An independent criminal law institution is formed by crimes committed in complicity. They have their own social and legal characteristics and pose a great danger to social relations protected by law.
Currently, a significant number of criminal offenses are committed by two or more persons. Despite the great attention paid to this problem in legal science, complicity in a crime is recognized as one of the most controversial institutions of criminal law.
Perpetrator of the crime
In accordance with Part 2 of Art. 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation , a person is recognized as a performer
- directly committed a crime or directly participated in its commission together with other persons (co-perpetrators);
- who has committed a crime through the use of other persons who are not subject to criminal liability due to age, insanity or other circumstances provided for by criminal law.
Thus, the law knows three types of performer:
- the perpetrator who directly commits the crime, i.e. who single-handedly carried out the entire objective side of the crime. He may also act together with accomplices in other roles;
- a co-perpetrator directly involved in the commission of a crime together with other persons. All these persons are called co-perpetrators, since together they perform the objective side of the crime;
- "mediocre performer"
Each co-principal does not need to fulfill the entire objective aspect of the crime; To establish co-perpetrators, it is enough that each of the co-perpetrators fulfilled at least part of the objective side of the crime. Thus, in case of rape, the actions of persons who personally did not commit violent sexual intercourse, but who, by using violence against the victim, assisted others in her rape, should be qualified as co-perpetrators of gang rape (see paragraph 10 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of June 15, 2004 No. 11 “On judicial practice in cases of crimes provided for in Articles 131 and 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation”); murder is recognized as committed by co-perpetrators even if the damage leading to death was caused by one of the co-perpetrators (see: BVS RF. 2000. No. 7. P. 13).
In judicial practice, co-perpetrators are also recognized as more complex cases of distribution of roles between accomplices, when in fact one or another of them assists in the commission of a crime without directly performing the objective side of the crime. However, legally these actions are recognized as co-execution, called the “technical” distribution of roles. Thus, someone who holds a victim in a murder while another inflicts fatal injuries is recognized as a co-perpetrator (see paragraph 10 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of January 27, 1999 No. 1 “On judicial practice in murder cases (Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) "), and in the case of theft, co-perpetrator is the commission, with the distribution of roles, of coordinated actions aimed at providing direct assistance to the perpetrator in the commission of the crime (for example, breaking doors, locks, removing the stolen property, insuring other accomplices from possible detection, etc.) (see. clause 10 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 27, 2002 No. 29 “On judicial practice in cases of theft, robbery and robbery”).
Signs of complicity in a crime
Signs of complicity are:
1. Participation of two or more persons in the commission of a crime
(sane and have reached the age at which criminal prosecution is possible).
2. Compatibility, which means:
a) mutual dependence of the criminal acts of two or more persons;
b) a single criminal consequence for them;
c) the causal connection between the act of each accomplice and the overall consequence.
3. Intent. Accomplices desire or consciously allow harmful consequences to occur, i.e. complicity is possible only in intentional crimes.
Crimes committed in complicity have a significantly greater social danger; they are characterized by more precise preparation, thoughtfulness of actions to conceal its traces, and significant physical and moral harm.
The meaning of complicity in a crime is as follows:
Firstly, its enshrinement in the law makes it possible to justify the responsibility of persons who themselves did not directly commit the crime, but in a certain way contributed to its implementation. Thus, it allows us to determine the range of acts that are not directly provided for in the norms of the Special Part of the Criminal Code, but that pose a public danger and, therefore, require a criminal legal response.
Secondly, it allows you to determine the rules for qualifying the actions of accomplices.
Thirdly, the criteria he developed make it possible to individualize responsibility and punishment in relation to persons who took one or another part in the commission of a crime, in accordance with the principles of legality, guilt and fairness of criminal prosecution.
Organizer of the crime
From the definition of the organizer of a crime given in Part 3 of Art. 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, four types of organizational activities can be distinguished:
- organization of the commission of a crime;
- directing the execution of a crime;
- creation of an organized group or criminal community (criminal organization);
- leadership of an organized group or criminal community (criminal organization).
Firstly, the organizer of a crime is the person who organized the commission of the crime, i.e. preparing the commission of a crime in whole or in most part by developing a plan for committing a crime, finding accomplices, instruments and means of committing a crime, training accomplices, etc.
Secondly, the organizer is the person who led the execution of the crime, i.e. a person who organizes the activities of accomplices in the direct commission of a crime both at the place of its commission and outside it.
Thirdly, the organizer is the person who created an organized group or criminal community (criminal organization), i.e. a person whose activities result in finding accomplices, instruments and means of committing a crime, developing plans for committing crimes, etc. was the creation of an organized group (Part 3 of Article 35 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) or a criminal community (criminal organization) (Part 4 of Article 35 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Fourthly, the organizer is the person who led an organized group or criminal community (criminal organization), i.e. a person who heads an organized group or criminal community (criminal organization) already created by himself or another person.
It should also be noted that assessing a person’s actions as organizational excludes assessing these same actions as incitement to commit a crime or complicity in its commission.
Plurality of crimes: concept, forms and criminal legal meaning.
The plurality of crimes is understood as the commission of several crimes by one person, each of which is provided for by a criminal law norm and retains its criminal legal significance.
The multiplicity of crimes is characterized by the following features:
– acts constituting plurality are committed by one person;
– for plurality, at least two crimes must be committed;
– these crimes must retain their criminal legal significance.
The Criminal Code distinguishes between two forms of plurality:
– a set of crimes;
– relapse of crimes.
Recidivism of crimes is the commission of an intentional crime by a person who has a criminal record for a previously committed intentional crime.
Relapse can be of three types:
- simple;
- dangerous;
- especially dangerous.
Recidivism of crimes is considered dangerous:
– when a person commits a serious crime for which he is sentenced to real imprisonment, if earlier this person was sentenced to imprisonment two or more times for an intentional crime of average gravity;
– when a person commits a serious crime, if he was previously convicted of a serious or especially serious crime to actual imprisonment.
Recidivism of crimes is considered especially dangerous:
– when a person commits a serious crime for which he is sentenced to real imprisonment, if previously this person was twice sentenced to real imprisonment for a serious crime;
– when a person commits a particularly serious crime, if he was previously convicted of a serious crime twice or was previously convicted of a particularly serious crime.
Relapse:
– is an aggravating circumstance;
– influences the appointment of a type of correctional institution for those sentenced to imprisonment;
– the term of punishment for any type of recidivism of crimes cannot be less than one third of the maximum term of the most severe type of punishment provided for the crime committed, but within the sanction of the corresponding article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Aggregate crimes – the commission of two or more crimes by one person, provided that none of them has a criminal record expunged or the person has not been convicted for any of them.
Types of crimes:
– ideal set;
– real totality.
A real totality of crimes is the commission of two or more crimes, for none of which the person was convicted. In this case, it does not matter whether the crimes were committed intentionally or through negligence, whether they were completed or not, whether they were committed in complicity, etc. In case of a combination of crimes, a person bears criminal liability for each crime committed under the relevant article or part of the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation .
An ideal set is one action (inaction) containing signs of crimes provided for by two or more articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The totality of crimes serves as the basis for imposing a more severe punishment. In case of aggregation of crimes, the punishment is assigned separately for each crime committed, and then added up in whole or in part.
Instigator
An instigator (Part 4 of Article 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is a person who persuaded another person to commit a crime by persuasion, bribery, threat or other means. The instigator influences the perpetrator of the crime or other accomplices, arousing in them determination and desire to commit the crime. The inducement to commit a crime must be of a specific nature, i.e. cause in an individually defined person a desire to commit a certain crime, and be aimed at inciting such a desire, although this does not require clear details of criminal actions. Thus, in one of the cases, it was considered incorrect to convict a person for incitement, since his statement “Why are you disbanding nannies? Go, give it to him” was vague and did not aim the performer at specifically causing harm to the victim’s health (see: BVS RSFSR. 1966. No. 11.P. 8-9).
Definition Details
The organizer of a crime forces another citizen to commit an act and himself participates in this process. Here he performs the function of a direct executor, just like other persons participating in this matter.
Also, the organizer can control this process without participating in it. Another variation is participation, but carrying out only those actions that lead to the success of such an activity.
The organizers of crimes pose the greatest threat to minors. According to statistics, more than 50% of criminals who are under 18 years of age make their “criminal debut” under the control of adults with a criminal record.
Quality type
This refers to a situation where the perpetrator, outside the framework of the conspiracy, commits another crime. And his actions are considered as:
- Preparation for the act that the accomplices planned, and a different act committed in fact.
- Completed violations of the law, when both a new and planned crime are implemented.
The organizer of a criminal offense can appear in both variations. For example, during an armed robbery, he may deliberately shoot a person for personal reasons (and unexpectedly for other members of the group) and adhere to the general plan of action. Or he might blow up a room and steal a car, which comes as a complete surprise to the rest of the team. In this case, he acts according to his own scheme.
Variations of complicity
They differ depending on the role of the members of the criminal group and the level of its organization. According to the first criterion, complicity can be:
- Simple. In this case, all accomplices are performers.
- Complex. The performers are joined by other persons or one of them: an organizer, an accomplice or an instigator.
According to the second criterion, the forms of complicity are as follows:
- A criminal group without a prior agreement.
- Option item 1 with collusion.
- OCG (organized criminal group).
- Criminal structure (organization).
The organizer can become an accomplice to a crime in a complex scheme and in any organized formation. And perform other functions in parallel.
Character traits
The signs of an organizer of a crime that distinguish him from other participants in the process are:
- Initiative. It is expressed in the preparatory stage on the eve of the crime, the involvement of other persons in this matter and their selection, active participation in the development of the algorithm for implementing the criminal operation and participation in it.
- Carrying out secondary functions in the act being carried out. However, the leadership position is not lost. And the management of the process occurs on the basis of a preliminary agreement. In other words, in a crime, its organizer can perform one or more functions.
- Awareness of the consequences of using a particular type of weapon and its selection.
- The discrepancy between his personal goals and the goals of the performers. But at the same time, the responsibility of the organizer of the crime remains for all actions consistent with the general plans of the group. For example, during robbery, the leader may wish the death of a specific person, and the group’s goal is to obtain material assets. At the same time, the implementation of goals may not contradict the general plan.
- Refusal to participate in the process, but control it. The organizer, like a director, assigns roles to participants, explains tasks, and gives instructions. And during the performance (crime) he himself is located somewhere behind the scenes.
- Development of criminal abilities in other citizens.
Performing excesses
This term refers to a situation where the perpetrator commits a criminal act for which other accomplices are not held accountable before the law.
The following interpretation is also allowed here: the performer implements actions that were not envisaged by other members of the group. That is, there is a deviation from the general plan and conspiracy.
The perpetrator is held responsible for the crime he committed in fact, and not for those acts to which the accomplices agreed.
Kurtosis can be quantitative and qualitative. Both types have their own specifics in qualifying punishment.
Content of intent
In the actions of the organizer of a crime from a subjective position, it covers two aspects: awareness and desire. The first concerns the actions taken, the second - only the planned ones.
The leader can simultaneously act as a performer. Its functions in a specific crime are classified differently. But when forming punishment, organizational merits must be taken into account and more stringent measures of influence are put forward. Therefore, when the perpetrator and organizer of a crime are the same person, he faces a very serious sentence and penalties.
