ST 295 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Encroachment on the life of a judge, juror or other person involved in the administration of justice, a prosecutor, an investigator, a person conducting an inquiry, a defense attorney, an expert, a specialist, an employee of the enforcement authorities of the Russian Federation, as well as their relatives in connection with the consideration of cases or materials in court, conducting a preliminary investigation or executing a sentence, court decision or other judicial act, committed in order to impede the legal activities of these persons or out of revenge for such activities -
shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of twelve to twenty years with restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years, or life imprisonment, or the death penalty.
Commentary to Art. 295 Criminal Code
1. The victim is a judge, juror or other person involved in the administration of justice, a prosecutor, an investigator, a person conducting an inquiry, a defense attorney, an expert, a specialist, a bailiff, a bailiff, as well as their relatives. Victims can be judges of any court included in the Russian judicial system (federal judge, magistrate, etc.); arbitration court judges cannot act as victims. Other persons involved in the administration of justice include arbitration assessors. Victims may also be heads of investigative bodies and their deputies, heads of inquiry bodies and inquiry divisions, if an attack on them was carried out in connection with the activities of conducting a preliminary investigation. Close persons should be understood as close relatives, relatives, persons related to property, as well as persons whose life, health and well-being are dear to the persons specified in the article.
This crime should be distinguished from the crimes provided for in Art. 277 and 317 of the Criminal Code.
2. The objective side of the crime is expressed in the form of action (inaction): an attack on the life of the victim, i.e. in his murder or attempted murder.
3. The crime is considered completed from the moment of commission of actions (inaction) directly aimed at taking the life of the victim, regardless of the occurrence of his death. Qualification of the act under Art. 295 with reference to Part 3 of Art. 30 of the Criminal Code is possible only in the event of a factual mistake in the victim.
4. The subjective side is characterized by intent and a special purpose: obstruction of the legitimate activities of these persons in the consideration of cases or materials in court, the conduct of a preliminary investigation or the execution of a sentence, court decision or other judicial act, or the motive of revenge for such activities.
5. General subject: a person who has reached the age of 16. A person who committed these actions at the age of 14 to 16 years is subject to criminal liability under paragraph “b” of Part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code (Part 3 of Article 30).
Judicial practice under the article
Let us give a couple of examples from real judicial practice under Art. 295 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
In 2009, in Samara, citizen M. committed murder and theft. He went to trial, but tried to kill the judge to prevent him from ruling his case. The punishment for his crimes was imprisonment in a maximum security colony for 20 years.
In 2010, in Novosibirsk there was an attempt on the life of a judge by two persons in order to impede his activities. The first of them, as the organizer, was sentenced to 10 years in a maximum security colony, and the second - 8 years.
Second commentary to Art. 295 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
1. Encroachment on life means murder or attempted murder of one of the victims specified in the commented article. If death does not occur, qualification under this article is given without reference to Art. 30 CC. Actions aimed at taking a life are carried out in connection with the consideration of cases or materials in court, the conduct of a preliminary investigation, or the execution of a sentence, court decision or other judicial act. Within the meaning of the law, this means the execution of a sentence in which the perpetrator is sentenced to a punishment not related to deprivation or restriction of freedom, or the execution of a sentence in part relating to a civil claim or confiscation of property.
2. The crime is considered completed from the moment of an attack on the life of the victim.
3. The subjective side is characterized by direct intent. As mandatory features, the law specifies the motive for the crime—revenge for activities in the administration of justice or conducting a preliminary investigation—and the purpose of the crime—obstruction of the legitimate activities of the persons specified in the commented article.
4. The subject of the crime is a person who has reached the age of 16 years.
Measures of assigned responsibility
These include the following:
- imprisonment for a period of 12 to 20 years with restriction of the person’s movements for 2 years;
- life imprisonment;
- the death penalty.
Since there is a moratorium on the death penalty in Russia, it is not used. The most severe punishment is imprisonment for the entire life of the convicted person.
The specific measure is chosen by the judge after the case has been investigated and considered in court.
According to the comments to Art. 295 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it is almost impossible to be exempt from punishment under it, since such an offense belongs to the category of especially dangerous crimes, which means that the perpetrator must be punished very strictly.
You can count on a mitigation of punishment in the case when the offender cooperated with the investigation and began to consciously help him in establishing the causes of the incident.
Other mitigating circumstances include the presence of a permanent place of work for a citizen, good characteristics from there, the presence of small children, etc.
Third commentary to Article 295 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
1. The direct object of the crime is the procedure established by regulatory acts for the administration of justice, preliminary investigation, prosecutorial supervision, and enforcement proceedings. An additional object is the life of persons administering justice, preliminary investigation, prosecutorial supervision, and the life of their loved ones. Victims can be judges of any courts and levels (except for the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation), a juror, another person involved in the administration of justice, a prosecutor, an investigator, a person conducting an inquiry, a defense lawyer, an expert, a bailiff, a bailiff and their relatives. Another person involved in the administration of justice is the arbitration assessor (Articles 17, 19 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation). Court employees performing technical functions (court secretary, assistant judge, etc.) are not victims of this crime. The concepts of prosecutor, investigator, person conducting the inquiry were considered in the analysis of Art. 294 of the Criminal Code. It should be noted that this crime can be committed against the prosecutor in connection with his participation not only in criminal, civil or arbitration proceedings (Article 45 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, Article 52 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation), but also in connection with his supervision of the execution laws by investigators or interrogators. A juror is a person brought in in accordance with the procedure established by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation and other regulations to participate in the trial and render a verdict (clause 30 of Article 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). Defender is a person who, in accordance with the procedure established by law, protects the rights and interests of suspects and accused and provides them with legal assistance in criminal proceedings (Article 49 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). An expert is a person who has special knowledge and is appointed in the manner prescribed by law to carry out a forensic examination and give an opinion on the issues posed to him (Article 57 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, Article 85 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, Article 55 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation). Specialist - a person with special knowledge, involved in participation in procedural actions in the manner established by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, to assist in the detection, securing and seizure of objects and documents, the use of technical means in the study of criminal case materials, to pose questions to an expert, as well as clarification to the parties and the court of issues within his professional competence (Article 58 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). A bailiff is a person who ensures the established order of the courts. There are no longer bailiffs as such; There are bailiffs. Under bailiffs, criminal law presupposes persons called upon to execute judicial acts and acts of other bodies (bailiffs). Close relatives are understood as close relatives (spouse, parents, children, adoptive parents, adopted children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren); as well as other persons who are related to the above-mentioned participants in the proceedings (mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, etc.), or persons whose life, health and well-being are dear to the victims due to existing personal relationships (friend, bride, groom, etc.). ——————————— Federal Law of July 21, 1997 N 118-FZ “On Bailiffs” (with subsequent amendments and additions) (Part 1, Article 4) // SZ RF. 1997. N 30. Art. 3591; and etc.
2. The objective side of the crime is characterized by actions in the form of an encroachment on the life of the person administering justice (in the broad sense of this concept) or his loved one. Encroachment means murder or attempted murder of the persons specified in the disposition. The encroachment must be related to judicial proceedings, preliminary investigation or execution of judicial acts. The crime is considered completed alternatively either from the moment of causing the death of the victim or the attempted murder. The corpus delicti by design is formal.
3. The subject of the crime is a sane individual who has reached the age of 16 years. Minors aged 14 to 16 years for the murder of a person administering justice or a preliminary investigation are held criminally liable under paragraph “b” of Part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
4. The subjective side of the crime is characterized by direct intent.
The perpetrator realizes that he is encroaching on the life of a judge, prosecutor or other person administering justice or a preliminary investigation, and desires this. Mandatory alternative features of the subjective side of this crime are: a) the goal is to obstruct the legitimate activities of a person administering justice or a preliminary investigation, which consists of taking illegal acts in favor of suspects, accused, defendants, parties to civil or arbitration proceedings, etc. ; or b) the motive of revenge for such activities (for issuing a decision on detention, a guilty verdict, a cassation presentation, etc.). ‹ Article 294. Obstruction of the administration of justice and the conduct of a preliminary investigation Up Article 296. Threat or violent actions in connection with the administration of justice or the conduct of a preliminary investigation ›
Composition of the crime under the article
The corpus delicti under Art. 295 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – formal. It is considered completed at the moment when there was a completely direct attack on the life of a person. Moreover, whether a person died or not does not play a special role in qualifying the act.
In order to attract a person under Art. 295 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it is required to reveal that he:
- attempted to cause harm to the health or life of an official;
- the motive for this was an attempt to hinder his activities or take revenge on him.
The objective side of the act is an encroachment on the life of a justice or investigative officer. This can be either attempted murder or murder.
It can take the form of action or inaction. An example of the first case is the following situation: a criminal shot at the victim’s lawyer, thereby killing him. The second case can be considered using this example: the offender noticed a problem in the judge’s car, but did not warn the latter about it.
The subjective side is characterized by a deliberate form of guilt. It can take both forms: direct and indirect.
In the first case, the citizen was fully aware of the danger of the crime he was committing and wanted its negative result to occur. For example, a criminal deliberately wanted to kill an investigator who realized that he had committed an illegal act.
In the second, he understood that he was committing a crime, but he consciously did not want the consequences that followed. For example, when the defendant attacked the judge or his relatives in a fit of rage.
The motives and goals of the criminal are the desire to prevent a justice or investigative officer from performing his direct work or to take revenge on him for this.
The objects of the offense are:
- relations that develop in the sphere of administration of justice and ensuring its goals and objectives;
- the life of persons performing duties in this area and their loved ones.
The subject of the act is a citizen who was 16 years old at the time of the crime and without any mental disorders. If the crime described in Art. 295 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, committed by a person aged 14-15 years, then his actions will be qualified under paragraph “b” of Part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (murder).
When proving such a crime, it is established what specific harm was caused to the official. If there was only damage to his health, then a medical examination is carried out to determine the extent of the harm caused.
Let's say a citizen died as a result of an assassination attempt. Then a forensic examination is carried out to determine the method by which the person was killed.
