Types of crimes according to the degree of public danger, by the method of description and by the design of the objective side

The concept of corpus delicti

The corpus delicti is a set of objective and subjective characteristics provided for by criminal law that characterize a socially dangerous act as a crime.
An element of a crime is a generalized legally significant property specified in the law, inherent in all crimes of a given type. The norms of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation describe the signs that reflect the specifics of a particular crime, and the norms of the General Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation give signs that are characteristic of all crimes without exception (the age at which criminal liability begins and sanity). The signs characterizing a specific crime form a system of signs; the absence of at least one of them means the absence of the crime as a whole.

The composition of any crime is formed by four groups of signs, distinguished by its elements.

An element of a crime as a structural part of the composition, consisting of a group of signs corresponding to various aspects of the crime. In total, there are four elements of the crime:

1. object of crime;
2. the objective side of the crime;
3. the subjective side of the crime;
4. subject of the crime.

The signs that characterize the object and the objective side of the crime are called objective signs of the crime ; the characteristics inherent in the subjective side and the subject of the crime are called subjective characteristics of the .

Depending on the meaning of the legal characteristics of the crime, they are divided into mandatory and optional.

The characteristics included in all crimes are considered mandatory These include:

• public relations;
• socially dangerous act (action or inaction);
• guilt in the form of intent or negligence;
• the sanity of the person and his attainment of the age at which, according to the law, criminal liability for this crime begins.

Optional features are those that are not inherent in all elements of a crime, but only in some of them. With their help, the legislator, when constructing criminal law norms, reflects additional features that express the specificity of a particular crime. These include:

• the subject of the crime, the victim of the crime;
• criminal consequences;
• the causal relationship between the act and the consequences;
• circumstances of time and place;
• method, situation, instruments and means of committing a crime;
• motive and purpose of the crime;
• special characteristics of the subject of the crime (special subject).

The meaning of optional elements of a crime in criminal law:

1. by the legislator they can be included in the main element of the crime and, in connection with this, become mandatory (constitutive) (for example, a secret method of confiscating someone else’s property is a mandatory sign of theft - Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
2. they can act as a qualifying feature that increases or, conversely, reduces the danger of a crime and changes the main type of crime to its qualified type (for example, a generally dangerous method of murder, special cruelty - clauses “d”, “f”, part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation; conditions of a psychotraumatic situation - Article 106 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
3. if they are not mandatory (not included in the main part of the crime) and are not indicated as qualifying characteristics, then according to Art. 61 and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation can act as circumstances mitigating or aggravating punishment (for example, methods such as sadism, torture, mockery of the victim are recognized as aggravating punishment; minority, pregnancy, motive of compassion - mitigating).

Nature of public danger

Definition 1
The nature of public danger is a mandatory element of a crime. Its determination is carried out by identifying the object of the crime, and it belongs to a certain category of danger to society. Taking this feature into account is important when qualifying a crime.

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Art. 313 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides in more detail several degrees of public danger for crimes. In particular, crimes are divided into:

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• especially serious
• heavy,
• entailing particularly grave consequences,
• do not pose a great public danger.

This classification is related to the peculiarities of the policy in the field of criminal penalties. This also takes into account the characteristics of the crime, its features, properties that will distinguish it from other offenses, a certain set of objective and subjective characteristics. All these signs are characteristics of a crime.

Note 1

When determining the degree of public danger, one must proceed from basic and additional criteria. This includes the form of guilt, motive, method, setting and stage of the crime, the degree and nature of the participation of each of the accomplices, etc. They can also take into account how valuable the object of the attack is, what is the amount of damage, the degree of guilt is determined, the motives of the person, etc.

The circumstances that characterize the degree of social danger of a crime are characterized by the presence of objective and subjective properties. Based on these criteria, the punishment is also established. Thus, the established punishment depends on the degree of social danger of the crime; its upper and lower limits depend on this.

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The most severe penalties apply to the most serious crimes. However, the severity of the crime also affects the severity of the crime. In each case, it is necessary to find out what consequences the crime led to. Therefore, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation We have already completed course work

The Criminal Procedure obliged the court to clarify these circumstances in each case in more detail. Damage is taken into account, including when imposing punishment.

The meaning of the crime

The significance of the crime lies in the fact that its presence in a specific socially dangerous act makes it possible to recognize the latter as a crime and qualify it under a certain article of the Criminal Code; in accordance with Art. 8 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation serves as a necessary and sufficient basis for bringing a person to criminal liability.

The concepts of crime and corpus delicti are inextricably linked with each other and refer to the same phenomenon of objective reality - a socially dangerous act provided for by criminal law. The first of them mainly characterizes the social essence of a criminal act, and the second - its legal structure and necessary properties. Consequently, the concept of a crime covers a real phenomenon, and the corpus delicti acts as a legal concept about this phenomenon.

Types of compounds according to the degree of public danger:

• basic – composition without aggravating and mitigating circumstances, which describes the main features of a specific crime;

• qualified - a crime with aggravating circumstances, which, in addition to the main elements, contains special elements that increase punishability compared to the main elements;

• privileged – a crime with mitigating circumstances, which, in addition to the main elements, contains special elements that reduce the punishability compared to the main elements.

Types of compositions by structure:

• simple - a composition in the disposition of which one attribute of each element is indicated - one object, one act, one consequence, one form of guilt;

• complex – composition, the disposition of which is complicated by any circumstances:

• two objects (property and personality);

• two actions (sexual intercourse and violence);

• two consequences (serious harm to health and death);

• two forms of guilt (intention to illegally perform an abortion and negligence to cause death).

Types of complex compositions:

• composition with two objects: the commission of a criminal act simultaneously involves an encroachment on two objects;

• composition with two actions - a composition providing for the performance of two or more actions;

• composition with two consequences - a composition in which the occurrence of two types of consequences is provided;

• composition with two forms of guilt - composition where the subjective side is heterogeneous and is characterized by a different attitude of the person to the act (intention) and to the consequence (negligence);

• alternative composition – a composition whose disposition lists a number of actions; the establishment of one of them is already sufficient to recognize the presence of corpus delicti in a person’s actions.

Types of compositions according to the design of the objective side:

• material – the crime is considered completed from the moment the criminal consequences described in the disposition of the corresponding article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation occur;

• formal - a composition that the legislator recognizes as completed from the moment the criminal act is committed, described in the disposition of the article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, regardless of the consequences (slander is recognized as a completed crime from the moment of dissemination of knowingly false information discrediting the honor and dignity of another person);

• truncated - a composition that the legislator recognizes as complete due to the increased danger at an earlier stage - preparation and attempt.

Table of contents

Classification of crimes

On the correct application of the norm of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on changing the category of crime to a less serious one, see Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated May 15, 2018 N 10 “On the practice of application by courts of the provisions of Part 6 of Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.” The main criterion is the degree of public danger, and the auxiliary meaning is attached to the form of guilt. According to these indicators, all crimes provided for by the Criminal Code (Part 1 of Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) are divided into:

1. crimes of minor gravity - intentional and careless acts, for the commission of which the maximum punishment does not exceed 2 years of imprisonment (Part 2 of Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
2. crimes of average gravity - intentional acts, for the commission of which the maximum penalty does not exceed 5 years of imprisonment, and careless acts, for the commission of which the maximum penalty provided for by this code exceeds 2 years of imprisonment (Part 3 of Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
3. serious crimes - intentional acts, for the commission of which the maximum punishment does not exceed 10 years of imprisonment (part 4 of article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
4. especially serious crimes - intentional acts, the commission of which is punishable by imprisonment for a term of over 10 years or a more severe punishment (Part 5 of Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Thus, the first two categories can include both intentional and careless crimes, while only intentional crimes can be classified as serious and especially serious.

The legislative classification of crimes by the nature and degree of their social danger is very important for solving a number of practical issues in the application of criminal law.

1. The category of crime is taken into account when establishing dangerous (part 2 of article 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and especially dangerous (part 3 of article 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) recidivism.
2. Criminal liability arises only for preparation for a serious or especially serious crime (Part 2 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
3. A criminal community (criminal organization) can be recognized as a cohesive organized association created to commit grave or especially grave crimes (Part 4 of Article 35 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
4. When sentenced to imprisonment, the type of correctional institution and the regime of the correctional colony are assigned taking into account the category of the crime for which the punishment was imposed (Article 58 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
5. The death penalty and life imprisonment can only be imposed for especially serious crimes that encroach on life (Article 57 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), as well as for terrorism under especially aggravating circumstances.
6. The significance of a circumstance mitigating punishment may be the commission of only a crime of minor gravity for the first time due to a random combination of circumstances.
7. When assigning punishment for a set of crimes, depending on their categories, it is either allowed (Part 2 of Article 69 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) or excluded (Part 3 of Article 69 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) the application of the principle of absorption of a less severe punishment by a more severe one.
8. Exemption from criminal liability in connection with active repentance and in connection with reconciliation with the victim can only be applied to persons who have committed crimes of minor and moderate gravity for the first time (Articles 75, 76 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
9. The statute of limitations for criminal prosecution (Article 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and the statute of limitations for a court conviction (Article 83 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) are determined by the category of the crime committed.
10. The part of the sentence, upon completion of which parole from serving the sentence and the replacement of the unserved part of the sentence with a milder type of punishment are possible, depends on the category of crime for which the convicted person is serving the sentence (Part 3 of Article 79, Part 2 of Article 80 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ).
11. Deferment of serving sentences for pregnant women and women with young children does not apply to persons sentenced to imprisonment for a term of more than five years for grave and especially grave crimes against the person (Article 82 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
12. The period for expunging the criminal record of persons sentenced to imprisonment is determined by the category of the crime committed (clauses “c”, “d” and “e” of Part 3 of Article 86 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
13. The release of minors from criminal liability (Article 90 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) or from punishment (Part 1 of Article 92 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) with the use of compulsory educational measures can only be used when committing a crime of minor or moderate gravity.

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Crimes: classification criteria

In Part 1 of Article 14 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation We have already completed our thesis

Art. 313 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains a more detailed definition of a crime, which recognizes a socially dangerous act committed as guilty, prohibited by the code under threat of punishment.

Human behavior that violates criminal law prohibitions, causing serious, often irreparable harm to social benefits protected by criminal law, is usually called criminal. Such behavior is antisocial; it expresses the antagonism of the guilty person in relation to existing foundations.

Crime leads to negative changes in social reality. As a phenomenon, it threatens to worsen the legal situation in society. The correct classification of criminal offenses is necessary for a clear response by law enforcement agencies to crimes committed, and therefore for their prevention.

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The classification accepted in criminal law involves dividing crimes into homogeneous groups according to various criteria. For example, according to the forms of guilt, intentional and careless acts are distinguished. Based on the motive that prompted a person to commit illegal actions, crimes can be selfish or non-selfish. And according to the method of committing them, they are divided into violent and non-violent. Of great practical importance is the definition of such types of crimes as continuing and continuing.

An ongoing crime is considered completed from the moment the guilty person was detained or turned himself in to law enforcement agencies. Such acts may include, for example, escaping from prison or illegal possession of drugs.

A continuing crime is committed by several acts united by a single intent. Thus, a store cashier appropriates certain amounts of money, carrying out his plans in several steps. All illegal actions of the cashier are classified as one crime, which is important when determining criminal punishment.

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Figure 1. Crime classification criteria. Author24 - online exchange of student work

Categories of crimes according to Russian criminal law

Bibliographic description:

Arestov, V.V. Categories of crimes according to Russian criminal law / V.V. Arestov. — Text: direct // New Legal Bulletin. - 2022. - No. 3 (5). — P. 37-39. — URL: https://moluch.ru/th/9/archive/91/3234/ (access date: 03/03/2022).


Categorization of crimes is the division of the entire set of illegal acts provided for especially by part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation into groups depending on the criteria established by law. The use of such an institution within the framework of criminal law is due to the need for a differentiated approach to the implementation of criminal prosecution against persons who have committed unlawful acts with varying degrees of public danger.

Russian criminal legislation has an exhaustive list of categories of crimes. So, in accordance with Art. 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the following categories of crimes are distinguished: crimes of minor gravity, crimes of moderate gravity, serious crimes, especially serious crimes. The criteria for categorizing crimes in the criminal legislation of the Russian Federation are: the nature and degree of public danger of the unlawful act. [1, p. 23]

From the point of view of applied law, these criteria are expressed in the form of guilt the committed unlawful act has, as well as the size of the maximum term of imprisonment provided for by the sanction of the corresponding article of the special part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

In criminal law, “guilt” is usually understood as the psychological attitude of a person to the unlawful action or inaction he has committed, as well as to the consequences of this unlawful act. [2, p. 83] Guilt can be expressed in the form of intent or negligence. [1, p.34]

A crime is considered committed intentionally if the person was aware of the social danger of his actions (inaction), foresaw the possibility or inevitability of socially dangerous consequences and wanted them to happen, or did not want them, but consciously allowed these consequences or was indifferent to them. [1, p.36]

A crime committed through negligence can be expressed in the form of frivolity or negligence. A crime is considered to be committed due to frivolity if a person foresaw the possibility of socially dangerous consequences of his actions (inaction), but without sufficient grounds, he arrogantly hoped to prevent these consequences. A crime is considered committed through negligence if a person did not foresee the possibility of socially dangerous consequences of his actions (inaction), although with the necessary care and forethought he should and could have foreseen these consequences. [1, p.37]

An unlawful act committed through negligence can only be classified as a crime of minor or medium gravity. In turn, an unlawful act committed with intent can be classified into any of the categories.

Deprivation of liberty is a type of criminal punishment, which consists of isolating the convicted person from society by sending him to a penal colony, placement in an educational colony, a medical correctional institution, a correctional colony of general, strict or special regime, or to prison, for a period of two to twenty months. years. [1, p.82]

Criminal legislation establishes the maximum and (or) minimum term of imprisonment for each of the designated categories of crimes. Thus:

– crimes of minor gravity are recognized as intentional and careless acts, for the commission of which the maximum punishment provided for by the sanction of the relevant article of the special part of the criminal code does not exceed three years of imprisonment;

– crimes of average gravity are considered intentional acts, for the commission of which the maximum punishment provided for by the sanction of the corresponding article of the special part of the criminal code does not exceed five years of imprisonment, and careless acts, for the commission of which the maximum punishment provided for by the sanction of the corresponding article of the special part of the criminal code exceeds three years' imprisonment;

– serious crimes are considered intentional acts, for the commission of which the maximum punishment provided for by the sanction of the relevant article of the special part of the criminal code does not exceed ten years of imprisonment;

– especially serious crimes are intentional acts, the commission of which is punishable by imprisonment for a term of more than ten years or a more severe punishment under the sanction of the relevant article of the special part of the criminal code; [1, p.23]

Taking into account the above, it is worth bearing in mind that the court, subject to a number of conditions, as well as taking into account the actual circumstances of the unlawful act and the degree of its public danger, has the right to change the category of the crime. The law establishes the following conditions:

– presence of mitigating circumstances;

– absence of aggravating circumstances;

In turn, the law establishes the following limits, beyond which the court cannot change the category of an unlawful act:

– the change can only be made to a less severe category;

– no more than one category of crime

– for committing an unlawful act classified as a crime of average gravity, the convicted person is sentenced to a sentence not exceeding three years of imprisonment or another more lenient punishment;

– for committing an unlawful act classified as a serious crime, the convicted person is sentenced to a sentence not exceeding five years of imprisonment, or another more lenient punishment;

– for committing an unlawful act classified as a particularly serious crime, the convicted person is sentenced to a sentence not exceeding seven years of imprisonment. [1, p.23]

This categorization of crimes is primarily of a practical nature. Thus, in accordance with the category to which the committed unlawful act is classified, the following issues are resolved:

– determination of dangerous and especially dangerous relapse [1, p.43];

– responsibility for preparation for a crime [1, p.43];

– establishing the presence of a criminal community [1, p. 50];

– application of the death penalty [1, p.85];

– identification and consideration of circumstances mitigating punishment; [1, p.89]

– imposing punishment for a set of crimes; [1, p.102]

– exemption from criminal liability; [1, p.116]

– replacement of the unserved part of the punishment with a more lenient one [1, p. 130];

– assignment of deferment of serving sentences to pregnant women and women with young children [1, p. 136];

– release from serving a sentence due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for a court conviction [1, p. 141];

– expungement of a criminal record [1, p. 146];

– the process of implementing criminal liability and imposing punishment on minors. [1, p.150]

Thus, the institution of categorization of crimes provides the legislator with the ability to flexibly regulate legal relations that arise during criminal prosecution.

It is worth noting that the differentiation of crimes into categories is not limited exclusively to domestic legislation. This practice finds application in the criminal legislation of many foreign countries. Considering that Russian national law is part of the so-called Romano-Germanic legal family, it will be of some interest how the categorization of crimes is reflected in the criminal law of other countries of continental Europe, in particular the French Republic.

The French Criminal Code of 1992 contains the following provision on the classification of criminal acts: “Criminal acts are classified according to their gravity into crimes, misdemeanors and violations.” Thus, the legislator uses the form of guilt and the measure of punishment as a criterion. In particular, the punishment for a crime cannot be less than 10 years of imprisonment [3, Art. 131–1], for a misdemeanor up to 10 years of imprisonment or another punishment [3, Art. 131–3], for a violation a fine or other punishment [3, art. 131–12]. Such a categorization of unlawful acts, just as in Russian legislation, is of a utilitarian nature, in particular, it affects the determination of the statute of limitations for a crime. [3, art. 133–2-133–4].

Having observed a certain bias in the application of the institution of categorization of crimes in the context of the criminal code of France and Russia, it is also worth noting that in addition to the division into categories established by criminal legislation, the science of criminal law of the Russian Federation also has other criteria for the classification of unlawful acts. Similar criteria can be: a typical object of a criminal attack, a generic object of a criminal attack, the type of crime, the form of guilt, etc.

Thus, the categorization of crimes is of exceptional importance for the legal regulation of social relations arising in the course of criminal prosecution, it allows for differentiation of criminal liability and compliance with the principle of individualization of punishment. This institution also plays its role in conducting statistical observation, forming signs on the basis of which the observer forms an idea of ​​the bias of certain phenomena in law enforcement practice, thus contributing to the improvement of legislation and honing the legal technique of the law enforcement officer.

Literature:

1. Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Article-by-article commentary / Ed. Esakova G. A. - 7th ed. - M.: Prospekt, 2022. - 736 p.
2. Criminal law of Russia. Practical course / General. ed. A. I. Bastrykina; under scientific ed. Naumova A.V. - 3rd edition - M.: Wolters Kluwer, 2007. - 808 p.
3. French Criminal Code of 1992 - Legal Russia. Federal legal portal - https://law.edu.ru/norm/norm.asp?normID=1243018&subID=100104265,100104266#text

Key terms
(automatically generated)
: deprivation of liberty, unlawful act, crime, special part, criminal code, act, maximum punishment, public danger, criminal liability, criminal prosecution.