Robbery is a fairly common crime from which no one is immune. Some of my property was stolen last year. I was very interested in the question of what punishment the attackers face.
After consulting with an experienced lawyer, it became clear that crimes such as theft and robbery should not be confused. Depending on the type of offense, a certain punishment is imposed. In this regard, based on the relevant legislative acts, I will talk about how individuals are punished for theft and how for robbery.
Robbery article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
The current Criminal Code defines two main types of robbery - theft and robbery. If an individual has committed the theft of any property in a secret way, then such a violation falls under the category of theft. If the theft was carried out openly (for example, once my bag was snatched in front of several witnesses), then it is identified as robbery. Often, robbers commit violent acts against the victim at the time of theft. For example, they twist your arms or hold you by force. It is necessary to understand that if the violence was life-threatening, then the actions of the offender should be regarded as robbery.
Current legislation provides for criminal liability for both theft and robbery. In the first case, article number 158 comes into force, and in the second situation, article number 161.
Article for robbery
If the actions of the criminal were clearly identified as robbery, then he will be held accountable on the basis of legislative act No. 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The first paragraph of this article notes that robbery is the theft of property that was carried out openly. There are several types of punishments. For a period of no more than 480 hours, the offender may be assigned to perform compulsory labor. As for correctional labor, the maximum period of validity is two years.
They may also be restricted in their freedom for at least two years. The maximum duration of this punishment is four years. In addition, attackers can expect forced labor for four years. For the same period, imprisonment is awarded as punishment for robbery. And the shortest type of punishment, which lasts only six months, is arrest. The length of time a certain type of punishment will be in effect is at the discretion of the judge.
Open theft of someone else's property can be carried out in different ways. In this regard, several more clauses have been introduced into 161 legislative acts dedicated to special situations related to robbery. We are talking about such cases:
- Second point. In part number 2 of the article for robbery from the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, categories of punishments intended for individuals who committed theft as part of a criminal group are noted. According to the same paragraph, criminals who had to carry out illegal entry to rob are punished. The same applies to cases of theft on a large scale, as well as the use of violent actions at the time of commission of the crime (but not posing a danger to the life of the victim).
- Third point. The last paragraph of the article, number 161, identifies categories of punishment for robbers who were part of an organized criminal group. My house was just robbed by criminals acting according to this scheme. One individual found out information about when I would not be at home, thought out the crime to the smallest detail and organized its implementation, and the rest of the scammers helped him in carrying out this operation, acting as accomplices. Also, the third part of the article is devoted to robberies on a particularly large scale.
If an individual is convicted on the basis of the second or third paragraph of the article, then the forms of punishment applied are more severe than in situations with ordinary robbery. Open theft, which falls under the second part of the article, implies the imposition of forced labor for a maximum period of five years. In addition, the attacker can be imprisoned (for no more than seven years) and fined (maximum 10,000 rubles).
Punishments for robbery under the last part of Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation include imprisonment with the payment of a fine. Freedom may be restricted for a period of six to twelve years. The maximum amount of deduction is 1,000,000 rubles.
Article for theft
It should be understood that Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation lists punishments not for robbery, but for theft. If the theft was carried out secretly, then this particular legislative act comes into force. In the case of standard thefts, criminals will face fines, but not more than 80,000 rubles. The judge also has the right to assign compulsory work for a 360-hour period. Corrective labor is awarded for a year. Forced labor may be imposed for two years or freedom may be limited. For the same period, offenders may face complete imprisonment. As for arrest, it is assigned for no more than four months.
Theft can also be carried out in a special way. For example, a criminal may not act alone, but together with other criminals with whom he is in cahoots. Also, to carry out theft, it is sometimes necessary to enter the place from which the theft is being committed illegally. In some situations, the damage caused to the owner of the stolen property is significant. Thieves also quite often steal things from the victim’s pockets, bags, and other carry-on luggage. For all of these cases, special penalties apply, which are recorded in the second paragraph of the article, number 158.
The most loyal form of punishment is a fine, which cannot exceed two hundred thousand rubles. As for compulsory work, they are set for a maximum of 480 hours. Corrective labor is awarded for no more than a two-year period. Forced labor may be imposed for as long as five years. The same applies to such sanctions as imprisonment. Plus, in addition to the last two types of punishments, they may additionally apply a restriction of freedom, which will last for a maximum of a year.
Also, a special category of thefts is placed in the third paragraph 158 of the legislative act. First of all, this is illegal entry, but into a home. Also, this part of the article regulates theft committed from oil pipelines, as well as gas pipelines. In addition, the third point is relevant in the case of theft on a particularly large scale. This group also includes robberies involving bank accounts. It does not matter whether the funds were stolen in cash or electronically.
As for punishments, the minimum fine in case of committing the listed types of violations is one hundred thousand rubles, and the maximum amount is five hundred thousand rubles. They can also be sentenced to forced labor for a period of five years, and additionally limited in freedom for one and a half years. Criminals face imprisonment for six years and payment of a monetary deduction of up to 80,000 rubles.
If the theft was committed by an organized group, the perpetrators will be imprisoned (up to 10 years) and fined (up to 1,000,000 rubles). The same applies to theft on an especially large scale.
Definition - what is robbery
According to Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 17, this crime is defined as open theft of someone else’s property. It has several qualifying features that distinguish it from others:
- the culprit caused material damage to the victim;
- the object of the crime is someone else’s property;
- his motive is self-interest.
Thus, we can conclude that robbery is one of the types of theft, which is interpreted as the unlawful and gratuitous seizure of someone else’s property in favor of another person.
One of the main characteristics of robbery is its openness.
Very often robbery is accompanied by violence, but here it is important not to confuse it with robbery. If it was of a mild degree (for example, beatings or the introduction of any substances into the body of a citizen whose property was stolen), then it is robbery, and in other cases it is robbery. At the same time, violence can be both mental and physical.
A criminal case in this case is initiated at the request of the injured party or on the basis of a protocol drawn up by a law enforcement officer at the scene of the crime. It can also be initiated based on a report from doctors, if the victim went to a medical facility after a robbery.
Is it possible to withdraw a statement from the police? This question is answered in this article.
In order to make a correct conclusion about whether a particular crime is robbery, two types of examinations are used - merchandising and forensic. The first aims to establish the value of the stolen property, and the second - what specific damage was caused to the health or life of the citizen.
Main conclusions
- For committing robberies, those responsible will face criminal liability. This violation is divided into two main categories - theft and robbery.
- Punishments for different types of robbery are prescribed in Article 161, located in the Criminal Code.
- What awaits the criminals who committed the theft is specified in legislative act No. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
- Robbery differs from theft in that it is carried out by open methods (the criminals do not even try to hide anything), and sometimes also involves elements of violence.
Educational program under Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - regulation of the issue
Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation specifies the types of punishments not only for the robbery itself, but also if it was accompanied by the following aggravating circumstances:
- was committed by a criminal group according to a pre-prepared plan (a group means two or more persons);
- for the purpose of committing it, criminals entered any institution illegally; using violence or only the threat of it, but without causing serious harm to the health or life of citizens (this could be beatings, tying hands or locking the victim in a room, that is, actions dangerous to life or health);
- on a large or especially large scale ( over 250 thousand rubles and 1 million rubles, respectively. If the crime was committed by a group, then the amount is calculated based on the value of all the objects they stole).
Difference from theft
Unlike theft, robbery is characterized precisely by open, illegal seizure of someone else's property , as well as a possible attack on the health of another person, while theft is precisely secret theft.
Robbery is a type of theft.
It is also important to take into account that if other citizens are present during the commission of a crime and do not oppose it in any way, and the offender understands that he will not suffer anything for it, then this illegal action is defined as theft, not robbery.
Otherwise, it is recognized as the latter. If, at the same time, the criminal also committed violence, which entailed harm to the health or life of a person, then this is already defined as robbery.
Let's say a burglar stole something and then tries to get rid of this thing, but for reasons beyond his control he cannot do this. Would this be classified as robbery or theft? It will be classified as the second type of offense, since it does not have one of the main signs of robbery - taking possession of someone else's thing for personal gain.
If the criminal was detained while he was committing this offense, then it will be determined as soon as the attempted robbery. At the same time, it is important not to forget about such factors as the moment of the beginning and end of the crime. The first is understood as an attempt to openly take away someone else’s property, and the second – when the culprit can already freely dispose of it.
If a crime is committed by a person who obviously could not be punished under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and under the influence of a second person, the punishment will be borne by the second of them, as the perpetrator under Part 2 of Article 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Robbery may be accompanied by various aggravating circumstances.
A very important component of robbery is the selfishness of its commission. In all other cases, it will be treated as another type of theft. For example, if an object of property was taken from the owner for temporary use and with the aim of returning it in the future, then this action cannot be defined as robbery.
In cases where the threat of violence was used during the theft, but it is very difficult to somehow identify it, then a whole range of factors and nuances that accompanied the commission of the crime are taken into account in order to clearly determine its type. The same applies if the victim is deprived of liberty for a temporary period in order to take away something from his property.
When the criminal uses violent actions after the crime itself has been committed, it is still regarded as robbery, but with the use of violence.
Unskilled robbery
Unskilled robbery implies that the actions of the robber do not cause any physical harm to persons who are present during the theft. Even if the owner of the stolen property makes an attempt to stop the actions of the criminal, the robber does not use any violence in response.
Unqualified robbery is considered to be criminal acts of open seizure of property. For example, when a bicycle is stolen from a bike rental shop in front of everyone present, despite the attempts of the rental owner to stop the robber.
Corpus delicti
Any criminal offense has four factors that constitute its composition:
- its object, as noted above, is the property of the victim or the right to it;
- the objective side here is the openness of the crime (a striking example would be snatching products from store shelves for the purpose of illegal acquisition);
- subject is a citizen over 14 years of age and in a sane mental state ;
- the subjective side is direct intent and a selfish goal (the criminal is fully aware of the consequences of the action he commits).
