Group murder. Murder committed by a group of persons, a group of persons by prior conspiracy or an organized group (clause “e”, part 2 of article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)

Despite the development of civilization and culture, the custom of blood feud still exists in some ethnic groups. Murder for such reasons is especially serious, since as a result of blood feud, in addition to the offender, other people may suffer only because of the fact of kinship with him, including women, old people and children. This custom can cause a chain reaction of murders, including the slaughter of entire clans. The motive of blood feud works within the framework of a custom common among the Caucasian peoples. The criminal does not always want to kill, but is afraid of condemnation from his community.

Classification

There are a number of conditions that must be met in order to qualify a crime under this clause:

• Blood feud extends to all relatives of the offender, including those who were not involved in the conflict.
• The culprit belongs to a national group that adheres to the custom of blood feud.
• The criminal is aware of the consequences of his actions and commits them precisely for reasons of blood feud.
• The killer and his victim are never related.

Usually blood feud is directed at the male half of the kinship group, but in the absence of men, women and girls can become targets of the crime.

The concept and composition of murder

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, murder is understood as causing the death of another person. The composition of the crime under consideration consists of an object, a subject, objective and subjective sides.

Object and objective side of murder

The direct object of murder is human life. For this reason, it is necessary to correctly establish the moment of the beginning of life and its end.

Life begins at the moment when the fetus is completely expelled from the pregnant woman’s body, and the uncut umbilical cord does not affect this fact. The fetus must have independent breathing, heartbeat, and muscle movements. Death is declared after complete brain death.

The objective side is expressed in the form of action or inaction; they must be aimed at taking a person’s life. As a result of the act, socially dangerous consequences occur, which are expressed in death. There is a causal connection between the actions taken and the consequences that occur.

The elements of the crime are material, that is, completed at the moment of causing death. The time of death does not matter: it can be immediately after the commission of an unlawful act or after some period of time.

Attention! If the perpetrator has committed all actions aimed at causing death, but the crime is not completed due to reasons beyond his control, the classification will be an attempt.

The subject and the subjective side of murder

The subjective side of the crime is expressed in the form of intent, which can be indirect or direct. It is worth noting that an attempt can only be made with direct intent. Purpose and motive are optional characteristics and are reflected in the qualification of the act.

The subject of murder is a person who, at the time of committing the unlawful act, has reached the age of fourteen.

What is the punishment for blood feud murder?

A crime committed based on blood feud is considered especially serious and is punishable like other murders in this category. The offender will spend from 8 to 20 years in prison followed by a restriction of 1 to 2 years, or receive a life sentence or a death sentence. Murder can be considered as a combination of crimes. If two people were blown up in a car out of blood feud, then the culprit will be punished for a combination of three crimes: murder out of blood feud, murder of two or more people, murder in a generally dangerous manner.

general information

The most dangerous type of crime directed against human life is murder. When the perpetrator uses a method of killing the victim that puts the lives of other citizens in danger, the reaction of society will be more aggravated. A generally dangerous method of committing a murder is considered as an aggravating circumstance.

Features of the crime

A method is considered generally dangerous when its implementation creates the likelihood of causing harm to the health or life of people who are not participating in the conflict, that is, who are not potential victims.

It is possible to conclude that the perpetrator used exactly this method if the following was committed:

• an act of terrorist nature;
• arson or explosion where many people have gathered;
• small arms or firearms were used;
• substances with poisonous properties were used (when they were added to water or distributed through the air);
• the vehicle was mined or used for ramming, etc.

We can conclude that when using a weapon that has an individual lesion, such as a knife, etc. does not provide grounds for qualifying the act as murder in a generally dangerous manner, even if a person was deprived of life in a crowded place. An explosion carried out in a vacant lot is considered using the same principle.

Important! A person who commits murder in this manner must be fully aware that the result of his act may be the death of several people.

In addition, a psychological and psychiatric examination is carried out in relation to the perpetrator, aimed at establishing deviations in the mental health of the accused.

Objective signs of a crime

A murder that is committed in a generally dangerous manner is qualified under paragraph “e” of Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of Russia.
In this case, the method chosen by the perpetrator must threaten the life of at least one person, in addition to the potential victim. The threat must be real. When deciding on qualifications, it is necessary to pay great attention to the situation in which the crime was committed. As already mentioned above, an explosion in a deserted place cannot indicate a generally dangerous method, since there is no real threat to the lives of other people.

In a situation where, as a result of using the method in question, several people are deprived of their lives, the act is qualified under the combination of paragraphs “a” and “e” of Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. If harm is caused to the health of other people, then the qualification will consist of paragraph “e” of Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code and articles providing for liability for the occurrence of the described consequences, taking into account the degree of severity.

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Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Murder”

If you are suspected of blood feud murder

Not every alleged blood feud murder needs to be classified as such. If you are involved in a case under this article, you can get advice by calling us or leaving a request. We have many years of criminal practice and can help you: achieve a different qualification, a mitigation of punishment, and in the case of your innocence, we will collect evidence and achieve dismissal of the case or an acquittal.

Features of the crime

The peculiarity of committing a murder by a group of people is that such crimes, as a rule, are committed spontaneously in public places, when a conflict arises between two unfamiliar or unknown persons, in which one of their friends or acquaintances joins.

Such murders are characterized by the following features:

• the murder was committed by two or more persons;
• the persons acted as co-performers;
• there was a preliminary agreement between the group members.

Also, when a murder is committed by a group of people, four typical situations may arise;

• the murder was committed by a group of persons, which consists entirely of citizens subject to criminal liability;
• the group includes persons who are not subject to criminal liability;
• the murder was committed by a group of persons, which includes persons both subject to and not subject to criminal liability;
• the group includes persons who are not subject to criminal liability, but commit murder under the direction or instigation of a person who is subject to criminal liability.

If in the first and second situations the classification of the crime does not cause difficulties, then the third situation causes difficulties, since there are several possible options for classifying such a murder:

• Part 1 Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - the so-called simple or unskilled murder;
• according to clause “g”, part 2. art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – murder committed by a group of persons;
• according to Art. 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and “g” part 2. Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - complicity in murder committed by a group of persons.

There are two different opinions on this matter:

• committing a murder by a group of persons is possible only if there are 2 co-perpetrators;
• Some lawyers believe that it is impossible to talk about the commission of a murder by a group of people if one of them, due to age or mental state, is not subject to criminal liability

In judicial practice, the following approach has been developed to this situation. A crime is recognized as committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy if it was attended by people who agreed in advance to commit it, regardless of the fact that some of the accomplices are not subject to criminal liability due to age or mental state (Review of judicial practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation for the 4th quarter 2000).

In the latest judicial practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, three criteria have been formed in order for a murder to be considered committed by a group of persons:

• before the crime begins, the co-perpetrators must reach an agreement;
• the perpetrators must take a direct part in the process of deprivation of life (strike, suppress resistance, suppress the victim’s attempts to save life);
• all guilty persons must use violence against the victim and have direct intent to commit a crime.

Complicity in murder

With the complicity of Art. 32 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation understands the intentional joint participation of persons in the commission of an intentional crime. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation identifies the following types of accomplices in a crime:

• perpetrator – a person who directly commits a crime;
• organizer - a person who put forward a proposal to commit a crime or supervised the commission of a crime during its commission;
• instigator - a person who convinced the perpetrator, as well as other persons, of the need to commit a crime;
• accomplice - a person who, through his actions, helped the crime to be carried out, namely, provided information to commit the crime, promised the criminal shelter, etc.;

Note! The responsibility of criminals is determined based on the degree of participation in the commission of the crime.

The greatest punishment, as a rule, is borne by the perpetrator of the crime.

If the perpetrator did not commit the crime for reasons beyond his control or refused to commit the crime, then the remaining accomplices are liable for the attempt.

In order for a person to be recognized as a co-perpetrator, it is necessary that he fulfill the so-called objective side of the crime, that is, inflict damage on the victim, which took his life. Otherwise, such person will be an accomplice.

Note! The guilty person may be recognized as either an accomplice or co-perpetrator of the murder. His actions cannot be qualified in any other way. If a person has committed actions that are characteristic of both a participant and a co-principal, then such a person must be recognized as a co-principal.