -
shall be punishable by 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 two years, or in the amount of ten to forty times the amount of the bribe, or by correctional labor for a period of one to two years with deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions. positions or engage in certain activities for a period of one to three years or without it, or imprisonment for a term of up to five years with a fine in the amount of five to fifteen times the amount of the bribe or without it.
3. Giving a bribe to an official, a foreign official or an official of a public international organization personally or through an intermediary (including when the bribe, at the direction of the official, is transferred to another individual or legal entity) for committing obviously illegal actions (inaction) -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to one million five hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to two years, or in the amount of thirty to sixty times the amount of the bribe, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to five years. or without it, or imprisonment for a term of up to eight years with or without a fine of up to thirty times the amount of the bribe and with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to five years.
4. Acts provided for in parts one to three of this article, if they are committed:
a) by a group of persons by prior conspiracy or an organized group;
b) on a large scale, -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of one million to three million rubles, or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of one to three years, or in the amount of sixty to eighty times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to seven years or without it, or imprisonment for a term of seven to twelve years with a fine of up to sixty times the amount of the bribe or without it and with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to seven years or without it.
5. Acts provided for in parts one through four of this article, committed on an especially large scale, -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of two million to four million rubles, or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of two to four years, or in the amount of seventy to ninety times the amount of the bribe, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period up to ten years or without it, or imprisonment for a term of eight to fifteen years with a fine in the amount of up to seventy times the amount of the bribe or without it and with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to ten years or without it.
Note. A person who gave a bribe is exempt from criminal liability if he actively contributed to the disclosure and (or) investigation of a crime and either there was extortion of a bribe from an official against him, or the person, after committing a crime, voluntarily reported to the body that has the right to initiate a criminal case , about giving a bribe.
- Article 290. Receiving a bribe
- Article 291.1. Mediation in bribery
Commentary to Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
The object and subject of the crime are identical to the object and subject of such a crime as taking a bribe (see commentary to Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
From the objective side, the crime in question is expressed in the action of transferring to an official personally or through an intermediary the subject of a bribe for: 1) committing actions (inactions) in favor of the bribe-giver or persons represented by him, which are included in the official powers of the official; 2) the commission of actions (inactions) in favor of the bribe-giver or persons represented by him, which are not included in the official powers of the official, but he, by virtue of his official position, can facilitate their commission by another official; 3) general patronage of the service; 4) general connivance in the service. These options for the behavior of an official were described when considering the elements of receiving a bribe (Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
If a bribe is transferred to an official not by the bribe giver himself, but by an intermediary, then the latter is liable as an accomplice in giving the bribe (Part 5 of Article 33 and Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). A necessary condition for this is that the intermediary is aware that the bribe is being transferred to them. In paragraph 12 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated February 10, 2000 N 6, it is also noted that if an official or a person performing managerial functions in a commercial or other organization proposes to an employee subordinate to him in service to achieve the desired action (inaction) in in the interests of his organization to give a bribe to an official, then such a person is liable under Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as the perpetrator of the crime, and the employee who carried out his instructions - as an accomplice in giving a bribe (accomplice).
One should distinguish from mediation in giving a bribe the so-called imaginary mediation, when a person receives material assets from someone supposedly to be transferred to an official as a bribe and, without intending to do this, appropriates them for himself. What is done in such cases should be classified as fraud. The actions of the owner of material assets in such cases are subject to qualification as an attempt to give a bribe (Part 3 of Article 30 and Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). If such an “imaginary intermediary” also induces a person to give a bribe, giving rise to the intent to commit a crime, the act is additionally qualified as incitement to attempt to give a bribe (part 4 of article 33, part 3 of article 30 and art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). It does not matter whether the specific official to whom the bribe was supposed to be transferred was named.
The elements of giving a bribe are formal. The crime is completed from the moment the official (or with the consent of the official - his family and friends) accepts at least part of the transferred values. In the case where an official refused to accept a bribe, the actions of the bribe giver contain elements of an attempt to give a bribe (Part 3 of Article 30 and Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, the mere intention expressed by a person to give a bribe cannot be qualified as an attempt to give a bribe, if no specific actions were taken to implement this intention.
If the conditional transfer of valuables did not take place due to circumstances beyond the control of the persons who tried to transfer the subject of the bribe, what they did should be qualified as an attempt to give a bribe.
Liability for giving a bribe does not exclude simultaneous prosecution for actions that constitute an independent crime. In such cases, the act must be classified as a set of crimes.
The subjective side of the crime is characterized by guilt in the form of direct intent. The person realizes that he is giving a bribe to an official for the commission of certain actions (inaction), for facilitating their commission by other persons, or for general patronage or connivance in the service, and desires this.
The general subject of the crime is a sane person who has reached the age of sixteen.
Part 2 Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains a qualified crime - giving a bribe to an official for committing obviously illegal actions (inaction). It should be noted that the bribe-giver must be aware that he is giving a bribe to an official specifically for the latter’s commission of illegal actions. If the culprit does not know in what way (legal or illegal) the issue posed to the bribe-taker will be resolved, then the qualification of giving a bribe on this basis is excluded, and liability arises under Part 1 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
In the note to Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains a condition for the release from criminal liability of a person who gives a bribe in connection with its extortion by an official, as well as voluntarily reporting the bribe to the body that has the right to initiate a criminal case. A message made by the applicant of his own free will and not conditioned by the fact that the bribe became known to the authorities is recognized as voluntary. The motives by which he was guided do not matter.
It should be borne in mind that the release of the bribe-giver from criminal liability based on voluntary reporting of the commission of a crime does not mean the absence of corpus delicti in his actions. Therefore, such a person cannot be recognized as a victim and has no right to claim the return of valuables transferred as a bribe.
Money and other valuables cannot be converted into state income in cases where demands have been made against a person to give a bribe or to illegally transfer money, securities, or other property in the form of commercial bribery, if before the transfer of these valuables the person voluntarily declared this body that has the right to initiate a criminal case, and the transfer of money, securities, and other property took place under their control with the aim of arresting red-handed the person who made such demands. In these cases, money and other valuables that were the subject of a bribe or commercial bribery must be returned to their owner.
When deciding on the possibility of returning money and other valuables to the person in respect of whom the extortion took place, the court should keep in mind that if, in order to prevent harmful consequences, the person was forced to transfer money and other valuables to the extortionist, then they must be returned to their owner.
Speaking about the application of the note to Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, attention should be paid to the fact that, according to the note to Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a person who gives a bribe and voluntarily reports about giving a bribe, but not about receiving a bribe, is exempt from criminal liability. Therefore, for example, an intermediary who received a bribe for subsequent transfer to an official, but who contacted the police before transferring the subject of the bribe, is not subject to exemption from criminal liability.
In addition, according to the law, receiving a bribe is considered a completed crime from the moment at least part of the bribe is received, and the appeal of the person who received the bribe to the police does not exempt him from criminal liability, but is regarded as a circumstance mitigating the punishment. However, in the presence of appropriate circumstances, the person’s behavior in question can also be assessed as active repentance.
Classification of bribes
Liability for giving a bribe directly depends on the size of the amount and the situation in which the crime was committed. In the notes to Art. 291, giving a bribe to an official of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is divided into the following types:
- in significant amounts, over 25 thousand rubles;
- in large quantities, above 150 thousand rubles;
- in especially large amounts, over 1 million rubles.
There is no minimum amount in the legislation, but any amount of money can be considered a bribe. However, if it is less than 500 rubles, then the criminal prosecution may be terminated due to its insignificance.
Judicial practice under Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
Appeal ruling of the Appeal Board of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated January 18, 2018 N APL17-535
upon completion of the investigation of the criminal case on charges against I.S. Pushkarev. under Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph “a” of Part 2 of Article 204 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Part 3 of Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Pushkareva A.S. under paragraph “a” of part 2 of article 204 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and part 5 of article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Lushnikova A.V. under Part 5 of Article, Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Part 3 of Article 204 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Part 2 of Article 201 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Part 3 of Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and approval of the indictment, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation V.Ya. Grin appealed to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation with a petition to change the territorial jurisdiction of this criminal case.
Cassation ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 07/09/2019 N 5-UDP19-93
by the verdict of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow dated April 16, 2018 Gimbatov K.Kh. convicted under Part 5 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to 8 years in prison with a fine in the amount of five times the amount of the bribe, that is, in the amount of 10,000,000 rubles with serving the sentence in a maximum security correctional colony, A.I. Kruglyansky. convicted under Part 4 of Art. 291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation 7 years of imprisonment with a fine of five times the amount of the bribe, that is, 8,250,000 rubles with deprivation of the right to hold positions in the public service in the system of law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation related to the exercise of the function of a representative of government for a period of 3 years, with the serving of the sentence in a maximum security penal colony.
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 16, 2019 N 89-APU19-6
December 25, 2022 under Part 3 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Part 5 of Art. of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to 3 years in prison, convicted under Part 2 of Art. 330 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for arbitrariness in relation to S.) to 3 years in prison, under paragraph “a”, part 2 of Art. 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for extortion from Yu.) to 5 years in prison, under paragraph “c” of Part 3 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for theft of D.’s property) to 4 years in prison, under Part 3 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for fraud against Ya.) to 4 years in prison, under clauses “a”, “c”, part 2 of Art. 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for extortion from V.) to 5 years in prison, under Part 2 of Art. 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for robbery on K.) to 7 years in prison, under Part 3 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for fraud against LLC “E.” IP K.) to 5 years in prison, under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for fraud against P. LLC) to 6 years in prison, under Part 5 of Art. , paragraphs “g”, “k”, part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to 8 years in prison with restriction of freedom for a period of 1 year 6 months.
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated September 12, 2019 No. 18-APU19-17
convicted under Parts 4, 5 of Art. - clauses “a”, “c”, “e”, part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to fifteen years of imprisonment with restriction of freedom for a period of six months; according to Part 3 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (as amended by Federal Law No. 324-FZ of July 3, 2016) to a fine of 1,000,000 (one million) rubles.
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated November 21, 2019 No. 9-APU19-22
- according to paragraph “a” of Part 4 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (as amended by Federal Law No. 324-FZ of July 3, 2016) to a fine of two million rubles. In relation to Zarovkin D.Yu. accused of committing a crime under paragraph “a” of Part 4 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the criminal case and criminal prosecution were terminated on the basis of a note to Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and active repentance, in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 28 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.
Determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated November 23, 2017 N 2779-O
1. In his complaint to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, citizen K.V. Sonin, who is serving a criminal sentence in the form of imprisonment, asks to be declared inconsistent with the preamble of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and its articles 1, 2, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 45, 46, 48, 49 , 50, 52, 54, 68, 120, 123 and 126 Federal Law of July 3, 2016 N 324-FZ “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation”, Article 14 of the Federal Law of August 20 2004 N 119-FZ “On state protection of victims, witnesses and other participants in criminal proceedings”, Federal Law of June 1, 2005 N 53-FZ “On the state language of the Russian Federation”, Articles 10 and 16.1 of the Federal Law of April 3, 1995 N 40-FZ “On the Federal Security Service”, articles 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 15 of the Federal Law of August 12, 1995 N 144-FZ “On operational investigative activities”, articles , , , , , , , , , 290, 291, 303 and 307 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, chapters 9, 11, 13, 19, 20, 39, 45.1, 47.1 and articles 1, 5, 7, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 , 21, 29, 40, 47, 56, 60, 61, 62, 73, 74, 75, 83, 87, 88, 89, 140, 144, 145, 159, 165, 171, 182, 183, 220, 252 , 259, 260, 283, 299, 302, 307, 313, 389.34, 397 and 399 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.
Determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated February 27, 2020 N 495-O
As follows from the presented materials, by the investigator’s resolution dated December 27, 2022, the founder and general director of Fire Monitoring Service-68 LLC, who committed in the interests of this company the crime provided for in part four of Article 291 “Giving a bribe” of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, were released from criminal charges liability, since they voluntarily informed the authorized body about giving a bribe to an official and actively contributed to the disclosure and investigation of this crime (clause 2 of part one of Article 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, note to Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated March 26, 2020 N 806-O
As follows from the complaint and the materials attached to it, E.V. Maksimova was recognized as a victim and civil plaintiff in a criminal case initiated against several persons on the grounds of a crime provided for in part four of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. By the court verdict, upheld by the appeal ruling, the perpetrators were convicted of committing fraud on an especially large scale by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, including in relation to one of them a qualifying feature of such theft was established - the use of his official position. According to the court, the perpetrators, without being able to influence the course of the investigation of the incriminated E.V. Maksimova’s crimes, misled her regarding their procedural powers and intentions and received money from her under the guise of a bribe to terminate the criminal prosecution. The court refused to satisfy the application of E.V. Maksimova’s civil claim for compensation for property damage caused, citing Article 169 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 9, 2013 N “On judicial practice in cases of bribery and other corruption crimes.” At the same time, the court took into account that the initiation of a criminal case on the grounds of giving a bribe was refused by the investigator’s decision on the basis of a note to Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, since the victim of her own free will reported this act to law enforcement agencies.
Determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated March 26, 2020 N 807-O
As follows from the complaint and the materials attached to it, V.A. Maksimov was recognized as a victim and civil plaintiff in a criminal case initiated against several persons on the grounds of a crime provided for in part four of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. By the court verdict, upheld by the appeal ruling, the perpetrators were convicted of committing fraud on an especially large scale by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, including in relation to one of them a qualifying feature of such theft was established - the use of his official position. According to the court, the perpetrators, without being able to influence the course of the investigation of the incriminated V.A. Maksimov crimes, misled him about their procedural powers and intentions and received money from him under the guise of a bribe to stop the criminal prosecution. The court refused to satisfy V.A.’s claim. Maksimov’s civil claim for compensation for property damage, citing Article 169 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 9, 2013 N “On judicial practice in cases of bribery and other corruption crimes.” At the same time, the court took into account that the initiation of a criminal case on the grounds of giving a bribe was refused by the investigator’s decision on the basis of a note to Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, since the victim of his own free will reported this act to law enforcement agencies.
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated March 30, 2017 N 56-APU17-6
SUN H. ... previously convicted: November 12, 2015 under Part 3 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to one year and six months of imprisonment with a fine of 247,857 rubles, convicted under paragraph “b” of Part 4 of Art. 229.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to sixteen years and six months of imprisonment in a high-security correctional colony.
Appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated April 19, 2017 N 78-APU17-11SP
2) June 24, 2010 by the Primorsky District Court of St. Petersburg (taking into account the changes made to this verdict and the sentence of November 12, 2009 by the resolution of the Nevsky District Court of St. Petersburg dated December 13, 2010) according to 1 tbsp. and part 2 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, with partial addition of the punishment for the previous sentence, to 10 years 8 months in prison with a fine of 1,000,000 rubles
