In criminal law, all criminal acts are divided into certain categories depending on the degree of severity. Among the least dangerous crimes are crimes of minor and medium gravity. More serious and cruel acts include those for which sanctions can reach ten years in isolation from society and even be higher than this period. Such crimes are considered grave and especially grave. In certain cases, a person for carrying out the latter may receive the most severe punishment - lifelong isolation from society. All this will be discussed in more detail in this article.
A little about the main thing
So, all crimes for which liability is listed in criminal law belong to certain categories. Taking into account the norms, Art. 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation distinguishes: acts of minor and moderate gravity, as well as grave and especially grave. Each of them has its own characteristics and features.
In this case, we will talk about serious and especially serious crimes, because it is from them that innocent people most often suffer.
So, an intentional act is considered grave, the sanctions for which do not exceed ten years in isolation from society. Thus, if the punishment under the relevant article of the Criminal Code reaches even seven years of imprisonment, but the crime was committed through negligence, then it cannot be considered serious. You need to know about this.
An intentional crime is considered especially serious, the sanctions for which exceed ten years in isolation from society. In addition, he may be given a more severe, maximum punishment in the form of lifelong stay in a colony where a special regime is established.
Circumstances that do not fall under the category of especially grave
An important point in the qualification of crimes is the presence of intent , which is always present as part of a particularly serious offense.
If there is no such intent, that is, the act was committed through negligence, it does not fall under the category of the most serious.
This also applies to other mitigating circumstances:
- Committing a crime based on compassionate motives (for example, if the offender has seriously ill relatives whose treatment requires a significant amount of money, this is considered a mitigating circumstance when committing property crimes).
- If the act was committed under duress (physical or moral).
- If a person, while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, did not realize the danger of his actions (only provided that the offender voluntarily agrees to treatment).
- Confession and sincere repentance for the committed act (cooperation with investigative authorities, provision of medical assistance to the victim).
- Timely and voluntary compensation for material damage caused .
Characteristic
Grave and especially grave crimes represent the most serious danger to society. In addition, they lead to even more serious consequences than acts of minor or moderate severity. In this case, the attacker acts with intent. He knows in advance that he can harm a person, his health, or deprive him of his life, but he still goes ahead with the act.
How is the severity of a crime determined? As mentioned earlier, if the sanctions for an act committed with intent are no more than 10 years, then the crime is considered grave. For example, if one person deliberately took the life of another, then what punishment can be assigned to him, based on the norms of the Criminal Code? Under the first part of Article 105, the term can be from six to 15 years. This means that if the court sentences a person to seven years, then the criminal act will be considered grave; if, taking into account all the circumstances, the latter receives a sentence of more than 10 years, then it will be considered especially grave. You also need to know about this.
Statutes of limitations and parole
According to the law, a person cannot be held accountable if a certain period of time has passed since the commission of the crime. For the most severe violations this period is 15 years .
It is important to take into account that such socially dangerous acts as, for example, terrorism, incitement to war and ethnic hatred, crimes directed against large social groups do not have a statute of limitations.
As for parole, for persons who have committed such illegal acts, parole can be provided only after serving 2/3 of the assigned sentence , and only if the convicted person is distinguished by exemplary behavior and completely repents of the violation committed.
Correctional Facility
Grave and especially grave crimes must be punished to the fullest extent of the law. However, sometimes even for them the court cannot give the maximum possible punishment. For example, women can serve their sentences only in colonies where a general regime is established. For the fairer sex, the most severe punishment, such as life imprisonment, is simply not provided.
While men who committed serious acts for the first time are sent by the court to serve a sentence under the general regime. If there is a recurrence of atrocities, the punishment will be severe. When committing several particularly serious acts or one very serious and violent crime (for example, rape and murder of a minor), a male person is sentenced to lifelong isolation from society. This is the most fair punishment prescribed by law for the crime.
What to pay attention to
So, all categories of criminal acts are prescribed in Art. 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It should also be noted here that crimes of the least gravity are those for which the sanctions do not amount to more than three years in isolation from people. These include unintentional crimes and those committed through negligence. The decision on such cases is made by the magistrate court. This is not typical for other categories of criminal acts. Therefore, their consideration is carried out only in a court of general jurisdiction (district, city).
It is especially necessary to note this category of crimes in terms of severity, sanctions for the commission of which, if there is the intent of the perpetrator, cannot be more than five years in prison. They also include crimes committed by accident or negligence. In this case we are talking about the category of acts of moderate gravity. In practice they happen quite often.
Legislative regulation of liability
According to current legislation, liability for committing illegal actions is determined by the Criminal Code . At the same time, sanctions for committing especially dangerous antisocial acts are regulated by the following articles:
- Art. 162 part 3 - robbery committed repeatedly or by a group of persons by prior conspiracy;
- Art. 161 part 2 - robbery causing significant physical or material damage to the victim;
- Art. 163 part 2 - extortion;
- Art. 111 parts 1, 2 - causing harm, resulting in permanent loss of ability to work of the victim;
- Art. 134 parts 2, 3 - committing violent acts against obviously helpless people;
- Art. 158 - causing significant material harm to the victim;
- Art. 105 part 2 - premeditated murder.
Misconception
As stated earlier, categories of crimes according to severity are divided into acts of minor and medium gravity, grave and especially grave. For the latter, the Criminal Code provides for the most severe punishment. For example, murder, embezzlement, extortion, robbery, fraud. Depending on the complexity of the crime, the crime can be either a grave or an especially grave act if the court sentences the perpetrator under the relevant article to a term of more than ten years in a colony. Most often this happens when crimes recur.
I would also like to say that many people who do not have a legal education and do not understand all the intricacies of the law very often assume that if an article provides for a punishment of more than five years, even through negligence, then this is a serious act. Actually this is not true. After all, everything here is quite simple. Only those crimes that were committed with intent and the sanctions for which do not exceed ten years in prison are considered serious. A reckless act is committed without intent. There is only frivolity or negligence here. Thus, the conclusion that a careless act is serious is considered absolutely incorrect. This is confirmed by the law. For example, under Article 264 of the Criminal Code for a traffic violation that resulted in the death of several people due to the driver’s negligence, sanctions can reach seven years and nine years if the person driving was drunk. However, this does not mean that the latter committed a serious act. Because there was carelessness involved.
Statistical data
According to statistics, more than 2 million illegal violations were committed in our country in the past year.
The most common offenses are considered to be minor offenses (for example, petty fraud, robbery).
Extremely dangerous crimes account for about 0.7% of the total number of illegal acts committed.
The population of criminals is also of great importance. It is believed that the vast majority of such violations are committed by persons who have already been convicted.
In addition, such violations are often committed by the unemployed and persons who do not have a permanent source of income, as well as people living in unfavorable social and material conditions .
The most basic
For committing grave and especially grave crimes, the perpetrator must be punished accordingly. After all, these categories of atrocities are considered the most dangerous and lead to serious and even tragic consequences. Below is a partial list of particularly serious crimes. The articles of the Criminal Code in this case will be as follows:
- No. 105 (for taking the life of another person, and even with aggravating circumstances, the perpetrator may even face lifelong isolation from people);
- No. 111, if the offender caused irreparable harm to a person’s health, which ultimately led to the death of the latter;
- parts 2 and 3 of Article No. 126 of the Criminal Code, when it comes to the kidnapping of a person committed by a group of persons, or the act led to the death of the hostage;
- parts of articles No. 131 and 132 of the Criminal Code, here we are talking about rape and acts of a sexual nature;
- Articles No. 205 and 206 of the Criminal Code - for preparing and carrying out a terrorist act, a person may face lifelong isolation from people.
Features and types of serious criminal offenses
In addition, serious crimes can be classified depending on the level of public danger of the relevant acts into:
- Simple felonies;
- Qualified crimes, the classification of which as grave becomes possible as a reaction of the legislator to the presence of aggravating circumstances;
- Privileged crimes, that is, such serious crimes, the commission of which is associated with the existence of mitigating circumstances.
It is important to know
What sentence the attacker will receive for any committed act will be decided only by the court. After all, it is this authority that examines all the case materials and evidence presented by the parties during the proceedings. In addition, only a court, taking into account certain circumstances, can change one category of crime to another (less severe). You need to know about this. Because sometimes the court, seeing the repentance of the guilty person, meets him halfway and imposes a punishment less than the prescribed one.
Consequences
So, it is necessary to note once again that particularly serious crimes include intentional acts, the sanctions for which are more than ten years in isolation from people. Most often, such people serve their sentences under a strict or special regime.
Conviction for committing acts of such gravity is expunged only ten years after release from prison. But, if the person was sentenced to life imprisonment, then in this case this will no longer matter.
Convictions for serious crimes will be considered expunged eight years after release from prison. Nevertheless, many people who have taken the path of correction try to get rid of this legal status much earlier and submit an application to the judicial authority to have their criminal record expunged.
