Circumstances allowing the case to be terminated
The statute of limitations is enshrined at the legislative level in the first part of Article 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to this document, a person is released from punishment if a certain amount of time has passed since the crime:
- two years after a criminal act with minimal danger to society;
- six years for criminal acts of average severity;
- 10 years for grave socially dangerous acts;
- 15 years after the fact of committing particularly serious socially dangerous actions.
Termination of a criminal case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for persons under eighteen years of age has a slightly different procedure. According to Article 94 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the above time periods are halved. This provision ceases to apply when a person reaches the age of majority. In simple words, the age at which the crime was committed does not matter; with the onset of adulthood, the calculation period changes.
Closing criminal cases due to the statute of limitations is the duty of an official, not his right. The termination of criminal cases due to statute of limitations must be carried out regardless of his discretion. At the same time, in cases involving subjects who have committed crimes for which capital punishment is imposed, statutes of limitations are not considered during the investigation. The fact is that such a decision is within the competence of the court. It should be noted that completion of the case is also possible in court.
In fact, it turns out that the court will first decide on the punishment, and then, if possible, it will close the case. There is one obvious human factor to consider here. The judge will not allow you to escape punishment for committing a crime against a person that results in particularly grave consequences. In simple words, the subject guilty of committing mass murder will most likely receive a life sentence, and as stated above, the statute of limitations in such circumstances is not taken into account. Practice shows that the opposite happens extremely rarely.
There are a number of articles in criminal law that describe crimes to which statutes of limitations do not apply. We are talking about articles 353, 356-358. These are crimes against peace and humanity. The judicial practice of modern Russia indicates that several WWII criminals were convicted of crimes under these articles.
The statute of limitations for terminating criminal prosecution in criminal proceedings is calculated from the moment the criminal act was committed and ends with the entry into force of the sentence passed in court. Their calculation may be suspended if the subject evades investigation and trial. This issue is regulated by Part 3 of Article 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Evasion should be understood as deliberate actions aimed at avoiding prosecution. This includes: an intentional change of place of residence, or even a change in appearance.
Grounds and procedure for termination of criminal proceedings and criminal prosecution
Evasion in order to wait for the expiration of certain deadlines, as a rule, does not make sense. Often, evading criminals are well aware of the consequences of terminating a criminal case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, but are not aware that the deliberate fact of evasion stops their report. A person evading justice is a suspect, accused or defendant who has been officially notified of his having such a procedural status, but at the same time commits deliberate actions that impede his search.
For some, the consequence of this ruling is release from liability and the end of prosecution in the case. At the same time, innocent people who find themselves in the process for whatever reason do not agree with this formulation of the question. They want to close it once and for all. A person who has the procedural status of an accused or suspect has the right to object to the completion of the case. In such a situation, the official is obliged to continue the investigation in the general manner.
Considering the shortcomings of the law enforcement and judicial system of modern Russia, such a step can result in a number of problems for the accused and suspect. In this regard, most people do not seek to object to the closure of a case due to the statute of limitations. It is better to live condemned by the public for committing a criminal act, but in freedom.
Termination of a criminal case: lack of corpus delicti
Here it is implied that some act did take place. But it is not a crime for a reason.
Example 1: A. broke B’s nose in a fight on the street. A criminal case was opened, but it turned out that B. attacked A. Thus, A. found himself in a state of necessary defense (Article 37 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and had the right to defend himself, in including causing harm B. There is no corpus delicti.
Example 2: A driver hits a pedestrian and the pedestrian is injured. It was established that the driver did not have the technical ability to avoid the collision. Therefore, the criminal case is terminated.
Important to know: there is an interesting detail here. In Russian criminal law there is a presumption of innocence. All doubts are interpreted in favor of the accused. For example, if the technical ability to avoid a collision has not been established, then it is considered that this opportunity did not exist. From the legal side, “failure to establish the technical possibility of avoiding a collision” = “establishing the impossibility of avoiding a collision.” It seems simple. In reality, everything is very complicated. A professional lawyer will make every effort to prove your innocence.
Rules for drawing up a resolution
As mentioned above, a criminal case can be terminated by issuing an appropriate resolution. This document is drawn up in compliance with a number of specific rules. The act can be issued by the inquiry officer or investigator, and also drawn up in court. The resolution must include the following data:
- locality and date of document preparation;
- position, rank, surname and initials of the compiler;
- the circumstances that served as the reason for initiating proceedings;
- references to legal norms;
- results of completed activities;
- norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure on the basis of which the case and (or) prosecution are terminated.
In addition, the document must contain the procedure for appealing the decision. From the point of view of exemption from liability as a result of the expiration of the statute of limitations, this point is largely irrelevant. The exception is cases where the deadline was not stopped, although there were good reasons for this. Thus, by carrying out calculations, it can be determined that the period allotted by law has not yet expired and it is possible to bring the person to justice.
Limitation periods for prosecution in criminal cases
You can appeal such a decision of an official either by contacting the head of the investigation or inquiry, or by filing a corresponding claim in court. The result of a challenge may be a refusal, partial or complete satisfaction. The processing time for an application directly depends on the complexity of the case, but does not exceed ten days from the date of official acceptance.
Termination of a criminal case: due to active repentance
If a crime of minor or moderate gravity has been committed for the first time, and the perpetrator confessed, helped the investigator in every possible way to solve the crime, told everything honestly, and compensated for the damage caused, then this person can be released from criminal liability, and the case is dismissed.
It is important to know: there is a so-called “stick system”. This is when statistics require investigators to solve crimes and bring cases to trial. Unfortunately, this is exactly the situation in Russia now. Therefore, investigators sometimes continue to conduct a criminal case, even if there are grounds for its termination, even if the suspect’s innocence is completely obvious. Practice knows wild cases. Without one of our lawyers - well, there’s simply no way. You are left at the mercy of the investigator if you do not use the services of a lawyer. And investigators are not particularly merciful people.
Problems of closing criminal cases with an expired statute of limitations
As was said earlier, the Russian law enforcement system is far from perfect. The fact is that each investigator and interrogator has, at best, 40-50 criminal cases. For objective reasons, he cannot deal with all of them at the same time, so cases of less serious crimes, which are also complicated, gather dust on the shelves. In the best case, once a month the official supplements the case materials with some papers designed to show that the investigation is underway. At the same time, the statute of limitations for cases expires.
Thus, cases of crimes of minimal gravity remain untouched for two years. After which, the official closes them. In modern Russia, several million cases were closed this way.
On the one hand, we can say that shortcomings in the work of the law enforcement structure make the entire system more humane. A person who has committed a minor offense is not liable for hooliganism, causing minor bodily harm, petty theft, etc. On the other hand, this situation gives rise to lawlessness. Having committed a crime once and not been held accountable for it, the subject understands that he can continue to act in a similar spirit, committing more serious offenses.
The issue of termination of criminal cases for this reason is the subject of controversy in legal circles. In addition, many scientific works have been published on this topic. In general, all of the above measures will most likely cause the legislation regarding limitation periods to be changed. For example, the most heated debates arise around particularly serious crimes; many legal practitioners and theorists agree that the statute of limitations for such crimes should be abolished.
Termination of a criminal case: absence of a crime event
That is, there was no act at all for which it was necessary to initiate a criminal case.
Example 1: The body of a man with a head injury was found in the forest. A criminal case was opened under the article “murder”. And then it turned out that the man was injured and died due to a falling tree branch.
Example 2: A person filed a complaint about the theft of 100,000 rubles, and a criminal case was opened under the article “theft.” And then the applicant remembered that he simply hid this money at home and forgot about the new place where he put this money.
Why you need to contact a lawyer
By law, the investigator must investigate the case impartially, objectively and professionally. But in practice everything is completely different.
The investigator needs to submit the criminal case to the court. And what “quality” it will be is the tenth question, because without a lawyer the court will side with the investigator.
Also read: What is the article and what is the penalty for burglary?
The courts believe the testimony of the police officers themselves unconditionally. The testimony of these employees is called “operational information”, this is the disguise. It is assumed that “operational information” is objective, and a conviction can be based on it.
The court does not want to believe the testimony of defense witnesses. The court believes that they are biased, they are at one with the defendant, etc.
Witnesses? Investigators have “regular” witnesses at the ready who will sign and confirm anything in court. These may be cadets from departmental universities. Of course, they are on the side of the investigator, because they themselves are future investigators.
In cases, for example, about drugs, drug addicts themselves can be witnesses, who thus ensure that the investigator does not touch them for the time being. What kind of termination of a criminal case is there? This is “-1 case” in statistics for the investigator.
Without the help of a lawyer, the investigator will drag the case to trial, even if it becomes obvious that the suspect is innocent. But in court, maybe the case will somehow slip through... Could the judge be indignant and send the case for further investigation? Maybe, of course. If a judge is a conscientious and competent person, such people will meet. But it's better to be safe.
It is important to know: the investigator needs good statistics, so criminal cases are carried out even if they should be terminated. It reaches the point of absurdity. The court believes the investigator more and more willingly than the defendant: one government agency treats another government agency with understanding. And the investigator has more experience in legal matters than the one who got into trouble. What can you do without a professional lawyer whose services you can get? Just go to jail.
Important to know: remember that a lawyer is the only person involved in the case who wants to protect you and knows how to do it. A lawyer knows how to achieve a truly independent examination. How to attract witnesses and force the investigator to take their testimony into account. How to prove your alibi.
