Memo for the population on the prevention of offenses related to the threat of murder or causing grievous harm to health (Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)

Death threat

The crime provided for in Article 119 Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - threat of murder or infliction of grievous bodily harm, if there was reason to fear that this threat would be carried out, is committed by our citizens quite often. This is due to the fact that many citizens do not know about criminal liability for such an act and do not sufficiently realize the social danger of such actions.

This crime is classified as a minor crime, since the law provides for the most severe punishment for committing such a crime - imprisonment for up to two years.

Since this crime is a crime of minor gravity, it is investigated in the form of an inquiry, that is, by investigators of the police department at the place where the crime was committed. Cases in this category fall under the jurisdiction of magistrates.

Termination of a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for reconciliation

Often, citizens commit such crimes against their loved ones and friends, mostly while intoxicated. Out of anger or fear for their lives and health, victims call the police. Employees take explanations from eyewitnesses, the perpetrator and the victim, and transfer the initial investigation material to the investigation department. The investigator, having discerned from these materials the corpus delicti of a threat to kill, initiates a criminal case. Subsequently, the victim, having reconciled with the perpetrator, turns to the investigator with a request to terminate the criminal case, since reconciliation has taken place and he does not want to bring anyone to criminal responsibility. But here the victim and the perpetrator will be disappointed. The investigator says that only a court can terminate a criminal case for reconciliation.

If you strictly follow the letter of the law, then the investigator has the right to terminate the criminal case for reconciliation only with the consent of the prosecutor, and the prosecutor, in connection with the pursuit of indicators, as a rule, does not give such consent.

An analysis of judicial practice shows that magistrates terminate criminal cases under Article 25 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Article 76 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation - for reconciliation, if the perpetrator committed a crime for the first time, is characterized positively, made amends for the moral and material harm caused and reconciled with the victim.

In the event of reconciliation of the parties, the person guilty under Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation should remember that in order to terminate the criminal case through reconciliation, a number of conditions must be met:

1. the perpetrator committed the crime for the first time. That is, he was not previously convicted of committing crimes, or was convicted, but the conviction was expunged in the manner prescribed by law. If the perpetrator has an outstanding criminal record, the court cannot terminate the criminal case for reconciliation.

2. The culprit has reconciled with the victim.

3. The culprit made amends for the harm he caused to the victim. If the actions of the perpetrator did not result in property damage to the victim, then making amends for the damage can only consist of the perpetrator apologizing to the victim. If the crime also caused property damage, the perpetrator must compensate for it.

Often, for reconciliation, the victim sets a condition that he be paid monetary compensation for moral damage. In these cases, the perpetrator must pay the compensation agreed upon by the parties. The victim must make a receipt to the perpetrator for receipt of this compensation. Such a receipt is evidence of compensation for damage caused by the criminal actions of the suspect (defendant), which is a circumstance mitigating his guilt and affects the severity of the punishment. In addition, the receipt is proof of compensation for damages.

4. The perpetrator admitted his guilt in committing the crime and repents of his crime.

If the magistrate dismisses the criminal case for reconciliation, the perpetrator is considered not to have been convicted and no punishment is imposed on him.

Recommendations for conducting a conversation with an attacker

What is recommended to do if you are threatened by phone? If you are being harassed by threatening calls, then try to suppress your emotions and record the conversation on a voice recorder. If the call is anonymous, then it is very important that the interlocutor identifies himself. You can address him by his first name, last name, if you know him.

As mentioned above, the conversation must include not abstract, but real threats. “I will curse you and rot in prison,” is an example of vague threats. But: “Tomorrow we will shoot your wife, we know where she works” (and they name the place) - this is an example of a specific threat.

Find out from the attacker exactly what they plan to do to you, where and how. The more details the better. If a constructive conversation does not work out, you still have the right to file a complaint with the police. Even if there is little evidence of the threat’s guilt and no case is initiated, the policeman will visit him to clarify the details and this may also affect the situation.

Termination of a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with the imposition of a court fine

A person guilty of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation may be released from criminal liability with the imposition of a court fine, in accordance with Article 76.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. To be exempt from criminal liability under Part 1 of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a number of conditions must also be met:

1. The perpetrator committed a crime for the first time.

2. The culprit compensated for the damage or otherwise made amends for the harm caused to the victim.

3. The perpetrator admits his guilt in committing the crime.

In contrast to exemption from criminal liability under Article 76 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, when imposing a court fine, reconciliation with the victim is not a prerequisite. In practice, reconciliation is desirable.

An investigator can submit a petition to the court to release a suspect from criminal liability with the imposition of a judicial fine only with the consent of the prosecutor. In practice, the prosecutor does not give such consent, therefore this basis for exemption from criminal liability has not yet become widespread in practice.

In addition, unlike the termination of a criminal case for reconciliation, in addition to compensation for damage to the victim, the perpetrator will have to pay a court fine.

Currently, the following practice has developed. If the suspect has not been previously convicted, or a previous conviction has been withdrawn or expunged, then the criminal case is terminated with the imposition of a court fine, the amount of which depends on the financial situation of the guilty person. If the suspect has an outstanding criminal record, then the case is considered in most cases in a general manner with the imposition of criminal punishment, up to actual imprisonment.

Where to go and what to do if you are threatened?

To protect against telephone threats, you must use all possible measures.

Important! If you feel that the threats are real, then you should not simply block someone else’s number or ignore calls.

It is necessary to contact the police or try to influence the person making the threat in another way.

To protect yourself from threats over the phone, you must:

Try to resolve the conflict peacefully. When you receive 1-2 threatening calls, you can use your actions to warn the attacker that you are recording conversations and that if the calls do not stop, you intend to contact the police.
Report what responsibility awaits the person making the threat and explain that all evidence has already been collected. If you are interested in where you can turn in case of intimidation and psychological pressure, then you can get the necessary help from the trust service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow (24 hours a day). Firstly, they will help you cope with stress, and secondly, all calls to this service are recorded and you can later confirm the fact of the call (you can find out what intimidation is and what punishment is provided for it here).
Contacting the police. If all else fails, then you need to contact the duty station of the local police department and write a statement. It should contain your passport and contact information, all the information you have collected so far about the threat, as well as a request to take action.
The application is accompanied by copies of call printouts, audio and video recordings of conversations with the attacker. The document must be registered in a special journal. Don't forget to write down your registration number or take a photo of it. You can also submit an application through the State Services portal.
Legal settlement. Based on the results of consideration of the application (within 10 days), the police may initiate a criminal case or refuse the applicant.
If a case is initiated, a preliminary investigation begins. Even at the stage of checking the application, the police will find out the identity of the attacker (if it is unknown) or immediately meet with him to question him. If the threats are confirmed, a decision is made to charge the person as an accused.

Based on the results of the investigation (about two months later), an indictment is issued and the case is transferred to the district court. This is only possible if evidence of the threat’s guilt is collected. The court will consider all the circumstances of the case and announce a verdict.

At the same time, you can file a civil claim, for example, for personal insult by telephone, causing and compensation for moral damage, or for compensation for material damage caused simultaneously with threats (arson, destruction, etc.). To do this, you need to draw up a statement of claim in the district court, collect evidence and pay a state fee of 300 rubles.

Attention! There is criminal liability for false denunciation, so if you are not sure who exactly called you on the phone, then it is better to clearly write about this in the application.

Features of the crime - threat of murder

The objective side of this crime is that the perpetrator expresses the intention to take the life or cause serious harm to the victim. That is, if the perpetrator threatened to destroy property or cause other harm to health, there is no element of this crime. There is no corpus delicti even in cases where the perpetrator made a vague threat.

A threat can be expressed orally, in writing, by phone, in an SMS message, with certain gestures, transmitted orally through third parties, by demonstrating weapons and other items used as weapons.

A necessary condition for the presence of this composition is the real nature of the threat. That is, the victim had to realize that the perpetrator could actually carry out his threat. An imaginary threat does not constitute a crime. For example, the perpetrator makes a threat to kill the victim, but does not actually threaten anything, does not perform any actions indicating that he can carry out his threat, and does not display a weapon.

It is from this moment that the crime should be considered completed if there was a gap in time between the statement of the threat and its perception. For example, in the case of sending a threatening letter by mail, transmitting a threat through third parties or using electronic means. An attempt to commit this crime is possible if the threat did not reach the consciousness of the victim for reasons beyond the control of the perpetrator.

It is quite obvious that the reality of the threat is an evaluative concept. In addition to the reality of the threat, it is necessary that the intent of the perpetrator includes the fact that he really threatens the victim with murder or infliction of grievous bodily harm and can actually carry out the threat immediately. That is, the perpetrator must have direct intent to utter a threat and intimidate the victim, while the motives and purpose of uttering a threat do not matter for qualification, but can be taken into account by the court when assigning punishment.

In practice, it happens that the perpetrator threatens to kill the victim with a firearm that is not actually loaded, but the victim does not know this. It is obvious that the perpetrator did not actually intend to carry out his threat, but the victim did not know this and, of course, believed that the threat could actually be carried out. In such cases, the perpetrator has the corpus delicti.

The subjective side of this crime is formed by direct intent. That is, the perpetrator understood that he was making a threat of murder or infliction of grievous bodily harm and wanted the victim to perceive it as real. From the above example it follows that in order to qualify the actions of the perpetrator under Part 1 of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it does not matter whether he actually intended to carry out his threat.

This crime is considered completed from the moment a real threat is made.

If such threats were made during the commission of another crime and they were a method of committing this crime (rape, extortion, car theft), then the actions of the perpetrator are qualified under the relevant article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and additional qualification under Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is not required. But if the threat of murder or grievous bodily harm took place after rape or the commission of another crime, then the actions of the perpetrator are subject to qualification under a set of crimes, that is, under Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and under another article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation providing for criminal liability for committing a crime after which there was a threat was made. (Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 4, 2014 No. 16 On judicial practice in cases of crimes against sexual integrity and sexual freedom of the individual).

The object of the crime in this composition is the health of the victim.

Collection of evidence

Telephone threats only at first glance seem easily provable , since now any phone has the ability to record a conversation. However, the calls may well be anonymous, or when it comes to proceedings, the threat may claim that he lost his phone and did not call anyone.

If you receive threatening calls from a stranger or acquaintance, then you can find out what to do and where to go further.

To prove the guilt of the threat it is necessary:

record the conversation;
install caller ID if the calls are anonymous;
during the next call, put it on speakerphone so that 1-2 witnesses can hear the conversation;
record not only audio, but video (your answers on the phone and the number on the screen) to make it easier to prove that the recording of the conversation is genuine;
use the “malicious call” function (conversation recording and number identification), which is offered by many telephone operators;
Obtain a printout of incoming calls from the telephone company.

If you are blocking the number of a person who is calling with threats, and he is calling from different numbers, then you need to make a list of them and, if possible, find out who they belong to.
With the Internet and telephone directories, this is no longer a problem. Attention! Only after filing a statement with the police (and only if a criminal case has been initiated) will a petition be filed with the court to obtain permission to access the recording of telephone conversations as part of the investigation.

After this, the phone can be “wiretapped” and additional recordings can be made for the court, and they can also drive up to the offender to catch him in the act.

The police will definitely ask under what circumstances you had reason to fear the threats would be carried out. If the person making the threat has already tried to attack, shot, and later called with threats, then such a statement has a greater chance of being accepted. Evidence may also include written threats , as well as displaying weapons or sending threatening photographs.

What to do if you receive threats via SMS? Your actions should not be aimed at destroying SMS messages, but on the contrary, make printouts of them and attach them to the police application.

Position of the Constitutional Court

The constitutionality of the described norm of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was repeatedly challenged by citizens (Determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated March 23, 2010 No. 368-О-О), but the Constitutional Court did not accept these complaints because they stemmed from a specific crime. However, the Constitutional Court provided the following clarifications in its definitions. Part 1 of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes liability for the threat of murder or infliction of grievous bodily harm, makes it possible to recognize as constituent in relation to the crime provided for by it only such an act that is committed with intent, aimed at the victim’s perception of the reality of the threat, when there are objective reasons to fear its implementation. This presupposes the need in each specific case of criminal prosecution to prove not only the existence of the threat itself, but also that it was deliberately expressed with the aim of intimidating the victim and in a form that gives reason to fear its implementation. The question of whether there were objective grounds for the victim to fear murder or serious harm to health requires an assessment of the factual circumstances of the case and does not fall within the competence of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. (Determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated March 23, 2010 No. 368-О-О).

Imposition of punishment under Part 1 of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - judicial practice

As stated above, the most severe punishment for committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is imprisonment for up to 2 years. In practice, if reconciliation between the victim and the perpetrator does not take place, the court imposes more lenient punishments, mainly compulsory labor for up to four hundred and eighty hours, restriction of freedom for up to 2 years, or a suspended sentence of imprisonment. If the culprit has an outstanding conviction for another crime, then, as a rule, the courts impose a punishment in the form of actual imprisonment.