Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the latest edition:
Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Intentional destruction or damage to property
1. Intentional destruction or damage to someone else’s property, if these acts caused significant damage, -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to forty thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to three months, or by compulsory labor for a term of up to three hundred sixty hours, or by corrective labor for a term of up to one year, or by forced labor for a term of up to two years. , or arrest for a term of up to three months, or imprisonment for a term of up to two years.
2. The same acts committed out of hooligan motives, by arson, explosion or other generally dangerous method, or which through negligence resulted in the death of a person or other grave consequences, -
shall be punished by forced labor for a term of up to five years or imprisonment for the same term.
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Comments on Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
The object of the crime is property relations.
The subject of the crime is someone else's property (both movable and immovable). Property in criminal law has traditionally been understood as things , i.e. something that has material characteristics. According to the explanations of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, in relation to Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, other people’s property includes, among other things, property that is in common ownership of the perpetrator and other persons (only damage caused to other persons is taken into account). This will be discussed in more detail below.
The objective side of the crime involves the commission of alternatively provided actions:
- destruction of other people's property , i.e. bringing it into a state in which it cannot be used for its intended purpose or disappears as an object of the physical world;
- damage to someone else's property , i.e. partial loss of its properties, damage requiring repair, etc. In other words, damage to property means causing such damage to a thing that significantly reduces its economic value, but at the same time the thing may be suitable for use for its intended purpose provided it is restored and corrected.
The destruction of one's own property does not constitute a crime.
Significant damage . To establish a crime, it is required that the destruction or damage to property caused significant damage to the victim. This concept is evaluative. Giving explanations about qualifications under Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation indicated:
“When deciding whether significant damage has been caused to the owner or other holder of property, one should proceed from the value of the destroyed property or the cost of restoring damaged property, the significance of this property for the victim, for example, depending on the type of his activity and financial situation or financial and economic condition a legal entity that was the owner or other possessor of destroyed or damaged property" (clause 6 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation dated 06/05/2002 N 14 "On judicial practice in cases of violation of fire safety rules, destruction or damage to property by arson or as a result of careless handling with fire").
Determining the amount of damage . When qualifying a crime, actual damage without lost profits is taken into account. When property is destroyed, the damage is determined by its value. If property is damaged, the damage is determined by the cost of repairs, taking into account a possible price reduction. When property is damaged, if its restoration is impossible or impractical, the damage is determined as the difference in price before and after the damage. When assessing damage as a result of destruction or damage to used property, its depreciation is taken into account.
The corpus delicti is material. The crime is completed from the moment the damage is caused.
Qualification of the act as theft and intentional destruction or damage to property . If a person, while committing theft, robbery or robbery with illegal entry into a home, premises or other storage, intentionally destroyed or damaged doors, locks, etc., as well as other property of the victim that was not the subject of theft (for example, furniture, household appliances and other things), done in the event of causing significant damage should be additionally qualified under Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (clause 20 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 27, 2002 N 29 “On judicial practice in cases of theft, robbery and robbery”).
The destruction by the perpetrator of property already stolen by him is qualified only as theft without being combined with Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Causing significant property damage as a result of a terrorist act is qualified under paragraph “c” of Part 2 of Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and does not require additional qualifications under Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (clause 7 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 02/09/2012 N 1 “On some issues of judicial practice in criminal cases involving crimes of a terrorist nature”).
The subjective side of the crime is direct or indirect intent, the motive can be anything.
A crime is considered committed with direct intent if the person was aware of the social danger of his actions (inaction), foresaw the possibility or inevitability of socially dangerous consequences and desired their occurrence.
A crime is considered committed with indirect intent if the person was aware of the social danger of his actions (inaction), foresaw the possibility of socially dangerous consequences, did not want, but consciously allowed these consequences or was indifferent to them. In other words, recognizing the possibility of committing a crime with indirect intent means the need to impute to the perpetrator those socially dangerous consequences that entailed causing significant damage, destruction or damage to property, which he did not want, but allowed (he was indifferent to their occurrence) without, however, arrogant calculation of preventing these consequences.
The subject of the crime is common. According to Art. 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a crime provided for in Part 1 of Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, can be committed by a person who has reached the age of 16 at the time of committing the crime, Part 2 of Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - 14 years of age.
Qualification of the act under Part 2 of Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
The qualifying criteria (Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) are the commission of a crime:
- for hooligan reasons;
- by arson, explosion or other generally dangerous method;
- resulting in the death of a person as a result of negligence;
- resulting in other grave consequences.
Qualifying characteristics (Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) are associated with:
- motive for committing a crime (hooligan motives);
- methods of committing it (by arson, explosion or other generally dangerous method);
- consequences (causing the death of a person through negligence or other serious consequences).
Is it possible, in the presence of the signs mentioned in Part 2 of Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (deliberate destruction or damage to property, committed for hooligan reasons, by arson, explosion or other generally dangerous method) qualify the act under Part 2 of Art. 167 of the Criminal Code in the case where significant damage has not been caused ?
This question is answered in paragraph 6 of Resolution of the Plenum of the RF Armed Forces No. 14:
“Intentional destruction or damage to someone else’s property, committed out of hooligan motives, by arson, explosion or other generally dangerous method, entails criminal liability under the second part of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation only in the event of actual significant damage being caused to the victim.”
At the same time, if the victim has not suffered significant damage, this does not exclude qualification under Art. an attempt to commit a crime is not excluded
“If, as a result of these actions, the consequences provided for by law did not occur for reasons independent of the will of the perpetrator, then what he did if he had the intent to cause significant damage should be considered as an attempt to deliberately destroy or damage someone else’s property (Part 3 of Article 30 and Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)” (clause 6 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated June 5, 2002 N 14).
At the same time, the qualification of an act under the specified circumstances as an attempt to commit a crime is possible only in the case where the perpetrator had direct intent .
Expertise
If a car is set on fire, an examination is ordered. Its purpose is to identify the circumstances of the crime. The specialist must determine:
- whether the car was set on fire intentionally;
- where the fire was located;
- what caused the incident;
- how the flames spread;
- the amount of damage caused to the car.
Based on the results of the examination, a punishment is selected for the criminal.
If a crime has been committed, the initial examination is assigned free of charge. If a citizen is dissatisfied with the results of the manipulation, he may request that the manipulation be repeated. The law does not prohibit the performance of subsequent examinations. However, you will have to pay for it. The cost of the manipulation is 0 rubles. The fee for its implementation is paid by the participant in the process who initiated the re-examination.
Destruction or damage to another's property by arson
Deliberate destruction of someone else's and joint property by arson . If, as a result of the arson of one's own property, significant damage was caused to someone else's property or to property that was the joint property of the culprit of the fire and other persons, the actions of such a person, who wanted the specified consequences to occur or did not want them, but consciously allowed them or treated them indifferently, should be qualified as intentional destruction or damage to someone else's property by arson (Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). (Clause 8 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 06/05/2002 N 14).
At the same time, the value of the property belonging to the culprit of the fire must be excluded from the total amount of damage caused as a result of the destruction or damage to property that was his joint property with other persons.
Example . A person sets fire to his country house, of which another person is also a co-owner. The cost of a country house is 200,000 rubles. Having allocated the conditional share of the second co-owner in the ownership of the burnt house, we get 100,000 rubles. If the specified amount is significant damage to the victim, then the actions of the arsonist are qualified under Part 2 of Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Example . A person sets fire to property in an apartment, resulting in a fire that engulfs several adjacent apartments, or even the entire apartment building. In this case, the owners of apartments damaged by fire, as a rule, suffer significant damage. The arsonist commits an act with indirect intent regarding the consequences of his actions.
Careless destruction of someone else's and joint property by arson . In the case where a person sets fire to his own property, resulting in large-scale damage through negligence to someone else’s property or property that was the joint property of other persons and the culprit, the latter’s actions should be qualified as destruction or damage to someone else’s property through negligence (Art. 168 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) (clause 8 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated June 5, 2002 N 14).
Large size is the value of property exceeding 250,000 rubles (clause 4 of the Notes to Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Example . Without the intent to destroy or damage someone else's property, the culprit sets fire to property belonging to him, however, a gust of strong wind spreads the flame to property belonging to another person (or to the common property of the arsonist and another person).
In this case, if the damage caused to another person (or a co-owner of the property, according to his share in the right) amounts to more than 250,000 rubles, then liability arises under Art. 168 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). If the damage is less than the specified amount, then the criminal liability of the harm-doer does not occur. However, the victim has the right to demand compensation for damage in civil law by filing a claim in court.
In what case is the use of fire qualified under Part 1 of Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation? The use of fire in itself is not enough to qualify the offense under Part 2 of Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, there must be a real threat of harm to the life or health of a person or the property of other persons. Deliberate destruction or damage to individual objects using fire under conditions that exclude its spread to other objects and the emergence of a threat of harm to the life and health of people, as well as other people’s property, must be qualified under Part 1 of Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, if the victim suffered significant damage (clause 6 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of June 5, 2002 N 14).
Car theft and arson
Theft and subsequent arson of a car significantly increases the severity of the punishment. The liability to which the violator may be held is set forth in Article 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the provisions of the legal act, a person who takes possession of someone else's property can be imprisoned for up to 12 years. The exact duration of the punishment depends on the individual nuances of the current situation. When analyzing the case, the following circumstances are taken into account:
- the number of people who committed the crime;
- whether violence was used during the theft of the vehicle;
- whether the citizen has committed a similar offense before;
- purpose of car theft.
If a citizen takes possession of someone else's car without the purpose of stealing, he faces up to 3 years in prison. When a car is stolen by a group of people using violence, the duration of the punishment will increase to 12 years.
Fines may also apply. As with imprisonment, their amount depends on the circumstances of the incident. The maximum amount of recovery is 200,000 rubles. or wages or other income for 18 months.
Deliberate destruction or damage to someone else's property, committed out of hooligan motives
Committing a crime out of hooligan motives is the commission of actions based on obvious disrespect for society and generally accepted moral norms, when the behavior of the perpetrator is an open challenge to public order and is caused by the desire to oppose himself to others, to demonstrate a disdainful attitude towards them (clause 12 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated January 27 .1999 N 1 “On judicial practice in murder cases (Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)”).
Intentional destruction or damage to someone else's property, committed out of hooligan motives and causing significant damage, should be qualified under Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
In cases where a person, in addition to the deliberate destruction or damage of property for hooligan reasons, commits other intentional actions that grossly violate public order, expressing clear disrespect for society (for example, using weapons or objects used as weapons against an individual) , what he did should be qualified under Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the corresponding part of Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (clause 14 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of November 15, 2007 N 45 “On judicial practice in criminal cases of hooliganism and other crimes committed from hooliganism motives").
