Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the latest edition:
Article 83 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Exemption from serving a sentence due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for a court conviction
1. A person convicted of committing a crime shall be released from serving a sentence if the court’s conviction was not carried out within the following periods from the date it entered into legal force:
a) two years if convicted of a crime of minor gravity;
b) six years if convicted of a crime of average gravity;
c) ten years if convicted of a serious crime;
d) fifteen years if convicted of a particularly serious crime.
2. The running of the limitation period is suspended if the convicted person evades serving the sentence. In this case, the limitation period resumes from the moment the convicted person is detained or surrenders. Statutes of limitation that have expired by the time the convicted person evades serving his sentence are subject to offset.
2.1. The running of the statute of limitations is suspended if the convicted person is granted a deferment of serving the sentence. In this case, the running of the limitation period is resumed from the moment the deferment of serving the sentence expires, with the exception of cases provided for in parts three and four of Article 82 and part three of Article 82.1 of this Code, or from the moment the deferment in serving the sentence is cancelled.
3. The issue of applying the statute of limitations to a person sentenced to death or life imprisonment is decided by the court. If the court does not consider it possible to apply statutes of limitations, these types of punishments are replaced by imprisonment for a certain period.
4. To persons convicted of committing crimes provided for in Articles 205, 205.1, 205.3, 205.4, 205.5, parts three and four of Article 206, part four of Article 211, Articles 353, 356, 357, 358 and 361 of this Code, as well as convicted for the commission of crimes related to the implementation of terrorist activities, provided for in Articles 277, 278, 279 and 360 of this Code, statutes of limitations do not apply.
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Comments on Article 83 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
Failure to execute a sentence for a long period of time after a conviction and its entry into legal force significantly reduces its punitive, educational and preventive meaning, and in some cases makes its execution inappropriate (for example, if a person has not committed a crime for a long time, not evaded serving a sentence, got a job, has a positive character, got married, has children, etc.). In such and similar cases, carrying out a sentence after a significant period of time may no longer be perceived as a fair punishment, but as an unnecessary punishment. In connection with this law, deadlines have been established, after which the person who committed the crime is released from serving the sentence (Article 83 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
The statute of limitations of a court's conviction is the expiration of the terms established in criminal law, after which the sentence cannot be carried out and the convicted person is subject to release from the punishment assigned to him.
The reasons why the sentence was not carried out can be very different (long-term illness of the convicted person, war, natural disaster, negligence of employees of the bodies executing the punishment, etc.). The expiration of the statute of limitations for a conviction also does not depend on the existence of enforcement proceedings or on the stage of execution of the sentence.
Commentary on Article 83
1. Quite a lot of clarifications have been made to the formulation of this institute, of which two are the most significant. Firstly, the legal nature of this type of limitation has been clarified: it is not just “failure to carry out a sentence” (as stated in the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1960), but a type of exemption from punishment. Secondly, the legislator excluded the previously known interruption of limitation and retained only the suspension of the limitation period, which greatly simplifies the application of this rule in practice; Now the statute of limitations for each crime runs independently.
2. The basis for exemption from punishment in accordance with the commented article is the expiration of the appropriate period after the conviction of the person by the court. The period of limitation for this type of limitation depends on the category of the crime committed (see commentary to Article 15). A person is released from punishment if the sentence is not executed after two years - for a crime of minor gravity; six years for a crime of moderate gravity, ten years for a serious crime and 15 years for a particularly serious crime.
Exemption from punishment in such cases is not associated with any conditions.
3. The question of the possibility of release from punishment due to the statute of limitations of a court conviction for crimes for which the death penalty or life imprisonment was imposed, upon expiration of a 15-year period, is transferred to the discretion of the court. The court may release a person from punishment if it considers that he deserves such humane treatment based on his behavior after conviction, taking into account his long-term illness or other circumstances due to which the sentence was not carried out. If the court does not consider it possible to apply the statute of limitations and release the person from punishment, then the law prescribes that these serious types of punishment should be replaced with urgent imprisonment. At the same time, the legislator has not established any formal term of imprisonment; the court can choose it at its discretion, taking into account the provisions provided for in Art. 60 - 63 of the Criminal Code, but, naturally, within the maximum, that is, no more than 20 years.
4. In accordance with Part 2 of the commented article, the running of the statute of limitations is suspended if a person evades serving a sentence, that is, deliberately hides from law enforcement agencies, changes his place of residence, documents, etc. During evasion, the statute of limitations does not run; it is calculated resumed only in the event of a person’s voluntary surrender or forcible detention. For the first time, the legislator gave instructions to count against the statute of limitations the time that had elapsed at the time of evasion.
5. The commission of a new crime by a person within the statute of limitations does not interrupt its course, if there was no fact of evasion. But when passing a sentence for a new crime, the court will take into account the fact of repetition, and in appropriate cases, the fact of relapse (see commentary to Article 18) and then impose a punishment according to the rules formulated in Art. 68 of the Criminal Code.
6. The new Criminal Code introduces a provision on the application of statute of limitations to persons convicted of crimes against peace and humanity. This provision was established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 4, 1965, but was not included in the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1960. In accordance with Part 4 of the commented article, the statute of limitations does not apply to persons convicted of planning, preparing, unleashing or waging aggressive war, the use of prohibited means and methods of warfare, genocide and ecocide (see commentary to Art. 353, 356, 357, 358). The last two compositions were not provided for by the Decree of March 4, 1965, but, based on their danger to humanity, the legislator extended the non-application of the statute of limitations to these acts.
Scientific and practical commentary:
1. The institution under consideration is based on the inexpediency of executing a sentence after a long time has passed after it has entered into legal force. Although the social danger of the person who committed the crime and was convicted is not eliminated, over time the punitive and educational impact of the sentence weakens. According to Part 4 of Art. 390 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the court verdict must be applied for execution by the court of first instance no later than 3 days from the date of its entry into legal force or the return of the case from the appellate or cassation instance. Failure to enforce a court sentence can be caused by a variety of reasons (for example, due to negligence, it was not sent for execution, lost; due to a long and serious illness of the convicted person, a natural disaster). The statute of limitations for the execution of a conviction is understood as the expiration of the terms established by criminal law, after which such a sentence is not carried out, and the convicted person is released from serving the sentence assigned to him. Release due to the expiration of the statute of limitations on a conviction is unconditional, final, and cannot be appealed. Since the law, when determining the limitation period for the execution of a conviction, does not divide punishment into types (main and additional), the above applies to both main and additional punishments. 2. Part 1 of the commented article provides for a direct dependence of the duration of the statute of limitations on a conviction on the category of crimes. Convicts are released from serving their sentence if the court's conviction was not carried out within the following periods from the date it entered into legal force: a) 2 years - if convicted of a crime of minor gravity; b) 6 years - if convicted of a crime of average gravity; c) 10 years - if convicted of a serious crime; d) 15 years - if convicted of a particularly serious crime. These periods correspond to the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution specified in Art. 78 of the Criminal Code. 3. The beginning of the limitation period is calculated from the day the sentence enters into force. The verdict comes into force after the expiration of the period for appealing it in the appellate or cassation procedure, if it has not been appealed by the parties (Part 1 of Article 390 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). The period for appealing the verdict is set within 10 days from the date of proclamation (Part 1 of Article 356 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). The verdict of the appellate court comes into force after the expiration of the period for appealing it in cassation, if it has not been appealed by the parties (Part 2 of Article 390 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). If a complaint is filed or submitted in cassation, the verdict, unless it is overturned by the court of cassation, enters into force on the day the cassation ruling is issued (Part 3 of Article 390 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). In accordance with the requirements of Art. 128 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the terms are calculated in hours, days, months. When calculating periods in months, the hour and day at which the period begins is not taken into account, except in cases provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. When calculating the terms of detention, house arrest and stay in a medical or psychiatric hospital, non-working time is also included. The period, calculated in days, expires at 24 hours of the last day. The period calculated in months is on the corresponding date of the last month, and if this month does not have a corresponding date, then on the last day of this month. If the end of the period falls on a non-working day, then the last day of the term is considered to be the first working day following it, except for the calculation of time limits for arrest, detention, house arrest and stay in a medical or psychiatric hospital. In case of detention, the period is calculated from the moment of actual detention. The day the verdict is announced is not taken into account. 4. The running of the limitation period is suspended if the convicted person evades serving the sentence, and resumes from the moment the convicted person is detained or surrenders. Statutes of limitation that have expired by the time the convicted person evades serving his sentence are subject to offset. Evasion can be expressed in various forms. It should be understood as such actions of the convict that interfere with the execution of the sentence (when the convict disappeared, escaped from custody, did not return to the correctional colony after vacation, changed his place of residence so as not to pay a fine, does not appear at the inspectorate to receive a referral, so as not to serve compulsory or correctional labor, etc.). The only condition for suspending the statute of limitations is the convict's evasion from serving the sentence. If, during the statute of limitations for execution of the sentence, the convicted person commits a new crime, the statute of limitations continues to run. 5. The law (Part 3 of Article 83 of the Criminal Code) establishes a special (optional) procedure for the court to apply statutes of limitations to a person sentenced to death or life imprisonment, which is determined by the increased social danger of the crimes for which such punishments are imposed. If the court does not consider it possible to apply statutes of limitations, these types of punishments are replaced by imprisonment for a certain period. The replaced term should not exceed the amounts established by law: when committing one crime - 20 years (Part 2 of Article 56 of the Criminal Code); in case of aggregation of crimes - 25 years (Part 4 of Article 56 of the Criminal Code); with a total of sentences - 30 years in prison (Part 4 of Article 56 of the Criminal Code). 6. To persons convicted of committing crimes under Art. Art. 353, 356, 357 and 358 of the Criminal Code, statutes of limitations do not apply (see commentary to Article 78). The Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 4, 1965 “On the punishment of persons guilty of crimes against peace and humanity and war crimes, regardless of the time the crime was committed” stipulates that Nazi criminals are subject to trial and punishment regardless of the time that has elapsed since the commission of such crimes. By the Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 3, 1965, it was clarified that these provisions also apply to those Soviet citizens who, during the Great Patriotic War, carried out active punitive activities and took personal part in the torture of Soviet people.
Grounds for release from punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations of the sentence
As a general rule, the expiration of the statute of limitations for a conviction is a mandatory basis for releasing a person from punishment. Its duration depends on the category of the crime committed.
In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 83 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a person convicted of committing a crime is released from serving a sentence if the court’s conviction was not carried out within the following periods from the date it entered into legal force:
- two years if convicted of a minor crime;
- six years if convicted of a crime of average gravity;
- ten years if convicted of a serious crime;
- fifteen years if convicted of a particularly serious crime.
In cases where a person is convicted of a set of crimes or a set of sentences, the statute of limitations is calculated separately for each crime.
Replacement of the unserved part of the sentence with a more lenient punishment
According to Part 1 of Art. 80 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, for a person serving restriction of freedom, detention in a disciplinary military unit or deprivation of liberty, the court, taking into account his behavior during the period of serving the sentence, may replace the remaining unserved part of the sentence with a more lenient type of punishment. In this case, the person may be fully or partially released from serving an additional type of punishment.
In accordance with Part 2 of Art. 80 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the unserved part of the punishment may be replaced by a more lenient type of punishment after the actual serving of the convicted person for committing:
- crimes of minor or moderate gravity - at least 1/3 of the sentence;
- serious crime - not less than 1/2 of the sentence;
- especially serious crime - at least 2/3 of the sentence;
- crimes against the sexual integrity of minors, as well as crimes under Art. 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - not less than 3/4 of the sentence;
- crimes against the sexual integrity of minors under fourteen years of age - no less than 4/5 of the sentence.
When replacing the unserved part of the sentence, the court may choose any milder type of punishment in accordance with the types of punishments specified in Article 44 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
The serving by a person of the statutory portion of imprisonment does not automatically entail the replacement of this punishment with a more lenient type of punishment. The need to weaken the punitive impact of imprisonment is explained, first of all, by positive changes in the behavior of the convicted person during the period of serving his sentence, figuratively speaking, by the possibility of “additional correction” of the convicted person with a more lenient punishment. The law does not provide any clear criteria sufficient to replace imprisonment with a more lenient punishment; it only indicates that the behavior of the convicted person during the period of serving the sentence is taken into account. The court must proceed from the expediency and possibility of the convicted person serving a new sentence.
When replacing the unserved part of the sentence, the person may be fully or partially released from serving the additional sentence. Such a substitution of punishment is unconditional and final. The procedure for filing a complaint with the court is determined by the PEC.
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Grounds for suspending the limitation period
The law provides two grounds for suspending the statute of limitations for the execution of a sentence:
1) evasion from serving a sentence;
2) granting the convicted person a deferment of serving his sentence.
1) Evasion from serving a sentence may consist of various actions:
- change of place of residence without notifying the body in charge of executing the sentence when imposing a sentence not related to imprisonment;
- living on false documents;
- travel abroad
- other actions aimed at making the execution of the sentence impossible.
In case of evasion from serving a sentence, the limitation period is suspended and resumed from the moment of detention of the convicted person or his surrender. The time elapsed from the moment the verdict was announced until the moment the convicted person began to evade serving the sentence is counted towards the statute of limitations.
When deciding the issue of release from punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for a conviction in accordance with Article 83 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (clause 9 of Article 397 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation), the court checks whether the convicted person has evaded serving his sentence. A convicted person can be released from punishment only if the sentence was not executed for reasons beyond his control (clause 15 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 20, 2011 N 21 “On the practice of courts applying legislation on the execution of sentences”).
2) Granting a convict a deferment of serving a sentence is the second basis for suspending the statute of limitations. In this case, the limitation period is resumed from the moment the period of deferment of serving the sentence expires, with the exception of cases provided for in Parts 3 and 4 of Art. 82 and part 3 of Art. 82.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, or from the moment the deferment of serving the sentence is cancelled.
