Illegal detention by police officers: liability under the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, compensation, procedure

The arrest of a person by the police must always be based on lawful reasons. Otherwise, the actions of law enforcement agencies will become illegal. Therefore, it is necessary to understand in what cases the police have the ability to detain a person. The unlawful detention of a citizen is an event in which a police officer violates the procedure established by law. If a police officer violates a person's right to personal liberty and security, he is liable for unlawful detention by police officers. The article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, corresponding to the situation, regulates methods of suppressing illegal actions.

Unlawful detention by police officers

Any citizen can face unlawful detention by law enforcement agencies. It is useful to know how to behave in such a situation, what rights a citizen has, what he can do, and what police officers have the right to. And also, what actions to take if employees act in excess of authority and are subject to arbitrariness.

According to Russian legislation, detention is a short-term deprivation of a person’s liberty if there is reason to believe that he is involved in the commission of a crime or in the consideration of a case of an administrative offense. The imprisonment in this case is a short-term detention. Arrest without probable cause is prohibited by law.

Note!
The period for which a person can be detained is no more than 48 hours in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 22 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The legal nature of detention lies in the fact that in order to protect the interests of the state and society as a whole, law enforcement agencies must not only directly suppress the illegal actions of individuals, but also prevent them.

Detention can be of two types:

Criminal. This happens according to strictly defined articles in the Criminal Procedure Code in a special order.
Administrative. Carried out in exceptional cases, directly provided for by the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences. The action differs in terms of detention (3 hours in general and up to 48 hours in exceptional cases).

Note!
Both detentions should not be confused with arrest, which is a form of punishment imposed in cases where a person is found guilty by law. Therefore, it is important to define the concept of a detained and arrested person.

Law enforcement agencies, in particular police officers, have the power to detain citizens in the country. The detainee is not an accused and, although he is temporarily limited in personal freedom and inviolability, he retains all other rights and freedoms provided by the state.

For detention to be considered legal, it must be carried out on grounds clearly stated in legal acts, in accordance with the procedure established by them in other cases, actions are illegal.

Let's look at how the police detains someone suspected of committing a crime:

Before arrest, a police officer must introduce himself, show his official identification, explain the motives and grounds for the arrest, and tell the individual about his rights and responsibilities. Next, law enforcement officers restrict the freedom of the person, including the use of special means (handcuffs), and then deliver him to the investigator, interrogating officer or the inquiry agency. The time spent on delivering the citizen is included in the period of detention.
The investigator or interrogating officer must draw up a detention report within 3 hours from the moment the citizen arrives at the department: the citizen acquires the status of a suspect. The rights enshrined in the Article 46 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.
The arrest report states:
- date, time of document preparation;
results of a personal search;
other circumstances.

In addition, the suspect is given the right to make one telephone call to relatives or close people within the first 3 hours from the moment of arrest. If he renounces this right (or is unable to use it due to his characteristics), the investigator or interrogator must notify the relatives.

Within 12 hours, the inquiry officer or investigator informs the prosecutor about the arrest.
The suspect is interrogated, the investigator or interrogator can search him. If there are no grounds for further detention of a citizen, the investigator or interrogating officer issues an appropriate resolution to release the suspect. A citizen is also released if within 2 days a preventive measure in the form of detention has not been chosen against him or the court has not extended the period of detention.

When a citizen is released, he is given a certificate of detention. It contains information about when, by whom, where and on what grounds he was detained, as well as information about the time and reasons for his release.

What to do in case of illegal detention

If a police officer approaches a citizen and asks him to go with him to the police station, and the person is not guilty of anything, then he needs to behave correctly at this moment.

If a citizen is illegally detained, the following must be done:

Ask the police officer to introduce himself. He is required to show his identification. It is preferable to write down the police officer's contact information.
Find out the reason for the detention. A police officer usually states that he is detaining a person on suspicion of committing an administrative or criminal offense.
Tell the police officer that you need to get access to a lawyer (by law, everyone has the right to a lawyer).
Tell your family about the arrest.
Read the arrest report in detail. It is preferable to leave your own notes about the arrest (which you do not agree with, as a result of which you were not allowed to call back family members, etc.). After reviewing the protocol in detail, a person can sign it.

It is advisable to record the arrest procedure on video or audio. It is important to record the time of detention, because the subsequent course of action depends on it. Any citizen has the opportunity to challenge the detention if it is illegal.

Detention for 3 hours

Even if there is no indication that a crime has been committed, the police may detain the person to confirm their identity. The law allows employees to request documents whose absence or refusal to produce becomes grounds for detention.

Part 1 Art. 27.5 of the Administrative Code limits detention to 3 hours. For the same period, the freedom of a person who has committed an administrative offense with the initiation of proceedings may be limited.

No later than 3 hours from the moment of delivery to the station, a protocol is drawn up, indicating the time and date of compilation, information about the compiler and the detainee, the circumstances and reason for the detention.

Note!
The document is given to the citizen for signature and if he refuses to sign, a corresponding note is made in the protocol.

Responsibility for illegal detention of a person under the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Russia is one of the states in which equality of freedoms and rights of citizens is established. Restrictions on people's freedom are allowed in case of actual violation of the laws of the country in which they live.

In practice, there are cases of abuse of this opportunity among law enforcement officers. Law enforcement officers have the right to detain citizens only if there are grounds to suspect them of committing a crime.

Note!
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes criminal liability for violation of the civil right to freedom. Article 301 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation defines sanctions for placing a person in custody without legal grounds.

When can an arrest be made?

Detention is considered to be a short-term deprivation of liberty in relation to persons suspected of committing criminal offenses, administrative offenses or who are involved in criminal investigations. The procedure must be carried out legally. Unlawful restriction of freedom is not allowed, i.e. without explanation or in violation of procedural deadlines.

According to Art. 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the detention of citizens in criminal cases is possible in the presence of the following circumstances:

Forced imprisonment of citizens caught at the scene of a crime or after committing an unlawful act;
In case of indication of the detainee by victims or witnesses;
If there are traces indicating that this person participated in the commission of a crime or was at the scene of a malicious act.
When trying to hide from law enforcement agencies.
In the absence of documents confirming the identity of the citizen.
The person does not have a permanent place of residence.
In case of sending a petition from the prosecutor to the court for the purpose of arresting a citizen.

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Criminal procedural coercion must have a justified motive for physical impact on a person. Otherwise, such actions are considered illegal and can be appealed to higher authorities.

Knowingly illegal detention and its consequences

For illegal detention by police officers, Article 301 of the Criminal Code provides for the following penalties:

Restriction of freedom up to 3 years.
Forced labor for up to 2 years.
Arrest for 4-6 months.

Note!
The culprit may be deprived of the right to hold any position or engage in certain activities.

The second part of the article defines the punishment for knowingly illegal detention: forced labor, imprisonment for up to 4 years. If such detention has serious consequences, the perpetrators are punished by forced labor for up to five years or imprisonment for a term of three to eight years (Part 3 of Article 301 of the Criminal Code). Based on the comments to the article, the object of the crime may also be employees of the following bodies of the court, inquiry, investigation, and prosecutor's office.

The occurrence of serious consequences for the detainee can be expressed in financial problems, deterioration of health, suicide or attempt on life, etc. Illegal actions committed by police and law enforcement officers during detention can subsequently be challenged.

Where to contact if rights are violated

Another of the rights of a detainee is the right to appeal against unlawful actions of law enforcement officers.
Any illegal action or inaction; a decision with which the detained person does not agree may be appealed by him. This right provides a guarantee for the protection of the rights and freedoms of a citizen in the legal process. Complaints against employees are submitted to the Main Directorate of Internal Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs . This can be done either orally (by calling the CSS) or in writing. In the latter case, it does not matter whether the paper is handwritten or printed on a computer.

If information about unlawful actions (inaction) of police officers is provided via a telephone call, the first step is to ask that this call be recorded.

The content of the complaint, regardless of how it is filed, must include information about the applicant - last name, first name, patronymic, address, contact and passport details. When stating the essence of the appeal, it is necessary to indicate the names and ranks of the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs against whom the complaint is being filed. If this is unknown, it is necessary to describe their appearance in as much detail as possible in order to facilitate the identification of the official who violated the rights of the citizen.

An internal investigation will be carried out upon the complaint and, if the complaint is confirmed, the perpetrators will be punished accordingly.

Compensation for illegal detention

The criminal law does not take into account compensation for illegal detention by police officers. However, this is taken into account by civil law. If a citizen was unlawfully detained by police officers or other law enforcement officers, he has the opportunity to go to court on the basis of paragraph 1 of Article 1070 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation for compensation for material damage caused by law enforcement officers, and also on the basis of Articles 151 and 1100 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the recovery of moral damages.

A qualifying claim may be brought either as an independent civil claim or as a civil claim in a criminal proceeding. The amount of compensation for unlawful detention can reach 15,000 rubles.

The statement of claim identifies the individuals who carried out the detention (defendants), describes the conditions under which the illegal detention was committed, and sets out its own demands for recovery from the defendants of compensation for the intentionally illegal detention of material and moral damage.

It is necessary to provide complete personal information, postal address with zip code, telephone number, email address (if any), put a date and signature at the end of the application. In addition, all required confirmations in the form of documents, video material and audio recordings are attached.

A citizen has the right to demand a copy of the protocol.

The list of rights of detainees contains many items that determine the proper order of events. A citizen has the right:

Know what offense he is being detained for.
Give explanations about the case or refuse to testify (against yourself and loved ones) in accordance with Art. 51. Constitution of the Russian Federation.
Phone call. The detainee is allowed one conversation. If suspicions are related to a criminal offense, it must be conducted exclusively in Russian.
Respect for the presumption of innocence. The burden of proof lies with the prosecution;
Familiarization with all documents on the case.
Help from a lawyer.
Filing complaints (including on the legality of detention) and petitions to higher-ranking employees and authorities.
Translation services.

The listed points relate to the basic rights of the detainee; their violation is not allowed. Before interrogation, a citizen must be notified that his testimony may be used for subsequent charges.