Damage to someone else's property
Let’s imagine a situation: children had a fight, and one child accidentally broke the other’s expensive smartphone during the fight. The parents of the injured boy are now demanding compensation for the cost of the damaged item and are threatening to sue. Are parents acting legally?
It all depends on where the incident occurred - in the yard on a weekend or at school. If at school (in a camp, at a training camp), then the administration of the educational or educational institution is responsible for what happened, but if in the yard - the parents of the child who broke the phone.
If a child is under 14 years old, then his parents or legal representatives must compensate for the damage caused to him; if - from 14 to 18 years, then he compensates for the damage caused independently. If a teenager does not have his own funds, this responsibility falls on his parents or guardians.
However, such disputes should be resolved legally - by concluding a settlement agreement or by going to court. To determine the amount of damage, the injured party, at its own expense, can conduct an independent examination, the results of which will be taken into account by the court.
All of the above also applies to damage to municipal property: for example, if a child, while playing football, broke a window at school or knocked down a door.
But if a minor intentionally damaged someone else’s property, he may be subject to administrative punishment – a fine of 300 to 500 rubles. However, the sanction can only be imposed on persons over 16 years of age.
Criminal liability is provided for damage to someone else's property, but only for persons over 16 years of age and only if the injured party has suffered significant material damage, the amount of which will be determined by the court.
What determines the punishment for the committed act?
When determining the severity of an act, as well as punishment, law enforcement officers, and then judges, take into account several points:
- the situation in the family, relationships between relatives, as well as the attitude of parents towards the child;
- reference from the school or from an authorized district police officer;
- presence of cases of offense in the past.
If a teenager has committed a crime for the first time, the preventive measures will be fair. As for repeated cases, you will have to answer to the fullest extent. If serious measures are likely to be taken, you can seek the help of a qualified lawyer. He will assist in mitigating the punishment, giving the consideration of the case the necessary direction.
Theft and robbery
Unlike property damage, which can be committed unintentionally, theft or robbery is always an intentional crime. His motives can be different, from the desire to make money to banal curiosity, and regardless of why the child committed theft or robbery, either he or his parents will have to answer for the act.
Theft means the secret theft of someone else's property, while robbery means the same act, but committed openly. The law also has such a concept as robbery - an attack for the purpose of stealing someone else's property, but it refers to more serious crimes, and therefore we will not consider robbery.
Let's imagine two situations: a teenager steals from a store and takes a cell phone from a classmate. Both robbery and theft are criminal offenses, for which responsibility begins at the age of 14. Persons under this age are not subject to criminal liability. However, from the age of 11 they can be assigned to special closed educational institutions for the purpose of prevention and re-education.
For theft and robbery committed by children under 14 years of age, their parents or guardians are responsible, most often a fine and compensation for damage caused. If you manage to reconcile with the victims, there is a possibility that you can only get by with compensation for the damage.
Thus, a child will not be imprisoned for shoplifting, but he will have to answer for it before the law.
Extortion
In modern legislation of the Russian Federation, extortion is understood as a requirement for the transfer of material assets under the threat of committing actions that violate the rights and legitimate interests of the victim, or the dissemination of information discrediting his honor and dignity. In other words, it is intimidation of the victim in order to take money or valuable items from him. And, unfortunately, such situations are not uncommon in schools.
We will not consider extortion on a large scale, but will try to understand what is fraught with “small” extortion, when, for example, a stronger child takes pocket money from a weaker one. This kind of extortion can go on for years, with victims becoming so scared of the extortionists that they keep quiet about everything at school and at home.
If the offender is under 14 years old, then the parents will compensate for the material damage. In addition, a protocol will be drawn up against them under Article 5.35 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation “Improper fulfillment of parental responsibilities,” and the juvenile offender himself will be registered with the Department for Minors. But if the extortionist is over 14 years old, then he will face criminal liability. By a court decision, the offender may be released from criminal punishment, but he will still be subject to educational measures - compensation for material and moral damage (which must be paid by the minor himself, or his legal representatives, if the teenager does not have his own funds), placement on registration with the Department of Juvenile Affairs and restriction of rights and freedoms (for example, a ban on being outside the home at a certain time).
If you find out that your child has become a victim of extortion, feel free to file a corresponding complaint with the police. Extortion is a criminal offense, and authorities will be required to look into the situation.
How do you correctly write a statement about extortion to the police?
When you have evidence of illegal acts in your hands, it is easier to act. You can file a complaint about extortion under Art. 163 to the police. Detectives will collect evidence with you (or without you) during operational activities.
If illegal and illegal actions are committed against you, then you must contact the law enforcement authorities AT THE PLACE OF THE CRIME. For example, you permanently reside in Moscow, but went to work in Chelyabinsk. One working day they began to threaten you, demanding money. You need to go to the Chelyabinsk city police. We take our passport (another document that confirms our identity) with us.
IMPORTANT! The department will give you an application and advise you on how to fill it out. Be sure to make sure that your application is REGISTERED (this is confirmed by a special coupon document that is handed to the applicant). Very often, the police accept statements from citizens, but do not register them, in order to “reduce” the number of crimes in the area. And if your application is not registered, then no one will deal with it.
If government officials suddenly begin to interfere with your efforts to protect your interests or refuse to accept your application for illegal reasons, you must contact the prosecutor’s office.
Hooliganism
To begin with, it is worth noting that hooliganism means a demonstrative violation of public order, that is, this crime always has witnesses.
The law clearly distinguishes between hooliganism and petty hooliganism. There is criminal liability for hooliganism, and administrative liability for petty hooliganism. We will talk about petty hooliganism, which, for example, includes a situation where a student uses obscene language in class, writes offensive inscriptions on fences, walls or desks, throws various small objects out of windows or throws them at passers-by. Agree, such actions are often committed by schoolchildren, regardless of age. And parents, like the children themselves, need to understand that they may be held responsible for such pranks.
For hooliganism (Part 1 of Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation) there are two types of punishment - a fine in the amount of 500 rubles to 1 thousand, or arrest for up to 15 days. Minors can only be punished with a fine of 500 rubles to 1 thousand, or from 1 to 2 thousand rubles if the teenager disobeyed the requirements of a law enforcement officer. However, this only applies to teenagers over 16 years of age (hence, they must pay the fine on their own).
It is important to understand that only persons over 16 years of age can be held responsible for committing petty hooliganism, so they must pay the fine themselves. If the hooligan is under 16 years of age, a decision will be issued to refuse to initiate an administrative case.
However, this does not mean that children can throw garbage and various objects out of windows with impunity: if someone gets hurt as a result of this prank, the child will have to be held accountable for causing minor harm to health, and liability under this article begins at the age of 14.
A few words should be said about what hooliganism is and how it differs from petty hooliganism. Hooliganism is a criminal offense, a violation of public order, which can be committed with the use of weapons (items that replace them), motivated by religious, racial, ideological hatred or enmity, with resistance to a government official, as well as with the use of explosives and devices.
What can they demand?
The subject of extortion can be various types of property and material goods; attackers can also demand the transfer of ownership rights to real estate. For example, forcing the victim to “resign” the property to one of the extortionists.
In this case, we will be talking about extortion of especially valuable property.
In another case, criminals may demand to write a receipt under threat stating that a previously taken out debt was repaid, although in fact no actual repayment was made.
Bullying at school
There is no such concept as “bullying” in the law. However, there are articles in the administrative and criminal codes that can be applied to the instigators of bullying. For example, insult, battery, threat. It all depends on the specific situation.
However, we should not forget that all of the above articles relate to the criminal code, and therefore, only persons over 16 years of age can be held accountable under them (if the victim suffered significant harm to health or intentionally damaged property, then from 14 years of age). Persons under this age will most likely not face criminal liability for bullying at school, since the legislator assumes that at this age a person is not able to realize the consequences of his actions.
Most likely, educational measures will be applied to the teenager for bullying - a warning, restriction of freedom, the obligation to publicly ask for forgiveness from the victim, a ban on visiting public places. In addition, the culprit will be registered with the Department of Juvenile Affairs.
To avoid such situations, parents should raise their child in the legal field, familiarize him with the basic laws, and explain that any criminal act is punishable. And it is possible that knowledge of the laws will force teenagers to correctly analyze their actions and the actions of others, not to fall into bad company and not to commit crimes.
Extortion by a group of persons with or without prior agreement
Attackers often team up. This makes it easier to commit a crime, to overcome one’s own insecurity and cowardice. Collective crimes are more difficult to investigate: the law requires to establish exactly who is guilty of what, but in the case of a group of suspects/accused, this is sometimes almost impossible.
Features of the crime
Paragraphs of Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation distinguish two types of group extortion:
- two or more criminals are acting + there is a preliminary conspiracy;
- extortion committed by an organized group, that is, a criminal collective with its own special hierarchy.
What is the key feature of group extortion? If there is only one victim and there are many attackers, the crime will most likely succeed. Acting as a “crowd” makes it easier to intimidate the target of extortion or commit violence. That is why criminal collectivism is punished more severely by law.
Unfortunately, even those who are responsible for the life and health of our compatriots do not shy away from extortion. To learn how extortion by doctors is stopped and how to avoid falling into the hands of criminals, watch the video below:
Punishment
- A gang of extortionists can be imprisoned for a maximum term of seven years.
- In addition, paragraph 2 of Article 163 provides for a fine of up to half a million rubles. The fine may also be equal to three years' earnings or less.
- Another measure is restriction of freedom. The maximum period is two years.
What the punishment will be in a particular case is always decided in court. All circumstances of the case are considered there, including aggravating or mitigating ones. Special cases are when children and/or teenagers become extortionists.
