The subject of murder - State and law

Murder Subject

The objective side of murder Read more: Criminal legal analysis of murder without mitigating and aggravating circumstances and qualification problems

1.4 Murder Subject

Any sane individual who has reached the age of 14 is subject to criminal liability for committing murder, since by the age of fourteen a person is formed as an individual and develops his own character that is different from others, influencing his further development; he also develops his own system of values, in which for a normally developed person, already at this age life has a priority, therefore, upon reaching this age, a person is able to understand that he is taking the life of another person.

This is due to the fact that murder is classified as a particularly serious crime. The age and sanity of an individual are conditions for the onset of criminal liability, since the criminal law punishes a criminal not for the fact that he has reached a certain age and is sane, but for committing a specific act, provided that he has reached a certain established age and is sane.

This interpretation of age and sanity is explained by the fact that any act, including deprivation of life, committed by a minor or an insane person, does not exclude a public danger, but only eliminates the criminal liability of such a person. If age and sanity are considered to be elements of a crime, then in fact the deprivation of the life of another person committed by a minor or an insane person will be recognized as not representing a public danger due to the absence of corpus delicti. This could lead to the fact that persons who use a minor or an insane person as a murder weapon would be subject to exemption from criminal liability.

The criminal law specifies certain characteristics of the subject of murder, which may not affect the qualification of the crime. Thus, the commission of murder by a person who has previously committed murder or attempted murder entails qualification under paragraphs. "n" part 2 art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, at the end of 2003 the legislator declared this rule to be invalid.

The subject of murder of a newborn child under mitigating circumstances can only be the mother who gave birth to this child.

An interesting study was carried out by the legal psychology sector of the All-Union Institute of Problems of Strengthening Law and Order under the USSR Prosecutor's Office. Groups of criminals were studied, identified according to the nature of the crime. Thus, among the murderers, 51% were people under the age of 25, 30 years and older – 15%, 45 years and older – 34%. Among them, 60% are single, 31% are married, and 9% are divorced. Every second of those who had a family at the time of the crime considered their marriage to be unsuccessful.

The psychological characteristics of this group can be summarized as follows. In their views, they are predominantly cynics, there is no closeness with people, and they do not feel the need for it, while every third of those surveyed himself believed that there were no people who were disposed towards him. Public interests are also alien to them; social activities for them are unnecessary troubles.” Selfishness is the main trait of their character. And hence the lack of faith in the possibility of good relations between people. They evaluate the life they have lived pessimistically, they believe that life has passed them by, but they do not see their fault in this. A retrospective analysis of their development as individuals, as well as the conditions in which they were formed, shows that their childhood was spent, as a rule, in conflicting family conditions, scandals and quarrels between parents, including assault and other types of violence. Hence, life “from a position of strength” is considered normal by them.

That is why, identifying the subject of the murder, identifying and verifying all the signs required by law for a person brought to criminal responsibility is a necessary condition for recognizing the cause of death as murder.

1.5 The subjective side of murder

The subjective side of murder is characterized by the subject’s mental attitude to his act and the resulting death of the victim. The subjective side of murder in accordance with Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is characterized only by intentional guilt. Intent in murder can be either direct or indirect.

With direct intent, the perpetrator realizes that he is encroaching on the life of another person, foresees that his act contains a real possibility or inevitability of death, and desires its occurrence.

So, for example, S. committed murder with direct intent. The circumstances of the case are as follows. S. and P. were traveling in a taxi. On the way, a quarrel arose between them. S took out a knife and, threatening to kill P., asked a driver he knew to stop the car. Coming out of the taxi, S. stabbed P. as a result of a heart wound, P. died immediately.

With indirect intent to kill, the perpetrator realizes that by his act he is endangering a person’s life, foresees that his death may occur from this act, does not want it to occur, but consciously allows it or is indifferent to its occurrence.

The current criminal legislation of the Russian Federation establishes that only the person guilty of committing a crime is subject to criminal liability and punishment. The law also directly states that the commission of a socially dangerous act can serve as the basis for criminal liability only if this act was committed intentionally.

The corpus delicti provided for in Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation allows only an intentional form of guilt in the form of direct or indirect intent. Guilt is defined “as a mental process caused by objective signs of a crime, where the main thing is the anticipation of socially dangerous consequences, equally inherent in the categories of intent and negligence.

If, according to the previously in force criminal law, the subjective side was also expressed in negligence, then according to the current Criminal Code of the Russian Federation this is no longer included in the composition of murder, from the very definition of which it follows that murder is the intentional deprivation of life. Careless causing of death constitutes another crime, which is not the subject of consideration of this final qualifying work.

As mentioned above, with direct intent, a person realizes that he is committing an act that is dangerous to the life of another person, foresees the possibility or inevitability of the death of the victim and desires this. With indirect intent, he consciously admits the possibility of death or is indifferent to it.

In the old legislation, reference was made to a person foreseeing socially dangerous consequences without indicating the degree of probability of their occurrence, which made it possible to interpret the category of “possibility” in the direction of unjustifiably releasing the perpetrators from responsibility for actually intentionally committing a crime, replacing it with responsibility for carelessly committing a crime. The legislator previously limited himself to indicating only the conscious assumption of the occurrence of socially dangerous consequences. The innovation, in the form of also indicating an indifferent attitude to the consequences, makes the concept of indirect intent more complete.

It is very important to establish in cases of this category the motives and purposes of depriving the victim of his life. Paragraph 1 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 1 of January 27, 1999 “On judicial practice in cases of murder (Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)” states that in each such case the form of guilt must be established, the motives, the purpose must be clarified and the method of causing death to another person, as well as other circumstances that are important for the correct legal assessment of the crime and the appointment of a fair punishment to the perpetrator.

In practice, the analysis of the subjective side when qualifying a murder is very complex, as a result of which investigative and judicial errors occur.

When qualifying a murder, it must be revealed that it was committed intentionally and the form of intent must be determined, since without a specific form of guilt, an act cannot be recognized as a crime under Russian criminal law - objective imputation is unacceptable.

The distinction between direct and indirect intent is important for individualizing punishment and for distinguishing murder from other crimes. This applies, for example, to the qualification of attempted murder - the presence of indirect intent excludes such qualification. In its Resolution No. 1 of January 27, 1999, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation “On judicial practice in cases of murder (Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)” explained that attempted murder is possible only with direct intent, that is, when the act indicated that that the culprit was aware of the social danger of his actions (inaction), foresaw the possibility or inevitability of the death of another person and wanted it to occur, but the death did not occur due to circumstances beyond his control (due to the active resistance of the victim, the intervention of other persons, timely provision of medical care to the victim help, etc.).

Considering the subjective side of murder, it is necessary to dwell on the concept of “knowledge” and the definition of its legal meaning, since when determining this element of the crime, “knowledge” characterizes the subjective attitude of the perpetrator to the circumstances aggravating the murder.

In paragraph “c” of Part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation speaks of the murder of a person who is known to be in a helpless state by the perpetrator, and in paragraph “g” of Part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the murder of a woman who was known to be pregnant by the perpetrator.

So, knowledge is an undoubted, reliable knowledge by the subject about an aggravating specific circumstance (the presence of pregnancy, etc.).

Among the circumstances that are important for qualifying murders, which characterize the subjective side of this crime, it is necessary to name the motive, purpose, and emotional state of the person at the time of the murder.

Human actions are always determined by certain motives and are aimed at achieving certain goals. A correct assessment of any behavior is impossible without taking into account its motives and goals. Motive and purpose are mental phenomena that, together with guilt, form the subjective side of the crime.

As noted by A.A. Piontkovsky “Motive is the impulse that guided a person when committing a crime.” This definition emphasizes the main function that motive performs in the mechanism of human behavior in general and illegal behavior in particular.

The motive does not determine behavior in itself, but only in relation to the goal, in connection with the results that a person strives to achieve by performing this or that action.

The purpose of a crime is the desired result that a person seeks to achieve by committing a socially dangerous act, in other words, what the criminal wants to achieve by committing a crime.

Motive and goal, although concepts are interdependent, characterize different aspects of the volitional process. Motive answers the question: why does a person perform certain actions; the goal determines the direction of activity. A goal does not arise without a motive, but on the other hand, a motive, like the entire volitional process, receives its content thanks to the goal as a result of the specific activity in which this goal is embodied.

Motive and purpose are mandatory signs of the subjective side of a crime that influence the qualification of any crime, including murder.

When deciding whether to qualify a murder, the motive cannot be ignored. In some cases, there is a competition of motives, making it difficult to identify the main motive.

We have to admit that the courts do not always take appropriate measures to establish the motives for committing a crime (which is often due to a one-sided approach to the assessment of evidence, without taking into account all the factual circumstances of the case), which, in turn, entails the unreasonable imputation of one or another motive for the crime and conviction guilty under articles of the criminal law that do not correspond to the crime.

In Part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation indicates the following motives: self-interest, blood feud, hooligan motives, racial, religious hatred or enmity. With these motives, murder can be qualified under Part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation only in the presence of other circumstances specified in this article.

In the absence of the above-mentioned motives and other circumstances aggravating the murder, Part 1 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. To qualify a murder under this article, the motive for its commission is essentially indifferent. But this does not mean that you should not install it.

When analyzing the subjective side of murder in connection with the motive, the question arises about the relationship between motive and form of intent. As a general rule, the motive for murder indicates direct intent.

Motive and purpose are usually distinguished in law and have independent significance for the classification of certain types of murders. However, in some cases, the motive and purpose may be the same - in case of murder for mercenary motive.

Emotional moments, the emotional state of a person at the time of the commission of a crime, are of no small importance in characterizing the subjective side. Emotional moments not only characterize the mental state of an individual at the time of the commission of a crime, but also show his attitude towards the crime and the consequences that have ensued.

The emotional state has a huge impact on the course of mental activity. It can play a positive role in the perception of the actions being performed, making it more vivid, or, conversely, it can significantly narrow the limits of consciousness, relegating it, so to speak, to the background, weakening critical and control activity.

Fear, anger, irritation, malice, strong emotional excitement - these are the emotional states with which judicial practice most often has to deal. These circumstances provide significant assistance in establishing the motive for murder, in determining the content of intent and negligence. Without taking into account the emotional state of a person, as B.S. rightly noted. Utevsky, there cannot be a complete assessment of the defendant’s behavior, or a reasonable solution to the question of the defendant’s guilt and the degree of his guilt.

The relationship between the objective and subjective sides of any crime was very accurately noted by V.N. Kudryavtsev, pointing out that the subjective side generates, directs and regulates the objective side of the crime.

According to the author, the complexity of the task when analyzing the subjective side of a crime by judicial and investigative authorities is due to the insufficient development in the theory of criminal law of the problems of guilt, intent, motives and goals, issues of their connection, correlation with each other, with the objective signs of a crime, as well as with other concepts and categories that define a crime and the conditions of a person’s criminal liability.”

The complexity of the relationship between the subjective and objective in a crime, as in any human act, is expressed in the fact that the psyche is affected not only by external conditions and circumstances in which the will and consciousness of a person are formed, but also by the characteristics of a given person, his temperament, habits, motivations , which in turn are the result of external factors.

The objective side of murder Read more: Criminal legal analysis of murder without mitigating and aggravating circumstances and qualification problems

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Qualification Features

Intentional actions that result in the death of one or more persons are called murder. Such an act has several types and is classified according to this norm if there were no circumstances aggravating or mitigating the punishment. Their list is indicated in the Criminal Code in articles 106-108. An ordinary murder of one person is qualified under the first part of Article 105 of the Criminal Code. Qualifying signs of such an act are murders committed:

During a fight.
In a quarrel.
In feelings of jealousy.
Personal enmity.
To sweep.
Envy.

The murder of a person committed during a fight, if there were no aggravating or mitigating circumstances, is classified as “simple.” It is necessary to distinguish between the concept of a quarrel, which is the reason, and a fight, which is the context for the commission of a crime. In case of a quarrel or fight, there may be mitigating and aggravating circumstances.

An example would be a situation where, during a quarrel, one of the parties was given a gross insult, which caused the offended person to become emotional. The qualification of murder in such a case will be made under Article 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

If during a fight a person commits murder in a way that is dangerous for several people, then the act will be classified as committed by a generally dangerous method. The reason for the fight may be the hooligan actions of one of the parties, the desire for revenge for the illegal actions of a person, which does not allow the crime to be classified as a simple one. The main factor influencing the qualification of an illegal act and determining the type of murder is the motive of the participants and circumstances that can increase the level of public danger, among them:

The victim is pregnant.
The state of helplessness of the victim.
The act was carried out with particular cruelty.
A generally dangerous method of murder was used.

Qualifying Circumstances

There are a number of circumstances that are considered aggravating factors:

Killing more than one person at the same time.
Causing death to a person or his close relatives who was performing his official duties.
Death was caused to a minor citizen or a person who was obviously helpless in relation to the killer.
The murdered woman was pregnant, and the attacker knew about it.
During the commission of the act, special cruelty was used towards the victim.
The murder was accompanied by generally dangerous actions of the attacker.
The motive for the murder was blood feud.
An illegal act was committed and prepared by a group of persons who previously gathered and agreed to carry out the crime.
Killing a person for personal gain or for hire.
The crime was committed for hooligan reasons.
The murder is organized to cover up another illegal act.
The motives for the crime were hatred: political, ideological, racial, religious.
The criminal committed the murder of a person for the further use of his internal organs.

Definition of the act

Murder of a person is causing the death of one or more persons due to malicious intent. It is considered the most serious and dangerous type of crime for society. Provides for criminal liability with actual serving of the sentence in a colony. Under certain circumstances and types of murder, capital punishment is applied.