How is robbery different from theft - difference between robbery and theft

General characteristics of robbery, robbery, theft

Robbery, robbery, theft are crimes against property. In all three cases, criminals unlawfully and without compensation confiscate (or) convert someone else’s property for their own benefit or for the benefit of other persons, which is called theft. In this case, criminals always act with direct intent and selfish motives (the only difference is the purpose of self-interest). The owners or legal owners of property stolen during robbery, theft, robbery suffer damage equal to at least the value of the stolen item.

Types of robbery

In accordance with Article 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, robbery is classified according to the following types:

acts committed by prior conspiracy with the use of weapons or other objects used as weapons;
robbery with accompanying illegal entry into housing or other premises;
robbery committed by an organized criminal group;
acts aimed at seizing property on a large scale;
acts as a result of which the injured party suffered serious harm to health.

Characteristics of theft robbery and robbery

The fundamental difference between theft, robbery and robbery lies in the way in which the criminal illegally takes possession of someone else’s property. In order to clearly delineate the concepts of these crimes and distinguish them, it is not enough to be guided only by the norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It is necessary to take into account the explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, set out in its Resolution “On judicial practice in cases of theft, robbery and robbery” dated December 27, 2002 No. 29, which reveals the difference between these crimes.

Theft is the secret theft of someone else's property (Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In case of theft, the criminal illegally seizes property at a time when the owner or possessor or any unauthorized persons are not around. Theft can also occur in the presence of specified persons, but in such a way that the actions of the criminal remain unnoticed by others. The most striking example is the theft of a wallet from the bag (pocket) of a public transport passenger during rush hour.

Note! Theft that was visible to strangers will also be considered theft, if the offender thought that he was acting secretly.

Theft will be considered a situation where a person who is present when someone else's property is stolen does not realize that something illegal is happening. In addition, the actions of a criminal in the presence of his close relative will also be classified as theft in the expectation that this relative will not prevent him from committing theft.

Robbery is the open theft of someone else's property (Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In robbery, the criminal unlawfully removes an item in the presence of its owner or legal owner. Robbery is also considered the theft of property in full view of strangers, for example, when a visitor grabs someone else's clothes in the theater wardrobe and runs away with them. At the same time, the criminal is always aware that those present during the robbery understand that he is acting illegally. It doesn't matter whether they tried to stop him during the robbery or not.

Robbery will be considered a situation where the criminal committed theft in the presence of his close relative in the expectation that this relative would not provide him with any obstacles during the robbery, but he took measures to stop the criminal actions. The actions of a criminal who began theft in the presence of persons unaware of what was happening, but they suddenly understood the essence of the situation and began to demand to stop the theft, but to no avail, would also qualify as robbery.

Robbery is also considered a situation when the criminal initially steals, but when his actions are discovered by the owner (owner) of the property, other people, but he does not stop, but continues to steal or illegally retain property.

Robbery is the theft of someone else's property, for which an attack is used; it involves the use of violence that poses a danger to the life or health of the owner (owner) of the property or those present during the attack. Also, instead of violence, the criminal can use threats of its use. During robbery, the use of violence is also possible, but unlike robbery, it does not pose a danger to the life and health of others. This is the fundamental difference between these crimes.

Robbery will be considered a situation where the criminal initially commits theft, but his actions are discovered by the owner (owner) of the property, other persons, and the criminal resorts to violence or threats to use it.

Additional signs

Despite the fact that when deciding to commit robbery or robbery, in both cases the criminals set their goal as the illegal seizure of someone else’s property, these acts are significantly different. In robbery, attackers initially use violence that is dangerous to the life and health of property owners or others, or threaten to use such violence.

In robbery there is no attack. At the same time, the very fact of the use of violence or the threat of its use cannot be excluded. However, this violence does not pose a real threat to the life or health of those present during the robbery.

Unskilled robberies (which do not contain aggravating circumstances) are crimes of medium gravity. If there are a set of grounds, criminal cases based on them can be terminated, and the robber can avoid criminal liability. On such grounds, according to Art. 25 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation are:

committing a criminal offense for the first time;
complete amends to the injured party;
the presence of reconciliation between the suspect (accused) and the injured party.

A criminal case initiated on the basis of robbery cannot be terminated due to the reconciliation of the parties under any circumstances. Robbery, even if it has an unqualified composition (not aggravated by additional circumstances of the crime), does not fall into the category of crimes of medium gravity.

Using weapons or other objects

In situations where it is proven that the theft of someone else's property is carried out with the use of weapons or objects that were used as weapons, there can be no talk of robbery. Such criminal acts are classified exclusively as robbery. Moreover, if the use of weapons or objects used as weapons was the intention of the perpetrators who committed a robbery by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, all participants in the crime committed are liable under Part 2 of Art. 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as co-executors. This also applies to cases where weapons or other objects used as such were used in a robbery by only one of the criminals.

By a group of persons by prior conspiracy

A group of persons by prior conspiracy can commit both robbery and assault. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation recognizes two or more persons as a group if they have agreed in advance to commit a crime. Moreover, if the organizer, instigator or accomplice did not directly participate in the commission of theft, the actions of the perpetrator of the crime are not classified as committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy. In such situations, the investigative authorities and the court find out whether there was a conspiracy between the accomplices before the start of actions to directly carry out the crime, as well as what specific actions were committed by each of them. At the same time, everyone will be responsible for their actions.

However, criminal liability for robbery or robbery committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy may also arise when, according to a preliminary agreement, the direct theft of property was carried out by only one of the accomplices. This occurs in cases where roles are distributed between accomplices and they perform concerted actions that directly assist the perpetrator in committing theft. Such accomplices are recognized as co-performers.

Entering a home or premises

Robbery or assault can be committed with illegal entry into various objects:

in a home - it can be an apartment, a room, a private house;
premises - buildings, structures that are used for the temporary presence of people in them or for the placement of material assets for production or official purposes;
storage facilities - utility rooms that are located separately from residential buildings, areas of territory, pipelines, structures intended for storing material assets.

Note! The investigation and the court must take into account the purpose for which the criminal visited the premises (home, storage) when the intent to steal arose. If the suspect or accused entered the facility legally and without criminal intent, and subsequently committed robbery or robbery, then his actions will not be aggravated by the wording “with illegal entry,” which means that the measure of liability will be mitigated. Only a competent lawyer can prove such a position in court.

Composition of an illegal act

The elements of an illegal act are a set of features provided for by the provisions of a specific article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the presence or absence of which allows the actions of the subject of law to be classified as a certain type of crime. The composition of any criminal act (theft, robbery, robbery) actually represents its framework, which contains a mandatory set of necessary conditions and does not allow the inclusion of changeable elements in it. Moreover, all elements of the crime are grouped into four large categories that differ from each other.

Each crime, be it theft or robbery, must contain an object (what the criminal is attacking), a subject (who is the criminal), an objective (the external manifestation of the crime) and a subjective side (the mental attitude of the person to the crime he commits). They have differences in theft, robbery and robbery, although all these crimes, in essence, are theft and have a material basis.

Composition of theft:

object - property relations (possession, use, disposal of property. Subject of theft - movable property;
subject - a sane individual who is 14 years old;
the objective side is the secret theft of other people's property. The consequences of theft are damage to the owner (possessor) of the property;
the subjective side is guilt in the form of direct intent and selfish purpose.

Composition of the robbery:

object - property relations. The subject of robbery is movable property;
subject - a sane individual who is 14 years old;
the objective side is the open theft of someone else's property. The consequences of robbery are causing damage to the owner (possessor) of the property;
the subjective side is guilt in the form of direct intent and selfish purpose.

Robbery composition:

object - property relations. An additional object (as opposed to theft and robbery) is human health. The subject of robbery is movable property;
subject - a sane individual who is 14 years old;
the objective side is an attack to steal someone else’s property;
the subjective side is guilt in the form of direct intent and selfish purpose.

Thus, the indicated types of theft - theft, robbery and robbery - differ in the method of illegal seizure of property and always have a material composition. In addition, there is a difference in the moment the crime ends. Unlike theft and robbery, robbery is considered completed from the moment of the attack. There is no difference in the subject and the subjective side of the crime.

Cases of initiation of criminal proceedings

All cases of theft, robbery, assault with the purpose of stealing someone else's property are matters of public prosecution (Article 20 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). There is no difference in the reasons for initiating criminal cases for these types of theft. They are (Article 140 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation):

a statement from the injured party (even if it is not the owner or possessor of the property) or from persons who have information about the crime committed. For example, these could be people who recorded a robbery on a car DVR or saw a robbery through an office window);
statement about an impending crime;
confession of the person who took part in the theft;
a corresponding decision of the prosecutor on sending information to a preliminary investigation in order to make a decision on criminal prosecution.

Note! To initiate a criminal case, sufficient data is required that would indicate the elements of a crime.

If there is both a reason and a reason, then the body of inquiry, the interrogating officer, the head of the investigative body or the investigator initiates a criminal case. The applicant who sent information about the crime (preparation for it) is sent a copy of the relevant resolution on the decision made.

What penalties are provided by law?

As I have already said, encroachment on the life and health of people in order to take possession of their property provides for a more stringent measure of liability. For comparison, I will present the types of punishments established for robbery and robbery:

skilled robbery (committed by a group of persons) – imprisonment for a term of 6-12 years;
robbery, classified as an act of moderate gravity, provides for compulsory labor up to imprisonment for 4 years;
robbery with aggravating circumstances is punishable by imprisonment for 8-15 years;
The minimum term of imprisonment for robbery with mitigating circumstances is up to 8 years.

The determination of the final measure of responsibility is carried out by the judicial authority after receipt of the case material.

Cases where there is no corpus delicti

It is not always possible for investigative authorities to establish evidence of a crime. This happens especially often in situations that have signs of robbery. In such cases, a criminal case is either not initiated at all, or it is terminated (Article 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation).

If there is reason to think that you are about to be accused of robbery, theft, robbery, you should immediately contact a lawyer. It is he who will help to avoid possible punishment or minimize the consequences of committed illegal actions. For any question regarding theft, robbery or robbery, you can contact our specialists. We will help you understand the complexity of the situation and minimize your risks. You can contact us at the specified phone numbers or through the website.