Police officers are public servants who are required to comply with applicable laws in the course of their professional activities. When an offense is committed, a punishment is chosen against them. The responsibility of police officers is strictly regulated by the Code of Administrative Offenses and a number of other documents.
Types of legal liability and grounds for bringing the police department and investigative authorities to it
Employees of the Department of Internal Affairs can take part in tax authorities’ control operations and inspections if they are involved in the case by sending an appropriate request.
If representatives of the Department of Internal Affairs commit illegal actions during the implementation of control and verification activities, the violators are brought to various types of legal liability.
Types of responsibility of internal affairs bodies for unlawful actions and criminal inaction of their employees during the performance of official duties:
- disciplinary;
- administrative;
- civil law;
- material;
- criminal
How to protect yourself
There are several ways to protect yourself from illegal actions of law enforcement agencies.
The first is an attempt to independently resolve the scandal that has arisen with the employee himself. But if the employee has committed a significant violation, then he is unlikely to make contact. The second is the involvement of regulatory authorities in the proceedings. These may include: police management, prosecutors, and the court.
If none of these methods brings the desired result, then it would be a good idea to attract public attention to the matter. A broadcast on the radio, an article in a newspaper or a speech on TV should have a catalytic effect on the regulatory authorities, activating work aimed at conducting an official investigation and punishing the guilty person.
Grounds for bringing police officers and investigative bodies to disciplinary liability
The grounds for bringing officials to disciplinary liability are direct violation of official procedures and neglect of duties, that is, disciplinary measures are applied in case of non-compliance with the rules of official discipline.
The general procedure for bringing officials to this type of responsibility, as well as the grounds for imposing a disciplinary sanction, are regulated by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
The actual disciplinary offenses, in the presence of which it is permissible to bring a person to the appropriate legal liability, are provided for by special acts of lawmaking. So, for representatives of internal affairs bodies these are:
1. Law “On the Police”;
2. Relevant provisions.
For committing disciplinary offenses, the following types of punishments are imposed on employees of internal affairs bodies:
- issuing a reprimand;
- issuing a severe reprimand;
- warning;
- reduction in rank of the official who committed the offense;
- demotion of the offender;
- deprivation of a badge;
- The extreme disciplinary measure is dismissal.
The necessary amount of authority to impose a disciplinary sanction on a police officer is granted only to the official who has the right to accept citizens for a certain position.
Conclusion
A complaint against a police officer can be filed both for his illegal actions and for his inaction. It is recommended to simultaneously submit complaints to several authorities. After the inspection, the response will be sent to the complainant in writing by mail or email, if indicated in the complaint.
Police officers have the right to use physical force against violators only within the framework of the law, but in practice, unlawful actions by police officers are often encountered.
Unlawful actions of police officers are crimes with a high level of latency, since the majority of victims do not report violations by police officers and do not appeal these actions.
Any person who believes that his rights and legitimate interests have been violated has the right to file a complaint against the actions (inaction) of police officers.
The application may be written by hand or printed. The appeal must include all relevant information, which should preferably be presented clearly, concisely and only to the essence of the issue.
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Grounds for bringing officials to administrative responsibility
The basis for imposing an administrative penalty is the commission of an administrative offense by an official. This norm is enshrined and guaranteed by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
Types of offenses that entail prosecution and the concomitant application of administrative penalties:
- failure to perform or improper performance of official duties;
- committing unlawful actions or inaction, which resulted in a violation of the legal rights of citizens;
- refusal of an internal affairs officer to consider a citizen’s application or accept a document;
- violation of the procedure for considering citizens' applications, as well as failure to meet deadlines;
- making an unfounded decision that caused harm to a citizen.
The presented list of offenses is not exhaustive.
A full list of grounds, as well as the procedure for bringing officials to administrative responsibility, are set out in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
As a rule, the main measure of administrative punishment against officials is the application of penalties, the amount of which depends on the severity of the offense committed, as well as on other factors that are important in determining the punishment (repetition, amount of damage caused by the offense, etc.) .
Normative base
All actions of civil servants exercising control over law and order, as well as penalties for failure to fulfill their duties, are reflected in Federal Laws and Orders. The main document regulating the responsibility of police officers is the Federal Law, approved in 2011. It is called “On service in internal affairs bodies and amendments to certain acts of the Russian Federation.”
In Part 1 of Art. 15 reflects information regarding the criminal liability of police officers. Part 2 regulates the procedure for committing an administrative offense. Part 3 describes possible violations of discipline and determines the procedure for imposing appropriate penalties.
In addition, civil servants are subject to financial liability. This issue is regulated by Federal Law No. 342, in particular Art. 15 h. 5. Regarding compensation for material damage. All this is supported by the Constitution of the Russian Federation (Articles 52, 53).
The second most important document is the Administrative Code. Article 2.5 regulates the administrative responsibility of police officers. The code specifies both the signs of the offense committed and the penalties.
Civil and financial liability of officials
Unlawful actions or inaction of officials of both internal bodies and investigative bodies, as a result of which damage was caused to citizens, are grounds for bringing the offender to civil liability.
Features of bringing officials to material and civil liability:
- compensation for damage is carried out at the expense of funds from the state budget, and the official is held liable;
- the violator, who is an official, is not liable to persons affected by his unlawful action or inaction, since, according to the law, officials are not included in the number of subjects of civil legal relations;
- compensation for damage caused by illegal actions of an official occurs in the manner established by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation;
- bringing an official to financial responsibility does not exclude the possibility of imposing an administrative penalty on him or applying disciplinary punishment.
Is it possible to punish for inaction?
Inaction is a special type of unlawful activity when the police officer should and could have provided assistance or stopped the violation of law and order and the commission of a legal misconduct . As stipulated in the articles of the Law “On the Police”, an employee can be held accountable for illegal inaction. But an additional study of the circumstances of the conflict and a search for possible alternative actions of the police officer are carried out.
Unfortunately, unlawful actions by police officers belong to the group of crimes with a high level of latency, since only a small proportion of victims report committed actions by police officers. This may be due to both insufficient knowledge of personal rights and opportunities and fear of law enforcement agencies. But every such act must be recorded, since there are those in the ranks of the police who are devoted to their service, and they are in the shadow of negative public reviews.
Criminal liability of employees of internal affairs bodies and officials of investigative bodies
Criminal liability occurs when an official commits unlawful actions, which occurred through the use of powers vested in the offender by virtue of his official position. An official is a special subject of a crime.
There are several groups of crimes for the commission of which it is possible to bring an official to criminal liability:
- criminal acts, the object of which is the inviolability of state power, as well as the interests of the civil service;
- criminal acts against justice;
- socially dangerous actions or inactions, the object of which are the rights, interests and freedoms of citizens.
Unlike other types of legal liability, criminal liability is allowed only on the grounds provided for by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
The use of other legal acts when assigning punishment, as well as the use of analogies of law, is unacceptable.
Author of the article
How to file a complaint
The most effective and correct way to respond to illegal activity is to file a complaint. The CIS countries have approximately the same legal systems, therefore, by analogy with Russian legislation, the instructions for filling out an application will be similar in both Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Important! You can simultaneously contact several authorities, which will speed up the procedure for resolving a conflict and restoring justice.
In general, there is no single form on how to correctly write an appeal, so it is only important to comply with the basic requirements for filing official documents. Namely:
- in the right corner of the page at the top there is an appeal to a specific response authority (it is important to indicate the correct name of the legal entity, as well as the location address);
- under the information about the recipient, it is necessary to indicate the personal data of the citizen who decided to apply (full name, contact phone number, registration address and permanent place of residence);
- in the middle is the title of the document - “Complaint”, with a mandatory indication of the actions of which employee the application is being submitted (this will reduce the time for choosing the subject of the inspection);
- the descriptive part should contain the most detailed information about the conflict that occurred, indicating even minor details, since often they help to fairly assess the situation of the incident;
- the “Please” section must contain a description of your request to the regulatory authority;
- In conclusion, you must indicate the date of drawing up the appeal, as well as the original signature of the complainant.
In addition, if the application is accompanied by evidentiary materials in the form of witness statements, copies of documents, etc., then it is imperative to make an inventory of the attached material evidence.
Failure to comply with a court sentence
Responsibility according to Article 315 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for failure to comply with a court decision that has already entered into force lies with municipal and state employees, as well as employees of commercial and other institutions. The penalty may be as follows:
- A fine of up to 200,000 rubles or the total income of the offender for 18 months.
- Deprivation of the right to work in a specific position for five years.
- Mandatory work lasting up to 480 hours.
- Forced labor for 24 months.
- Arrest for a period of up to six months.
- Imprisonment for a term of up to two years.
We invite you to familiarize yourself with: Template and sample letter of recommendation from an employer for an employee
Failure to provide medical care
If, without serious reasons, medical assistance was not provided to a person, while the person was obliged to provide it in accordance with regulations, then criminal liability arises in accordance with Art. 124 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Important!
Doctors have a special responsibility - people's lives are in their hands. This is why medical negligence is not forgiven. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not forgive them either -
medical negligence
may face imprisonment for up to 7 years.
In a situation where failure to provide medical care resulted in moderate harm to the victim, the punishment may be as follows:
- A fine of up to 40,000 rubles or the total income of the offender for three months.
- Mandatory work lasting up to 360 hours.
- Correctional labor for up to twelve months.
- Arrest for a period of four months.
If failure to provide assistance led to the death of the victim or serious harm to his health, but the punishment will be more severe:
- Forced labor for up to 4 years.
- Imprisonment for up to 4 years
In this case, according to a court decision, the perpetrator may lose the right to engage in certain activities for three years.
