The statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in 2022

Last updated - January 2022

If you believe the sayings of lawyers from the era of Roman law, the law is harsh but fair. Humanism and justice are the fundamental principles of criminal law. One of their manifestations is the introduction of the concept of a statute of limitations for criminal prosecution.

Lawmakers introduced it because, in their opinion, the danger of a crime decreases significantly as time passes from its commission, so the punishment will not serve its main goals - the correction of the criminal and the prevention of new offenses.

What is the limitation period for prosecution under the Criminal Law?

The limitation period for criminal prosecution is a period of time after which it is no longer possible to bring the perpetrator to the established responsibility. It is counted from the date of completion of the crime.

The statute of limitations is directly dependent on the danger of the crime to society.

Minor crimes

For crimes classified in this group, the most severe punishment is imprisonment for up to 3 years. The period within which it is possible to bring them to justice expires 2 years from the date of the crime.

The most common compositions:

theft, fraud, misappropriation, embezzlement, if there are no qualifying criteria;
infliction of bodily harm related to minor harm to health, and harm of moderate severity without aggravating circumstances, beatings, threats of murder or serious harm;
slander;
home penetration;
arbitrariness;
non-payment of alimony;
evasion of taxes and other payments without aggravating features, provided for in Art. 199;
insulting a government official and others.

Unlawful acts of moderate gravity

In this group, the punishment for intentional acts cannot exceed 5 years in prison, and for careless acts - 3 years. The statute of limitations ends 6 years from the date the crime occurred. These are the following actions:

Qualified types of theft: causing significant damage to the victim;
with penetration into the storage;
from clothing or luggage with the victim.

Fraud, misappropriation, embezzlement – causing significant damage and committed by a group of persons.
Robbery, extortion in the absence of circumstances aggravating liability.
Sexual intercourse between an 18-year-old and a person under 16 years of age.
Abuse of powers by the head of a commercial organization, art. 201 and officials of government agencies and organizations with state participation without aggravating features.
Traffic violations resulting in serious harm or death to victims, and others.

Serious crimes

Serious crimes are committed only with intent, the most severe punishment for them is a maximum of 10 years in prison. The statute of limitations for such acts is 10 years . Such crimes include:

Particularly qualified thefts: with penetration into a home;
in large and extra large sizes.

Fraud: using official position;
resulting in deprivation of the right to housing.

Robbery: by a group of persons;
with the use of weapons.

Qualified types of robbery: with the use of violence;
with penetration into housing;
on a large scale.

Intentional infliction of harm to the health of the victim, classified as serious injury, without particularly qualifying signs.
Rape with grave consequences.
A number of offenses in the field of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors.
Receiving and giving bribes for illegal actions and others.

Particularly serious criminal acts

And finally, for the category of the highest degree of severity of crimes under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, for which one can be deprived of liberty for a long period - more than 10 years, a statute of limitations of 15 years from the date of the act is applied. These are the most dangerous crimes for society, such as:

murder;
some crimes related to the trafficking of prohibited substances, drugs, psychotropic substances, committed in amounts ranging from significant to especially large;
banditry;
creation of a criminal community, organization, participation in them, etc.

In certain cases, the court has the right to lower the category of gravity of the crime, but only by one level. When calculating the statute of limitations in this situation, if necessary, take into account the category determined by the court.

Commentary on Article 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

1. The expiration of the statute of limitations from the date of commission of the crime is associated with the positive post-criminal behavior of the guilty person and is the basis for his release from the criminal code.

2. The current criminal legislation of the Russian Federation considers the expiration of the statute of limitations in the complex of exemption from criminal justice and from punishment and expresses it in Art. 78, 83, 94 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The procedural confirmation of the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution and conviction is found in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Art. 24, paragraph 9, art. 397 and other articles of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

3. Legislative structure comment. Article is expressed by a combination of the following basic conditions: a) the establishment of a statute of limitations by law; b) the expiration of the period established by law from the day the crime was committed until the court verdict enters into legal force; c) the person has not committed crimes against the peace and security of mankind; d) failure of a person to evade investigation or trial. In other words, a person, due to the long period of time that has elapsed since the commission of a crime and relatively lawful behavior during this period, is no longer recognized as socially dangerous, and therefore, the criminal justice cannot be implemented against him. However, in accordance with criminal procedural legislation, it is also possible to resume the proceedings of a criminal case terminated on this basis if new circumstances of the established crime are discovered.

4. The classification of limitation periods is defined in part 1 of the commentary. articles and art. 94. It is close to the classification of crimes committed by the nature and degree of their social danger (see Art. 15), but is not identical to it.

4.1. The statute of limitations for bringing a person to criminal justice is differentiated in accordance with the severity of the punishment and is determined by the size and type of the latter: two years - after the commission of a crime of minor gravity; six years - after committing a crime of average gravity; 10 years - after committing a serious crime; 15 years - after committing a particularly serious crime. The severity of the crime committed is established based on the maximum amount of the most severe type of punishment described in the sanction of that article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code under which the criminal case was initiated.

5. The study of investigative and judicial practice showed that interrogators, investigators, judges as the main and most often the only condition in the application of clause 3, part 1 of Art. 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (previously - clause 3, part 1, article 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR) highlighted the expiration of the statutory limitation periods. This introduced some complexity into monitoring the legality of the decisions they made and allowed them to leave the period of the statute of limitations unexplored.

5.1. Part 2 comments. The article prescribes that the statute of limitations for bringing a person to criminal justice must be calculated from the day the crime was committed until the court verdict enters into legal force.

5.2. The social danger of a person, and therefore the expiration of the statute of limitations, should be determined from the moment the criminal act was committed. This moment coincides with the time of commission of a socially dangerous act in crimes with a formal composition. This coincidence may not exist in crimes with a material component.

5.3. If material socially dangerous consequences in a crime with a material element have not occurred, then the statute of limitations for prior criminal behavior runs. If such consequences occur, then the statute of limitations runs for the commission of a completed crime. The expiration of the statute of limitations in the first and second cases coincides (see part 1 of the commentary of the article). For example, if a crime was committed at 23:00 on April 1, 2006, then the statute of limitations is calculated from this date, or more precisely, from 0:00 on April 2, 2006, and expires at 24:00 of the previous day of the corresponding year (see Art. 15 and part 1 of Article 78), in particular, in case of insult (Article 130) - at 24 hours on April 1, 2008.

5.4. The statute of limitations for criminal prosecution in connection with the commission of a continuing crime is calculated from the day of its termination (at the will of the guilty person or in addition to it), in particular, from the day following the day of the arrest of the guilty person by the authorities, or the surrender of this person. If a continuing crime is expressed in inaction (failure to perform those actions that a person was obliged to perform), then its termination is associated with the beginning of the guilty person fulfilling his duties or with the termination of the obligation to act. For example, a parent’s malicious evasion of payment by court decision of funds for the maintenance of a minor child (Part 1 of Article 157) ends and the statute of limitations (two years) begins to run if the culprit began to pay the specified funds for the maintenance of the child or the obligation to pay alimony ceased due to when the child reaches 18 years of age.

5.5. The statute of limitations for criminal prosecution in connection with the commission of a continuing crime is calculated from the moment of commission of the last criminal act from among those that together constitute the continuing crime.

5.6. The statute of limitations for preliminary criminal behavior terminated for a reason independent of the will of the person who committed it is calculated from the moment of termination of this behavior (from zero hours of the next day).

5.7. Law enforcers, as a rule, do not come close to the upper limit of the expiration of the statute of limitations in the form of a court verdict that has entered into legal force. In any case, terminating criminal cases under clause 3, part 1, art. 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, they calculate the control period from the moment the crime was committed to the day the criminal case was terminated.

5.8. Investigative and judicial practice shows that the termination of criminal cases due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution is mainly carried out in relation to persons who have committed crimes of minor gravity (the statute of limitations is two years). For minors, this period is reduced by half. The period of the preliminary investigation can be more than two years (more than one year if we are talking about a minor offender), and the period of the trial, even without taking into account the time of appeal and cassation appeal and protesting the court’s guilty verdict, can be no less long.

There is no doubt that the previous practice of applying this rule took into account the procedural features of the preliminary investigation more than the current one. Established Art. 48 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of the RSFSR, the statute of limitations for bringing a person to criminal justice was calculated from the day the crime was committed until the moment charges were brought against him. However, even in this case, it remained possible for the guilty person to resist the progress of the investigation of his criminal behavior if he knew that delaying the proceedings before bringing charges would lead to the expiration of the statute of limitations. At present, the danger of such opposition is greater.

5.9. The moment the sentence comes into force is determined by Art. 390 Code of Criminal Procedure.

6. If a person commits a new crime, the statute of limitations for each criminal act runs independently. A person is considered to have committed a new crime if, in connection with a previous criminal act, the statute of limitations for bringing him to criminal justice has not expired, and also if the person was brought to criminal justice for a previous crime and convicted and the criminal record has not been expunged or removed in the manner prescribed by law (see. Article 86).

7. Part 3 comment. The article determines: the running of the statute of limitations is suspended if the person who committed the crime evades the investigation or trial, and resumes from the moment the person is detained or surrenders, i.e. to the statute of limitations established by law is added the time that has elapsed during the period from the day the person concealed himself from the investigation or court until the day of his arrest or surrender.

7.1. Detention means the delivery of the guilty person to law enforcement agencies to verify his involvement in a crime and select a preventive measure. The day of detention is considered to be the day the protocol of detention is signed by the person who compiled it and the detainee.

7.2. On surrender, see paragraphs 6 - 6.3 comments. to Art. 75.

8. Law enforcers, when dismissing criminal cases due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, often did not attach importance to the fact that the culprit had been hiding from the investigation for a long time. They resolved the question of the evasion or non-evasion of the guilty person ambiguously. If the investigation was not suspended, and in the meantime the culprit hid traces of the crime, successfully disguised himself in the social environment, and remained silent about the crime committed, then the passivity or hopelessness of the investigation could be attributed to the expiration of the statute of limitations. If there were grounds for suspending the preliminary investigation (see clause 2, part 1, article 208 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, previously - clause 1, part 1, article 195 of the RSFSR Code of Criminal Procedure), it means that the person could evade the investigation. However, criminal cases were suspended and subsequently terminated due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, despite the fact that unknown persons secretly stole someone else’s property, unlawfully took possession of someone else’s vehicle without the purpose of stealing, destroyed (damaged) someone else’s property for hooligan reasons, beat up the victims, violated the rules of the road, the operation of vehicles, which resulted in causing corresponding harm to a person’s health, his death, and disappeared.

This investigative tactics do not correspond to the provisions of Part 3 of the commentary. article and cannot be considered positive.

8.1. Investigators, inquiry officers, judges when deciding on the application of clause 3, part 1, art. 24 of the Criminal Procedure Code must carefully examine the post-crime behavior of the guilty person and the motives that guided him in hiding the fact of the crime from law enforcement agencies.

8.2. Evasion from investigation or trial occurs in cases where a person deliberately absconds from justice, i.e. does not appear when called by the preliminary investigation authorities or the court, deliberately changes his place of permanent or temporary residence or documents identifying him, changes his appearance, etc.

8.3. Failure of a person to evade investigation or trial can be recognized as the perpetrator’s uncertainty that he has committed a crime (for example, through negligence), limitation of the scope of public relations due to his illness, difficult family situation or other circumstances, lawful daily exercise of subjective rights and legal obligations, failure associated with the falsification of factual data about the crime committed, but associated with keeping it secret for the benefit of third parties or for other reasons. It seems that more detailed argumentation for a person’s failure to evade an investigation or trial should be further provided for by the relevant departmental legal acts.

8.4. Failure of a person to evade investigation or trial during the statute of limitations, or failure to commit another crime during this period indicate the lawful behavior (in the narrow sense of the word) of this person for a certain time. And although during this time period various kinds of restrictions and obligations were not imposed on the guilty person in connection with the crime committed, the statute of limitations established by law was a kind of probationary period, during which the person led a law-abiding lifestyle.

9. Particularly serious crimes require increased attention to them, despite the fact that even after their commission a kind of probationary (limitation) period is provided (see paragraph “d”, part 1 of the commentary article). Part 4 comments. Article only some of these crimes (punishable by death or life imprisonment) are included in the category of optional exemption from the Criminal Code, i.e. gives the court the right to decide on the possibility of release. If the court does not consider it possible to release the guilty persons from the criminal justice system due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, then the death penalty or life imprisonment will not be applied. In this case, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment for a certain period.

10. Sufficiency of control over the validity and legality of decisions of law enforcement officers to terminate criminal cases (refusal to initiate them) under clause 3 of part 1 of art. 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (previously - clause 3, part 1, article 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR) raised and raises doubts.

Resolutions to terminate criminal cases due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, as a rule, were not sanctioned by the prosecutor, but were approved by the superior of the person who terminated the case. The prosecutor was notified of a copy of the resolution. This state of affairs, while generally meeting the requirements of criminal procedural legislation (see Art. 213 of the Code of Criminal Procedure; previously - Art. 209 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR), contradicted the order of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation (see the instruction of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation dated March 13, 1997 N 10/15 “On procedure for terminating criminal cases suspended due to failure to identify the perpetrators after the statute of limitations has expired"), stating that the decision to terminate criminal proceedings must be approved by the prosecutor. The contradiction persisted until the said order was amended and supplemented by the order of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation dated July 18, 2001 N 44/4 - the words “decrees to terminate a criminal case must be approved by the prosecutor” were deleted. True, the same instruction determines that the investigator, the body of inquiry, in the event of a decision to terminate the criminal investigation after the expiration of the statute of limitations, must immediately send a copy of the decision to terminate the criminal investigation to the prosecutor along with the criminal case. Later, the instruction on the need to provide the prosecutor with a copy of the decision to terminate proceedings along with the criminal case was reflected in the Order of the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia dated 05.05.2004 N 12, which replaced the above instructions, “On the procedure for terminating, upon expiration of the statute of limitations, criminal cases suspended for failure to identify the persons who committed the crimes” < 1>. However, the general rule remains unchanged (see Art. 213 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). ——————————— <1> Legality. 2004. N 7.

Thus, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, both in the instruction dated March 13, 1997 N 10/15, and in the Order dated May 5, 2004 N 12, contrary to Part 5 of Art. 5 Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR, Part 2 Art. 27 of the Code of Criminal Procedure proposed to terminate criminal cases due to the expiration of the statute of limitations in relation to persons who were not recognized in the manner prescribed by law as accused (or suspects - see Part 2 of Article 27 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as amended by Federal Law No. 58-FZ of May 29, 2002), which allowed, with reference to Part 5 of Art. 195 and paragraph 3, part 1, art. 5 Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR; Part 1 Art. 212 and paragraph 3, part 1, art. 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to terminate suspended criminal cases, without always taking all the necessary criminal procedural measures to identify and search for persons who committed crimes.

The stated legal provisions of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation not only contributed to the weakening of control over the state of the rule of law at the stages of the preliminary investigation, but also came into certain conflict with Part 3 of the commentary. articles. It is difficult, if not impossible, to establish the fact of evasion or non-evasion of a person who committed a crime from an investigation or trial if such a person has not been identified.

In addition, investigative practice shows that the lack of proper control when terminating criminal cases due to the expiration of the statute of limitations often deprives victims of the right to compensation for harm caused by the crime, contrary to Part 4 of Art. 213 of the Code of Criminal Procedure does not explain the right to demand compensation for damage caused in civil proceedings.

10.1. On joint compensation for damage caused by the crime in connection with the application of clause 3, part 1, art. 5 Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR, clause 3, part 1, art. 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, see paragraph 5 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the USSR Supreme Court No. 1.

11. Termination of criminal proceedings due to the expiration of the statute of limitations is not allowed, and a discontinued case is resumed by proceedings if the suspect or accused objects to this. The prosecutor has the right, by his decision, if there are grounds for doing so, to cancel the investigator’s decision to terminate the criminal investigation and resume the proceedings in the case (see Part 2 of Article 27, Article 214 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

12. During the statute of limitations for bringing a person to the DA, the PD terminated in accordance with Part 3 of Art. 214 and part 3 of Art. 414 of the Code of Criminal Procedure can be renewed due to newly discovered circumstances, but no later than one year from the date of discovery of new circumstances.

13. If the expiration of the statute of limitations for bringing a person to criminal justice is discovered at the stage of trial, the court continues to consider the criminal case in the usual manner until it is resolved on the merits and pronounces a guilty verdict with the release of the convicted person from punishment (see Part 8 of Article 302 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). This provision to some extent contradicts Part 1 of the comment. article, according to which a person should be released not from punishment, but from the criminal punishment.

14. Statutes of limitation do not apply to persons who have committed crimes against the peace and security of mankind, provided for in Art. 353, 356 - 358.

14.1. Nazi criminals guilty of the gravest atrocities against peace and humanity, war crimes, are subject to trial and punishment regardless of the time that has elapsed since their crimes were committed <1>. This provision also applies to those citizens who, during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, collaborating with the Nazis, carried out active punitive activities, took part in the murders and torture of civilians <2>. ——————————— <1> See: Gazette of the USSR. 1965. N 10. Art. 123.

<2> See: Ibid. N 37. Art. 532.

14.2. The right and obligation to punish individuals who have committed crimes against the peace and security of mankind are recognized by the state on whose territory these crimes were committed. However, the jurisdiction of a given state may be supplemented by the jurisdiction of an international criminal court (tribunal) specially created by an international convention. Persons accused of committing these crimes may be tried by this criminal court (tribunal), provided that the parties to this convention have accepted the jurisdiction of such a court <1>. ——————————— <1> See: Collection of existing treaties, agreements, conventions concluded by the USSR with foreign states. Vol. XVI. M., 1957. S. 66 - 71; Vol. XXXII. M., 1978. S. 58 - 63.

14.3. In addition to the persons who committed crimes or committed them on their own initiative, the leaders, organizers, instigators and accomplices of these criminal acts, including rulers, diplomats, scientists, financiers, lawyers, publicists, etc., should be involved in the CR.

Exceptions to the rules

If the perpetrator commits any prohibited act from the list given in Part 5 of Art. 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation , he will be punished, regardless of the degree of severity and the formal end of the statute of limitations.

Considering that these acts pose a particular threat to the state and the world, the legislator has established a ban on applying a statute of limitations to those who committed them.

The statute of limitations does not apply for crimes:

related to terrorism;
associated with the preparation and conduct of an aggressive war, and the use of prohibited methods;
hostage taking;
genocide; ecocide.

For theft

The limitation period for theft is regulated by Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Definition of the term "theft"

Theft is the theft of someone else's property, or rather its removal without warning the owner.
There are different types of thefts. For example:

theft that occurred during entry and stay in someone else's home;
theft, during which the owner of the property was harmed;
theft committed by a group of persons;
stealing items from the owner's clothing or bag.

Theft must meet the following criteria:

have a selfish character;
the owner of the property should not know about the incident;
be an illegal act;
cause damage to the owner of the property.

For ordinary theft, the term is two years, for major theft - 10 years.

Application at the discretion of the court

The issue of applying statutes of limitations to a defendant who has committed an act that may be punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty is resolved by the court at its own discretion individually in each individual case.

This is the right of the court, and only it, but not an obligation. At the pre-trial stage during the investigation of the case, such a decision cannot be made.

If the court comes to the conclusion that the application of a statute of limitations to a particular defendant does not make sense, the judge imposes a punishment within the sanction of the article, while capital punishment and life imprisonment are not applied. That is, despite the fact that the statute of limitations has passed, the perpetrator is not exempt from punishment for the crime committed.

What is fraud?

Fraud is the taking of someone else's property through deception or breach of trust.

Some of the most common forms of fraud include:

Wrongful acquisition of property through the issuance of false documents and payment fraud.
Schemes that involve scams with bank cards and electronic payment systems, as well as issuing loans to dummies.
Fraud with insurance payments. Typically, the goal of fraudsters is to inflate the amount of damage or obtain payments using fictitious documents.

An important feature of fraud is that scammers do not use violence against the victim, but act only through deception.

Calculation order

If the crime is simple, committed here and now, for example, bodily harm, simple theft, the statute of limitations runs from the moment it expires.
The moment of completion of a continuing crime, such as possession of weapons or drugs, is the moment of its suppression;
The end of ongoing crimes, for example, theft of money in several stages, is associated with the end of the final action, which is an integral part of one act.

The statute of limitations for each crime is calculated separately and in no way adds up or is absorbed by each other. They are considered years and expire at midnight of the last day of the final year of the term.

For example, on June 25, 2015 at 15:30, a crime of, say, moderate gravity was committed. The statute of limitations for this crime will end at exactly midnight on June 25, 2021; June 24, 2021 is its final day.

The statute of limitations is counted until the final decision in the case, which may be a sentence or court order, comes into force.

If the last day of the statute of limitations coincides with the day the decision comes into force, the perpetrator will not be released from liability, because the statute of limitations has not yet expired on this date.

A continuing crime. Definition of the concept

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not contain the concept of a continuing crime.
The concept of a continuing crime was given in the Resolution of the 23rd Plenum of the Supreme Court of the USSR dated 03/04/1929 “On the conditions for the application of limitation and amnesty to ongoing and continuing crimes”, where a continuing crime is considered as an action or inaction associated with subsequent long-term failure to fulfill the duties assigned to guilty by law under threat of criminal prosecution.

In judicial practice, an approach has been developed according to which a continuing crime is understood as a criminal act characterized by an initial act of action or inaction and then continuing over time.

A continuing crime begins and forms the completed corpus delicti of a specific crime either from the moment of commission of the first criminal act (for example, when leaving a unit or place of service without permission (Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) - from the moment of leaving the territory or place of service without legal grounds), or from an act of criminal inaction (for example, when evading military and alternative civil service (Article 328 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) - from the moment of failure to appear on a summons at a recruiting station or other designated place without good reason). Such a crime ends as a result of either the action of the culprit himself, aimed at stopping the crime (for example, turning himself in), or the occurrence of events that prevent the further commission of the crime (for example, intervention by authorities), or when the obligation itself, the failure of which constituted the content of the ongoing crime, has disappeared (for example, with the death of a child or a disabled parent, the obligation of the perpetrator to pay funds for their maintenance, by a court decision, ceases).

Suspension of the statute of limitations

The legislator provided that a possible criminal could simply hide from the investigation and trial, making attempts to avoid prosecution and punishment by waiting for the end of the statute of limitations.

If a citizen evades trial or investigation, the countdown of the statute of limitations is suspended.

The Supreme Court explained that in this case, such actions of the suspect, accused, defendant, the purpose of which is to avoid being detained and brought to justice, should be regarded as evasion.

This, for example, is violating the terms of a preventive measure, moving and other similar actions. Only persons brought to criminal liability, having the status of a suspect , accused or defendant .

Does not count as evasion:

when the person who committed the crime has not been identified;
when the crime is not known to the competent authorities.

The countdown of the statute of limitations continues from the day when the citizen who evaded justice is detained or independently appears before law enforcement agencies.

Here is a rough example - suppose a crime is committed on 05/21/2013. On May 30, 2015, the suspect evaded the investigation by violating the chosen preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the place and leaving in an unknown direction. Three years later, on May 30, he was detained. Accordingly, more than 5 years have elapsed since the date of the crime, and the statute of limitations has passed only 9 days; from 05/30/2018 it will continue to run.

How to protect yourself and insure yourself against robbery?

Many insurance companies offer citizens to insure their property in case of robbery, theft or assault. Typically, money and personal items that you carry with you (for example, a telephone, jewelry), as well as things that are in your home or office (for example, household appliances) are insured.

If an insured event occurs, the victim will be able not only to receive compensation equal to the value of the stolen property, but also to demand compensation for indirect losses associated with the incident, for example, replacing locks, repairing premises, etc.

Note! The insurance contract may stipulate cases when indirect losses will not be compensated. For example, if the victim did not take adequate measures to protect his property (for example, did not lock the door to the apartment).

The insurance usually does not cover items that are located outside the premises. Of course, there may be exceptions, but they are extremely rare and are discussed separately.

It is impossible to guarantee one hundred percent certainty that property insurance will help return it in the event of loss. However, the insured has a real opportunity to receive full compensation for losses incurred.

Pre-investigation stage

It is possible that a crime may be reported to law enforcement after the statute of limitations has expired, or it will come to an end when it is carried out.

Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Article 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation establishes that in such situations a criminal case cannot be initiated. Therefore, if as a result of the inspection the elements of a crime are established, it is possible to make a decision to refuse to initiate a criminal case on the basis of the above norm.

Distinguishing between a continuing crime and a set of crimes

A continuing crime must be distinguished from a cumulative crime.

Aggregate crimes - the commission of two or more crimes, for none of which the person was convicted, except for cases where the commission of two or more crimes is provided for by the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as a circumstance entailing a more severe punishment, as well as one action (inaction) containing signs of crimes provided for by two or more articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Article 17 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

A continuing crime is a single complex crime expressed by an action or inaction, associated with subsequent long-term failure to fulfill the duties imposed on the perpetrator by law under threat of punishment. These crimes are committed over a more or less long period of time. They are characterized by the continuous implementation of the crime. A continuing crime is characterized by the performance of one action or inaction, which is not interrupted until it is suppressed or terminated, which distinguishes it from a continuing crime.

A continuing crime is an act associated with subsequent long-term failure to fulfill the duties assigned to the perpetrator under the threat of criminal prosecution. A continuing crime consists of a number of legally identical acts, united by a single intent, the unity of the object of the attack and the criminal consequences. For example, actions aimed at malicious evasion of a parent from paying child support. That is, a continuing crime cannot be divided into different elements of crimes due to their similarity, unity of purpose and consequences.

Stage of trial

When the statute of limitations expires on a case pending in court - if it was received after the expiration of the period, or it expired during the trial, with the consent of the defendant, the court also makes a decision to terminate it.

If the defendant does not agree to the termination of proceedings on such grounds, the trial continues as usual.

At the end of the trial, if the defendant is found guilty, he will be given a sentence from which he will be released because the statute of limitations has expired. If he is found not guilty, an acquittal may be imposed.

Termination of criminal prosecution on the grounds under consideration in any phase of criminal proceedings can only take place if the person held accountable requests this and/or does not object to such a decision.

This requirement is based on the fact that this reason for exemption from liability is non-rehabilitative , that is, it is actually stated that the person committed the crime in question, but, unlike a sentence, no conclusion is made about guilt or innocence.

It guarantees the right of a citizen to achieve his rehabilitation based on the results of the consideration of the case. The victim’s disagreement to terminate the case upon expiration of the statute of limitations is not an obstacle to making this decision.

Information about the final decision on the case or material based on clause 3, part 1, art. 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation are recorded in the Information Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, this fact is regarded as criminal liability.

Exemption from liability established by criminal law does not exempt from the obligation to compensate for damage caused.

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Claims that are not subject to statute of limitations.

There are a number of claims to which the statute of limitations does not apply. They are listed in Art. 208 Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

In particular, these are requirements for the protection of personal non-property rights and other intangible benefits, except as provided by law.

By virtue of Art. 150 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, intangible benefits include life and health, personal dignity, personal integrity, honor and good name, business reputation, privacy, inviolability of home, personal and family secrets, freedom of movement, freedom to choose a place of stay and residence, the name of a citizen, authorship, other intangible benefits belonging to a citizen from birth or by force of law. Intangible benefits are protected in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and other laws in the cases and in the manner prescribed by them.

The limitation period also does not apply to claims for compensation for harm caused to the life or health of a citizen. However, claims brought after three years from the moment the right to compensation for this harm arose are satisfied for the past time no more than three years preceding the filing of the claim (except for cases provided for by Federal Law No. 35-FZ).