Definition of bribe
Providing a certain amount of funds for any action is an offense. Such a crime is regulated by the provisions of Art. 290 and 291 of the Criminal Code. This economic offense is considered quite serious, as it is the cause of the high level of corruption in the country. Due to such actions, officials and officials of various organizations abuse their powers. Typically, bribes are offered to people holding high positions in a company or government agency.
All people should know what is considered a bribe, since when it is detected, selfish intent must be detected. A bribe is the procedure of transferring funds or any valuable items to another person. For these values, the bribe-taker performs certain actions that benefit the bribe-giver.
For such actions to be recognized as a crime, funds must be transferred only to officials who work in state or municipal organizations.
Problems of qualification of crime and judicial practice
Establishing a crime such as attempted bribery is often characterized by certain difficulties. As a rule, they are associated with direct evidence of the moment of the assassination attempt. After all, in fact, the receipt of funds did not occur for any reason, but the presence of a crime still needs to be confirmed. In this case, evidence may include:
- telephone call records, as well as photographs and video recordings;
- testimony of the person who was offered the bribe;
- testimony of other persons who witnessed the immediate moment of the crime.
Often, the role of bribe takers is law enforcement officers who organize relevant checks and operations.
Punishment for an attempt is imposed by the judicial authorities, based on the claim of the interested person. This person can be: a citizen who has been offered a reward, a prosecutor, a law enforcement officer, etc. The claim must describe in detail the circumstances of the current situation, as well as provide relevant evidence.
An attempt to give a reward cannot be recognized as an attempt if the official accepted money or other valuables. At the same time, the fact whether it carried out the necessary actions will not matter here.
An attempt to pay a bribe ceases to be such at the moment when the authorized person accepts the offered funds. In this case, the crime will already constitute a full-fledged bribe.
Judicial practice shows that certain difficulties arise when the remuneration is not expressed in money, but, for example, in some services. In such a situation, the very fact of the offer made will be quite difficult to prove, as well as the subsequent fact of acceptance of the preliminary remuneration by the authorized person.
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Dmitry Leonov
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What actions are performed by the bribe taker?
Bribery of a public official is a serious crime. For the money received, the bribe-taker can perform various actions. These include:
- providing assistance if necessary to solve any complex problem;
- rapid advancement up the career ladder;
- providing the opportunity to exceed authority;
- getting rid of responsibility for exceeding official authority;
- providing other assistance.
If such a crime is detected, the offender is held accountable. If truly serious consequences of such a violation are revealed, imprisonment for a term of up to 15 years may be applied.
Types of bribes
According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a bribe can be presented in the following forms:
- an overt bribe involves the transfer of value or money to another person immediately after an agreement has been reached or a verbal agreement has been entered into;
- a veiled bribe is usually not expressed in the direct transfer of an item or funds, so it may simply reduce the interest rate or sell goods at a significant discount.
A veiled bribe is considered the most difficult to detect. With its help, criminal actions can be easily disguised. Thanks to it, criminals quite successfully hide the fact of transferring money or various valuables.
A bribe involves giving money to an official before he actually performs any action. A bribe-reward is issued only after the recipient of the valuables performs pre-agreed actions.
Types of veiled bribes
Such bribes are usually presented in the following varieties:
- sale of goods or antiques at a reduced cost;
- transfer of funds to the company for services not actually provided;
- reduction in rent for premises or equipment;
- falsifying the results of drawings or lotteries;
- forgiveness of large debts;
- payment for expensive treatment for a relative of the bribe recipient;
- provision of a fictitious insurance policy;
- transfer of information allowing access to a bank card or electronic wallet.
Representatives of law enforcement agencies are faced with the fact that it is quite difficult to identify a veiled bribe.
Types of bribes by size
In terms of size, a bribe to an official can be presented in the following types:
- significant amount exceeding 25 thousand rubles;
- large size, starting from 250 thousand rubles;
- especially large, when an amount of 1 million rubles or more is transferred.
In each situation, the punishment is assigned by the court. To do this, all the circumstances of a particular case are assessed. What amount is considered a bribe? The Criminal Code does not contain information about the amount of money at which a criminal case can be opened. The decision to initiate criminal proceedings is made by the judge. Usually such cases are not considered within the Criminal Code when transferring an amount less than 3 thousand rubles.
If material value is transferred, then the provisions of Art. 575 Civil Code. It states here that if any item is transferred whose value is less than 3 thousand rubles, then it can be a gift. What gift is not considered a bribe? It is impossible to initiate a criminal case if the price of such a gift is less than 3 thousand rubles. In other situations, both participants in the process may be held criminally liable.
Bribe as a crime
A bribe in the Russian Federation (both its transfer and receipt) is theoretically a criminal offense. However, in practice, many such offenses often fall outside the scope of the law. Because it is not beneficial for the bribe giver, much less the bribe taker, to tell anyone about their illegal relationships.
Explicit and implicit bribes
An obvious bribe is a bribe with a preliminary agreement.
When the parties to the transfer and receipt of a bribe stipulate in advance: what, when and for what purposes is being transferred and what each party will ultimately receive from it. In most cases, a non-obvious bribe is a bribe of gratitude. When the bribe recipient is thanked for some perfect gesture after he has completed something. In this case, there may be no advance agreement at all.
Important! At the same time, despite the fact that in the latter case gratitude is often regarded as a gift, if we are talking about a “present” that was presented not as a person, but as an official and directly in relation to his actions (actions, inactions, decisions) directly related to the official position of this citizen, then this is precisely a bribe. And not a gift, as many people think. And here everything will depend on the competent qualification of what the law enforcement agencies did.
Classification of bribes according to their size
So, as we mentioned earlier, an acceptable ordinary gift for officials should not exceed 3,000 rubles in value. In the Russian Federation, receiving a bribe in the amount of up to 10,000 rubles is considered petty bribery. inclusive. Anything more will be ordinary bribery.
A significant amount of the bribe, which already amounts to Part 2 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code, this is the value of the transferred property or the amount of funds exceeding 25,000 rubles. Even if 25,001 rubles are transferred, this will already be considered a significant amount.
The next category is the large size of the bribe, that is, the cost of property, the amount of money in the amount of more than 150,000 rubles. Next comes a particularly large amount: a bribe exceeding 1 million rubles.
What actions can be considered committed for a bribe?
In addition to the circle of persons who are regarded as bribe takers, the law also describes the range of acts considered incidental to the receipt of a bribe.
Firstly, you can receive a bribe not only on your own, but with the help of intermediaries.
Secondly, you can receive a bribe not only for yourself directly, but also for the purpose of transferring it to a third party, including a legal entity and an individual.
Thirdly, a bribe can be transferred for:
- committing actions (inaction) in favor of the bribe-giver or persons represented by him, if these actions (inaction) are within the official powers of the official or if, by virtue of his official position, he can contribute to such actions (inaction);
- for general patronage or connivance in the service;
- for illegal actions (inaction).
Responsibility for accepting a bribe
Legal liability for accepting a bribe depends on the severity of the illegal act committed. The latter is directly dependent on the qualification of the crime.
Responsibility under the law
Article 290 of the Criminal Code contains several elements of a crime, each of which entails its own measure of liability.
Thus, for a simple crime (part 1) liability is provided in the form of:
- a fine of up to 1 million rubles, or in the amount of the criminal’s salary, income for a period of up to 2 years, or in the amount of 10-50 times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years;
- correctional labor for 1-2 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years;
- forced labor for up to 5 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years;
- imprisonment for up to 3 years with or without a fine of 10-20 times the amount of the bribe.
For qualified personnel (Part 2), similar penalties are provided, but to a more impressive extent:
- a fine of 200,000-1,500,000 rubles, or in the amount of the salary, the income of the criminal for a period of 0.1-2 years, or in the amount of 30-60 times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years;
- imprisonment for up to 6 years with or without a fine of up to 30 times the amount of the bribe and with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years.
A separate element is the commission by a special subject of an unlawful act for a bribe - part 3. This is punished even more severely. Namely:
- a fine of 500,000-2,000,000 rubles, or in the amount of the salary, the income of the criminal for 0.1-2 years, or in the amount of 40-70 times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 5 years;
- imprisonment for 3-8 years with or without a fine of up to 40 times the amount of the bribe and with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 5 years.
If all of the above is committed by a person holding a government position at the federal or regional level, as well as being the head of a municipal entity (Part 4), then the punishment will be as follows:
- a fine of 1-3 million rubles, or in the amount of the salary, the income of the criminal for 1-3 years, or in the amount of 60-80 times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 7 years;
- imprisonment for 5-10 years with or without a fine of up to 50 times the amount of the bribe and with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 7 years.
If the acts covered by parts 1, 3, 4 are committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy or by an organized group, with extortion of a bribe on a large scale, then punishment will follow in the form of:
- a fine of 2-4 rubles, or in the amount of the salary, the income of the criminal for 2-4 years, or in the amount of 70-90 times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 10 years;
- imprisonment for 7-12 years with or without a fine of up to 60 times the amount of the bribe and with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 10 years.
If the acts covered by parts 1, 3, 4, paragraphs. “a” and “b”, part 5, are committed on an especially large scale, then the offender will be punished as follows:
- a fine of 3-5 million rubles, or in the amount of the salary, the income of the criminal for 3-5 years, or in the amount of 80-100 times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 15 years;
- or imprisonment for 8-15 years with or without a fine of up to 70 times the amount of the bribe and with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 15 years.
Responsibility for giving a bribe
Any official must understand what is considered a bribe under the law. Only in this case can he protect himself from criminal liability. Basic information about what liability is provided for such a violation is given in Article 291 of the Criminal Code. Here are the penalties for people and companies who pay bribes. The exact punishment is chosen directly by the court, for which the following options are taken into account:
- simple bribe: fine from 5 to 30 thousand rubles, imprisonment for up to 2 years, ban on holding any position for three years;
- transfer of a significant amount: a fine of 10 to 40 thousand rubles, a prison term of 5 years and a ban on working in a certain position for 3 years;
- a large bribe or the participation of a group of people: a fine of 60 to 80 thousand rubles, imprisonment for a term of 7 to 12 years, as well as the inability to get a job in a high position for 7 years;
- receiving a bribe on an especially large scale: a fine of 70 to 90 thousand rubles, imprisonment for a term of 8 to 15 years, as well as deprivation of the right to occupy leadership positions for 10 years.
It is possible to avoid serious punishment if one of the parties to the transaction voluntarily surrenders to the police and also provides all the information that allows solving such a crime. Additionally, you can avoid punishment if it is proven that the money was extorted by an official.
Punishment is imposed on both parties to the transaction, so even the person who transfers his money is a criminal. He must know what is considered a bribe, as well as what consequences he may face for his actions.
Commentary on Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
1. The subject of a bribe is material assets (money, securities, property, etc.), as well as services of a property nature (construction, repair and other work; payment of expenses and entertainment; provision of sanatorium and resort vouchers, train, plane tickets, concert, etc.) and property rights.
Property-related services should be understood, in particular, as understating the value of transferred property, privatized objects, reducing rental payments, interest rates for using bank loans (clause 9 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation “On judicial practice in cases of bribery and commercial bribery”) .
Property rights are legal and actual opportunities to own, use and dispose of property, as well as material requirements regarding its distribution and exchange, for example: ownership or right of use to property, house, land, car, including rental of premises, etc. .; the right to remuneration for the manufacture or creation of a thing or work; the right to social security (pension, benefits).
Intangible services cannot be the subject of a bribe.
2. The objective side of the crime is taking a bribe. A bribe should be considered received not only when a person accepts it in the physical sense (picks it up; puts it in a pocket, bag, briefcase, car, etc.), but also when he agrees with its transfer (put it on the table, listed to the account, etc.).
If property benefits in the form of money, other valuables, or the provision of material services are provided to the official’s relatives and friends with his consent, or if he did not object to this and used his official powers in favor of the bribe-giver, the official’s actions should also be qualified as receiving a bribe.
Receiving a bribe can also be carried out in a veiled form, for example: under the guise of paying off a debt, buying and selling valuable things at reduced prices, or, conversely, by buying and selling things at an inflated price, under the guise of losing at cards, by concluding fictitious agreements on the performance of work and payments for them.
3. The receipt of a bribe is considered completed from the moment the official accepts at least part of it. It does not include the execution of an action (inaction) for which a reward is obtained <1>.
——————————— <1> BVS of the Russian Federation. 1999. N 3; 2001. N 1, 8.
If the conditional transfer of valuables did not take place due to circumstances beyond the control of the person who tried to receive the bribe, the act must be qualified as an attempt to receive a bribe.
4. A bribe can be received either personally or through an intermediary. An intermediary is a person who directly transfers the subject of a bribe in the interests of another person - the bribe-giver.
5. A bribe can be received:
- for actions (inaction) in favor of the bribe-giver or persons represented by him, which are part of the official powers of the official (Part 1 of Article 290);
- actions (inaction) in favor of the bribe-giver or the persons represented by him, which are not included in the official powers of the official, but the latter, by virtue of his official position, can contribute to such actions (inaction) (Part 1 of Article 290);
- general patronage or connivance in the service of an official to the bribe-giver or persons represented by him (Part 1 of Article 290);
— illegal actions (inaction) (Part 3 of Article 290).
Actions (inactions) of an official within his official powers should be understood as actions (inactions) that he is authorized to perform in accordance with his powers and which formally comply with the requirements of the law, other regulations and other legal acts. In this case, giving a bribe is due, for example, to the desire of the bribe giver to speed up the official’s adoption of the relevant decision or to influence the choice (within the competence or discretion of the official) of the most favorable decision for himself or the persons represented, or other similar motives” (Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated May 22, 2012 No. 7 “On amendments to the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 10, 2000 No. 6 “On judicial practice in cases of bribery and commercial bribery”).
6. The subject of a crime may also be an official who, although he did not have the authority to commit an action (inaction) in favor of the bribe-giver or the persons represented by him, but due to his official position could facilitate the execution of such an action (inaction) by another official. At the same time, it can, in particular, use the significance and authority of the position held, the subordination of other officials in relation to whom the bribe-taker is in charge.
The use of personal relationships, if they are not related to the position held, cannot be considered as use of official position.
7. General patronage or connivance in service are actions (inactions) that are not specifically specified, but are recognized by the participants as possible under certain conditions. Patronage is characterized by active actions: showing care and attention; assistance in resolving certain issues.
Connivance implies non-interference, failure to take action in connection with violations of duty, violations of the law, etc.
8. Under the illegal actions (inaction) of an official, in relation to the disposition of Part 3 of Art. 290, one should understand unlawful actions (inaction) committed using official powers in favor of the bribe-giver or persons represented by him, as well as actions (inaction) containing signs of a crime or other offense (falsification of evidence in a criminal case, failure to draw up a protocol on an administrative offense, when this mandatory by law, making a decision on the basis of knowingly forged documents, entering information into documents that does not correspond to reality, etc.) (Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of May 22, 2012 No. 7).
9. Receiving a bribe should be distinguished from receiving a gift. The Federal Law “On the State Civil Service of the Russian Federation” prohibits civil servants from receiving remuneration for various types of services in connection with the performance of official duties. Gifts received in connection with official events are the property of the state and are transferred by deed to the state body.
When distinguishing between a gift and a bribe, it should be taken into account that a gift (Article 572 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation) does not imply a reciprocal obligation. A person receives it not for an action (inaction) that he can perform, but as a sign of respect and attention. Accordingly, the person giving the gift does not count on any response (inaction) in his interests on the part of the official in connection with his official position. Consequently, the main feature of the distinction between a gift and a bribe is not the value of the thing or material benefit, but what it is given and accepted for.
10. The subjective side of receiving a bribe is characterized by intent.
11. The subject of the crime is an official, a foreign official, an official of an international public organization. The concept of an official is given in the note to Art. 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The characteristics of a foreign official and an official of an international public organization are disclosed in note 2 to the commented article.
12. The receipt by an official of money, securities and other material assets allegedly for committing an action (inaction), which he actually cannot carry out due to lack of official authority or the inability to use his official position, should be qualified as fraud (Article 159 of the Criminal Code) .
13. A bribe is considered received by prior conspiracy by a group of persons (clause “a”, part 5 of Article 290), if two or more officials participated in the commission of the crime in advance, i.e. before the start of the crime, who agreed on this. The crime must be considered completed from the moment the bribe is accepted by at least one of the officials.
14. When an official receives several bribes, a combination of crimes occurs; each crime must be qualified independently (Part 1 of Article 17 of the Criminal Code). A set of crimes is also formed by cases of simultaneous receipt by an official of bribes from several persons, if a separate action is (should be) committed in relation to each of the bribers. At the same time, individual actions in relation to each of the bribe-payers may be identical in their actual content (for example, imposing a non-custodial sentence on each of the bribe-payers).
It is necessary to distinguish from a set of crimes a single ongoing crime, when a bribe is transferred in several stages for the performance or failure to perform actions that ensure the desired result for the bribe giver. The systematic receipt of material assets or benefits from the same bribe-payers for general patronage or connivance in their service should also be considered a single ongoing crime.
The action of an official committed for a bribe in the common interests of several bribe-givers does not constitute a set of crimes <1>.
——————————— <1> BVS RSFSR. 1978. N 9.
15. Extortion consists of an official demanding a bribe under the threat of committing actions that may cause damage to the legitimate interests of a citizen, or deliberately placing the latter in such conditions under which he is forced to give a bribe in order to prevent harmful consequences for his legally protected interests.
If the bribe-giver pursues illegal interests, then extortion as a qualifying sign of receiving a bribe and as a circumstance entailing the release of the bribe-giver from criminal liability is absent <1>.
——————————— <1> BVS of the Russian Federation. 1997. N 4, 5; 1998. N 11; 1999. N 3, 6, 7, 10, 11; 2003. N 12.
16. Significant, large and especially large amounts of a bribe are defined in note 1 to the commented article.
Federal Law of November 21, 2011 N 329-FZ in Art. 290 the following changes were made:
— in part 5, the words “parts one through three” are replaced with the words “parts one, three, four”;
— in Part 6, the words “parts one through four” are replaced by the words “parts one, three, four and paragraphs “a” and “b” of part five.”
The essence of the criminal law prohibition and the characteristics of the signs of taking a bribe have not changed.
Responsibility for state or municipal employees
Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains information about what penalties can be applied to officials working in state or municipal organizations, as well as taking bribes from citizens or company representatives. Funds can be transferred personally or through other people.
More stringent penalties are provided for such bribe takers. They are given in Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. For a particularly large bribe, officials pay a fine of up to 100 thousand rubles, and the term of imprisonment for them can be 15 years. They lose the right to hold such positions for 15 years.
Terminology
In our country, a bribe means money or any materially valuable thing, transferred as a bribe in order to obtain any benefits or privileges. Often, a bribe is used to bribe someone to bypass the general legal procedures existing in the state: to simplify or speed up some process. And sometimes even conduct it formally. For example, only to create the appearance of conducting a tax or other supervisory audit.
Attention! As a result of such illegal acts, serious damage is caused not only to the economy, social and many other spheres of society, but also to law enforcement and human rights practice. Since the recipients of bribes are often also law enforcement officials, including employees of the judicial system.
What can be considered a bribe?
A bribe can be either money itself or any material assets, property, as well as rights to it, property benefits and services that can be assessed.
Statistics on bribery in Russia for 2014
Criminal legal definition of bribe
According to the note to Article 290 of the Criminal Code, a bribe means:
- money;
- stocks, bonds, etc.;
- any property;
- property services;
- property rights.
If all this is transferred to a person vested with authority in order to obtain any concessions from him or change his decision in his favor or in favor of third parties.
Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Taking a bribe”
What amounts are considered a bribe?
In order to answer the question, starting from what amount a gift will be considered a bribe, you need to first decide on several basic points.
Firstly, if we are talking about a bribe with an appropriate preliminary agreement, then the actual size of such a bribe (its cost) previously did not play any role at all. However, since 2016, the concept of petty bribery has been introduced, within the framework of which a special entity receives a bribe in the amount of no more than 10,000 rubles. This means that an ordinary bribe is something that exceeds 10,000 rubles.
Bribe statistics
Secondly, if we are talking about a bribe of gratitude, which can, under certain circumstances, be considered as a gift, then the acceptable value of the latter at present is 3,000 rubles. This is the amount that state and municipal employees are allowed to receive regular gifts. But if the gift is still regarded as a bribe, then we will be talking about petty bribery - Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code until its cost exceeds the mark of 10,000 rubles.
In the rest of the part, even from the point of view of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (namely, Article 575), donation is unacceptable in relation to:
- municipal and civil servants;
- employees of educational institutions;
- health workers;
- employees of organizations providing social services.
An exception is protocol awards and incentive gifts in accordance with intradepartmental and intra-organizational regulations.
Article 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Petty bribery”
Article 575 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation “Prohibition of donation”
Who can you give a bribe to?
The subjects of such a criminal act can only be those listed in Art. 290 persons, namely: special subjects. These, in particular, are:
- all Russian officials;
- foreign officials;
- officials of a public international organization.
At the same time, Russian officials are understood to be persons who permanently, temporarily or by special authority exercise the functions of a government representative or perform organizational, administrative, administrative and economic functions in government agencies, local governments, municipal and state institutions, state corporations, state companies, unitary municipal and state enterprises, joint stock companies in which a controlling stake belongs to the Russian Federation, constituent entities of the Russian Federation or municipalities, as well as in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other troops and military formations of the Russian Federation.
Also, individual subjects here are persons holding public office - the Russian Federation, a subject of the Russian Federation, heads of local government bodies.
Persons holding government positions in the Russian Federation mean persons holding positions established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional laws and federal laws for the direct execution of the powers of government agencies.
Persons holding government positions at the regional level are understood as persons holding positions established by regional constitutions or charters for the direct execution of the powers of government agencies.
Foreign official means any appointed or elected person holding any position in the legislative, executive, administrative or judicial body of a foreign country, and any person performing any public function for a foreign country, including for a public department or a public enterprise (for example, minister, mayor, judge, prosecutor).
Officials of a public international organization include, among others: members of parliamentary meetings of international organizations in which the Russian Federation is a participant, persons holding judicial positions in any international court whose jurisdiction is recognized by the Russian Federation.
What aggravating circumstances are taken into account?
All people holding any leadership positions in different companies or government agencies should be aware of what is considered a bribe, as well as what the maximum punishment can be imposed by the court. The judge must evaluate all the circumstances of a particular case to determine the most optimal punishment. Aggravating circumstances include:
- receipt of funds not by one official, but by several persons;
- the recipient of the money extorted funds;
- the transferred amount is more than 1 million rubles;
- the official occupies a leadership position in the administration of a region.
Is thanking a doctor considered a bribe? If it is represented by a sum of money, then it is a bribe. If any material value is transferred, the value of which does not exceed 3 thousand rubles, then such gratitude is considered as a gift.
Additionally, there may be mitigating circumstances. They allow you to slightly reduce the level of responsibility for such a crime. This includes assistance in the investigation or voluntary compensation for the damage caused.
Criteria and classification
Current practice distinguishes two main types of bribes:
- Explicit. It is the most common and represents a classic exchange of certain services for issued funds.
- Veiled. In this case, the authorized person does not actually receive any remuneration, but has a certain benefit from the necessary actions or inaction. Most often, such benefits include employment of, for example, relatives, execution of certain documents, travel abroad, etc.
The provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establish that not only the receipt of a bribe itself, but also its issuance or attempt is subject to liability. The latter concept presupposes the full existence of an attempt to issue a bribe, which, for some reason, was not received by the addressee.
The very fact of violation of existing criminal norms must be confirmed by indisputable evidence. Only in this case will the court be able to impose a lawful punishment.
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As a rule, an attempt is foiled for the following most common reasons:
- The authorized person himself chose to refuse to receive funds or other benefits, which constituted a bribe. As a rule, this often happens when the attempt is accompanied by the presence of witnesses or other factors dangerous to the official. In this case, the citizen understands that the risk can entail too serious consequences if the circumstances are unfortunate.
- The attempted crime did not go unnoticed by law enforcement officials and was promptly stopped. The initiative in this case can come both from the police, during the ongoing investigation and inspection, and from the official himself, who does not want to become an accomplice to the crime.
The very fact that there is no final result when issuing a bribe allows a law enforcement agency to classify such a case as an “attempt.” This crime is characterized by the mandatory presence of a preliminary motive, as well as intent. It can never be committed through negligence.
What to do if a bribe is extorted?
According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, bribery is a truly significant crime. Violators include both people who give money to officials and recipients of money. If a person or company representative is faced with the fact that he is extorting funds from a person holding a high position in a government agency, then he must initially prepare evidence. For this purpose, audio recordings or video recordings are used.
To bring the criminal to justice, you must write a statement to the police, FSB or prosecutor's office. Further instructions will be received from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.