Concept, content, forms and meaning of guilt in criminal law

Content of guilt

The psychological content of guilt occupies a central place among the main categories characterizing guilt. The constituent elements of the mental attitude manifested in a specific crime are consciousness and will. A change in the relationship between consciousness and will forms forms of guilt. The content of guilt is determined by the totality of intellect, will and their relationship.

Sudden and planned

There are two more types of intent:

Planned. We are talking about an act that was carefully thought out and only then implemented. For example, a citizen committed a robbery or murder for which he was preparing.
Sudden. This type of intent is also called affective, because the act in this case is committed under psychological pressure or as a result of strong emotional shock. For example, a husband came home from work drunk and provoked a quarrel. Being in a state of passion, his wife hit him on the head with a rolling pin. Her actions were not planned, she was guided by a sudden impulse.

Forms of guilt

A form of guilt is a certain relationship (combination) established by criminal law between the elements of consciousness and will of the person committing a crime, which characterizes his attitude towards this act. Criminal law provides for two forms of guilt - intent and negligence. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for the division of intent into direct and indirect (Article 25), and negligence into frivolity and negligence (Article 26). Guilt really exists only in the forms and types determined by the legislator; there can be no guilt outside of them.

In accordance with Art. 25 Part I of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a crime committed intentionally is an act committed with direct or indirect intent.

Direct intent occurs when a person was aware of the social danger of his actions (inactions), foresaw the possibility or inevitability of the occurrence of socially dangerous consequences and desired their occurrence.

Indirect intent occurs when a person was aware of the social danger of his actions (inactions), foresaw the possibility of socially dangerous consequences, did not want, but consciously allowed these consequences or was indifferent to them.

According to Art. 26 Part I of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a crime committed through negligence is recognized as an act committed through frivolity or negligence.

A crime is considered to have been committed carelessly if a person foresaw the possibility of socially dangerous consequences of his actions (inactions), but without sufficient grounds, he arrogantly hoped to prevent these consequences.

Arrogance (frivolity) differs from indirect intent in that a person foresees only the possibility of the occurrence of socially dangerous consequences of his action or inaction, but expects to prevent the occurrence of these consequences, but the calculation turns out to be frivolous. With indirect intent, there is no such calculation; the perpetrator foresees the consequences of his actions and consciously allows them, or is indifferent to them.

A crime is considered committed through negligence if a person did not foresee the possibility of socially dangerous consequences of his actions (inactions), although with the necessary care and forethought he should and could have foreseen these consequences.

Intention and its types

Guilt is the mental attitude of a person to the socially dangerous act he commits, provided for by criminal law, and its consequences. Various combinations of intellectual and volitional elements provided for by law form two forms of guilt - intent and negligence, described in Art. 25 and 26 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, regarding which guilt is a generic concept. To find a person guilty means to establish that he committed a crime either intentionally or through negligence.

Types of intent

1. Depending on the psychological content:

straight;
indirect.

2. Depending on the moment of occurrence of criminal intent:

premeditated;
suddenly arisen.

3. Depending on the degree of certainty of the subject’s ideas about the most important factual and social properties of the act being committed:

specific (specific);
vague (unspecified).

Direct intent

A crime is recognized as committed with direct intent if the person who committed it was aware of the social danger of his action (inaction), foresaw the possibility or inevitability of socially dangerous consequences and desired their occurrence (Part 2 of Article 25 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

More details

Awareness of the socially dangerous nature of the act being committed and the anticipation of its socially dangerous consequences characterize the processes occurring in the sphere of consciousness, and therefore form the intellectual element of direct intent, and the desire for the occurrence of these consequences relates to the volitional sphere of mental activity and constitutes the volitional element of direct intent.

Awareness of the socially dangerous nature of the act being committed means understanding its actual content and social significance. It includes an idea of the object of the crime, the content of the action (inaction) through which the offense is carried out, as well as the actual circumstances (time, place, method, setting) in which the crime occurs.

Foresight is the mental representation of the perpetrator about the harm that his act will cause to social relations placed under the protection of criminal law. In accordance with the law (Part 2 of Article 25 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), direct intent is characterized by foreseeing the possibility or inevitability of the occurrence of socially dangerous consequences.

The volitional element of direct intent, which characterizes the direction of the subject’s will, is defined in the law as the desire for socially dangerous consequences to occur.

Desire is the will mobilized to achieve a goal, it is the desire for a certain result. It can have various psychological shades. As a sign of direct intent, desire consists in the desire for certain consequences, which can act for the perpetrator as:

ultimate goal (murder out of jealousy, revenge);
intermediate stage (murder in order to facilitate the commission of another crime);
means to achieve the goal (murder in order to obtain an inheritance);
a necessary accompanying element of the act (an explosion of a car in which, in addition to the intended victim, there are other persons).

Indirect intent

Indirect intent in accordance with the law (Part 3 of Article 25 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) occurs if the person who committed the crime was aware of the social danger of his action (or inaction), foresaw the possibility of socially dangerous consequences, and although he did not want to, he consciously tolerated them or treated them indifferently.

More details

Awareness of the socially dangerous nature of an act with indirect intent is essentially no different from the corresponding element of direct intent. But the nature of foreseeing socially dangerous consequences is different for direct and indirect intent.

Foreseeing only the possibility (but not the inevitability) of the occurrence of socially dangerous consequences is the only possible option for the content of this sign of indirect intent. At the same time, the subject foresees the possibility of the occurrence of such consequences as real, considers them a natural result of the development of a causal relationship in this particular case.

So, the intellectual element of indirect intent is characterized by awareness of the social danger of the act being committed and foreseeing the real possibility of socially dangerous consequences occurring.

The volitional element of indirect intent is characterized in the law as the absence of desire, but the conscious assumption of socially dangerous consequences or an indifferent attitude towards them (Part 3 of Article 25 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The perpetrator does not seek to cause socially dangerous consequences. However, the lack of desire to cause harmful consequences, emphasized by the legislator, cannot be understood as their active reluctance, as a desire to avoid their occurrence. On the contrary, a conscious assumption means that the perpetrator causes a certain chain of events through his actions and consciously (meaningfully, intentionally) allows the development of a cause-and-effect chain, leading to the onset of socially dangerous consequences.

The volitional content of indirect intent can also manifest itself in an indifferent attitude towards the occurrence of socially dangerous consequences. In this case, the subject commits a crime, which is called “without thinking” about the consequences of the act committed, although the possibility of causing them seems very real to him.

Indirect intent is impossible:

when committing formal crimes;
in crimes the composition of which includes a special purpose of the act;
in case of attempted crime and preparation for a crime;
with the awareness of the inevitability of socially dangerous consequences;
in the actions of the organizer, instigator and accomplice.

A strict distinction between both types of intent is necessary for the correct application of a number of criminal legal institutions (preparation, attempt, complicity, etc.), for the qualification of crimes, the legislative description of which assumes only direct intent, for determining the degree of guilt, the degree of social danger of the act and the identity of the perpetrator, as well as to individualize criminal liability and punishment.

Premeditated and sudden intention

In addition to dividing intent into types depending on the characteristics of their psychological content, the theory and practice of criminal law also knows other classifications of types of intent. Thus, according to the moment of occurrence of criminal intent, intent is divided into premeditated and suddenly arising.

Premeditated intent is characterized by the fact that the intention to commit a crime is carried out after a more or less significant period of time after its occurrence. Premeditated intent, indicating the particular cunning of the perpetrator or the sophistication of the methods of achieving the criminal goal, is significantly more dangerous than sudden intent.

Suddenly arising is a type of intent that is realized in a crime immediately or after a short period of time after its occurrence. A sudden intent can be simple or affected.

A simple sudden intent is an intent in which the intention to commit a crime arose in the perpetrator in a normal mental state and was realized immediately or after a short period of time after its occurrence.

Affected intent characterizes not so much the moment as the psychological mechanism of the emergence of the intention to commit a crime. The reason for its occurrence is the unlawful or immoral actions of the victim in relation to the perpetrator or his relatives. They suddenly or under the influence of a long-term psychotraumatic situation cause strong emotional disturbance in the subject, which significantly complicates conscious control over volitional processes. This is the reason for the mitigation of punishment for a crime committed with affected intent (for example, for murder - Article 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Definite or indefinite intent

Depending on the degree of certainty of the subject’s ideas about the most important factual and social properties of the act being committed, intent can be definite (specified) or vague (unspecified).

A certain (concretized) intent is characterized by the presence of a specific idea by the perpetrator about the qualitative and quantitative indicators of the harm caused by the act. If the subject has a clear idea of some one individually determined result, the intent is simple determinate.

Alternative intent is a type of specific intent in which the perpetrator foresees approximately the same possibility of the occurrence of two or more individually determined consequences. Crimes committed with alternative intent should be classified depending on the actual consequences caused.

Vague (unspecified) intent is characterized by the fact that the perpetrator has not an individually defined, but a generalized idea of the objective properties of the act, i.e. he is aware only of its specific characteristics. For example, when delivering strong kicks to the head, chest and stomach, the perpetrator foresees that as a result, harm will be caused to the health of the victim, but does not realize the extent of this harm, i.e. degree of severity of bodily injuries. Such a crime should be qualified as intentional infliction of harm to health that actually occurred.

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Definite and Uncertain

Another classification of intent depends on whether the offender pursued a specific goal. Depending on this they distinguish:

Certain intent, when a citizen committed an unlawful act for a specific purpose. For example, having entered a store, a robber expected to rob the cash register.
Uncertain. In this case, the attacker does not pursue any goal, often acting spontaneously. For example, a drunk hunter decided to test his gun. He shot and wounded his friend.

What forms (types) of guilt are provided for in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation?

A separate chapter of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - 5ya - is devoted to forms of guilt. We examined the types of guilty actions in more detail earlier, giving detailed examples.

In short, guilt manifests itself in the form of intent and negligence . Intention, in turn, is divided into direct and indirect, and negligence into frivolity and negligence.

Examples of intent

To better understand the differences between direct and indirect intent, let's look at a few examples:

The robber had been spying on a family living on the first floor of a multi-storey building for several days. After waiting until all the residents left the apartment, he committed a robbery. This crime was committed with direct intent, since the thief was aware of the criminality of his actions, carefully planned them and wanted negative consequences.
The citizen often came home from work drunk. Suspecting his wife of infidelity, he threatened to set the house on fire. One day he came home with a canister and started waving it near the burning stove. As a result, a fire occurred. Both spouses died in the fire. In this case, we are talking about indirect intent, because the husband pursued the goal of intimidating his wife. Moreover, the crime was premeditated, since the idea of arson did not arise suddenly.
Teenagers were playing ball next to a guarded facility. The watchman asked them to move away, fearing for the property entrusted to him. However, the teenagers ignored the request and continued to play. Then, wanting to scare them away, the man began throwing stones at the children. One of the cobblestones hit the child in the head, causing serious injury. Naturally, the watchman did not want to maim the teenager, but he had to be aware of the potential danger of his actions. The intent in this case will be indirect, but the watchman may well be held criminally liable.

Thus, intent allows us to determine the degree of guilt of the offender. Taking this factor into account, the judge makes the final decision.

Motive and purpose of the crime

1. Optional signs of the subjective side are motive and goal as a result of the activity of the emotional sphere of a person. Motive

in psychology, these are factors of personality activity, the driving force of human behavior.
The motive is based on needs and interests that generate internal driving forces. In criminal law, motive
is understood as the internal urges that make a person determined to commit a crime, and by which he was guided in committing it.

In psychology, motives are classified according to various criteria. But for criminal law, only motives that matter are divided into two groups: base and devoid of base content. In the dispositions of the articles of the Criminal Code, motives of a base nature are mainly named: selfish, hooligan, blood feud, personal interest (revenge, envy, careerism), etc. But there are several compositions in which the motives are devoid of a base nature (if the limits of necessary defense are exceeded - the desire to stop a criminal attack; causing harm when detaining a person who committed a crime, etc.). In all cases, the investigator and the court must find out the true motives for committing the crime.

2. Purpose of the crime

is a mental model of the future result that a person strives to achieve when committing a crime. The purpose acquires significance only if it is specified in criminal law. These are goals of a socially dangerous nature: the goal of undermining the economic security and defense capability of Russia (Article 281 of the Criminal Code), an encroachment on the life of a statesman or public figure, committed in order to terminate his state or other political activities (Article 277 of the Criminal Code), etc.

The purpose of the crime differs from the socially dangerous consequences. The goal is a sign of the subjective side, the consequences are a sign of the objective side, they are objective in nature and are the result of activity. And the goal is a mental representation of this result.

Motive and purpose

are of great importance in criminal law for qualifying crimes and determining the limits of criminal liability. As optional features, they perform a threefold role in criminal law: a mandatory feature of the composition; qualifying feature; circumstance mitigating or aggravating punishment.

Concept, meaning of the subjective side of the crime

1. Subjective side

- this is an element of the crime that determines the internal side of the committed socially dangerous act. It is inextricably linked with the objective side, therefore the essence of the subjective side is the mental attitude of the criminal to the socially dangerous act he committed. Its content is predetermined by the characteristics of the intellectual, volitional and emotional spheres of activity of the person who committed the crime. The nature of guilt, its differentiation into forms and types depends on the specific relationship of the intellect and will to the committed act and the ensuing consequences. The emotional sphere determines the motivational coloring of the action and its goals.

2. Thus, the characteristics that form the subjective side of the crime include guilt, motive and purpose.

Guilt is an obligatory sign of the subjective side, its core. This provision is of a fundamental nature and is enshrined in Art. 5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as a principle of criminal law. In all compositions, without exception, constructed in the Special Part of the Criminal Code, the wine and its form are indicated. The absence of guilt at all or its corresponding form indicates the absence of a crime.

The subjective side of the crime is described in the criminal law norm of the Special Part in less detail compared to the objective side. Therefore, when analyzing it, it is necessary to refer to the norms of the General Part (Articles 24-28 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Optional characteristics

the subjective side is
the motive
and
goal.
In principle, any human behavior depends not only on the consciousness and will of the person, but also on his motives and goals. But for bringing to criminal liability and determining its limits, not any motives and goals are important, but only those named in the relevant norms. Moreover, like other optional features, motive and purpose play a triple role (a mandatory feature, a qualifying feature, as well as a mitigating or aggravating circumstance). Therefore, the most important condition for the correct application of criminal law is the precise establishment of the nature and characteristics of the subjective side of the crime described in the law (guilt, motive and purpose).

3. Subjective side

crime is important in criminal law:

a) it determines the subjective boundaries of criminal liability, excluding the possibility of objective imputation; b) as an element of the crime it is included in the basis of criminal liability; c) the subjective side ensures the correct qualification of crimes and contributes to the differentiation of similar offenses; d) the content of guilt, the nature of the motive and purpose are taken into account when assigning punishment.

How is intent interpreted in crimes?

When considering criminal cases, the concepts of direct and indirect intent are most often used. The other forms mentioned are used solely for clarifying and specific purposes. They are important for:

classification of unlawful action;
determining the degree of individual responsibility of the accused;
choice of punishment;
separation of the crime itself and the attempt on it.

Note! The formulations of indirect and direct intent are applicable only to crimes with a material element.

In practice, most acts are qualified as direct intent. It is tacitly believed that the completed criminal offense has no correlation with the indirect form.

There is no standard approach to the interpretation of intent in domestic legal practice. The trial is always individualized, and the verdict depends on many particular circumstances.