Participation in a Non-Profit Organization that Infringes on the Personality and Rights of Citizens (Part 3 of Article 239 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation): Criminal Law Characteristics

Abstract

Introduction. An act in the form of participation in a non-profit organization that infringes on the personality and rights of citizens, enshrined in Part 3 of Article 239 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, causes a number of difficulties in understanding and qualification. Involved in most cases by deception in such associations, the participants themselves turn out to be victims, therefore, when qualifying the act under Part 3 of Article 239 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it is important to assess the degree of independence and activity of each participant. Theoretical Basis. Methods. The dialectical method is used in the article as a general scientific method, which formed the basis for studying the phenomenon of religious associations that infringe on the personality and rights of citizens, and their activities in Russia. Specific scientific methods make it possible to reveal the meaning and content of legal relations associated with the creation and functioning of religious, public or other associations that infringe on the personality and rights of citizens. The historical method made it possible to study the experience of differentiating the responsibility of the creators and participants of pseudo-religious associations in pre-revolutionary Russia and in the Soviet Union. Results. Based on the understanding of the criminal law category “dependence” by A. A. Aryamov, we can come to the conclusion that the will of the participants in the organizations under study is significantly limited and is a reflection of the will of the leader. A participant in such an association, as a dependent person, manifests “other people’s” principles and attitudes in “his” socially dangerous act. Thus, the line between a participant in an association that encroaches on the personality and rights of citizens and a victim is very fluid. A feature of the behavior of such a person, characterized by the sign of limited (or reduced) sanity, is that he can become a subject in one act of criminal behavior, and a victim of another act of criminal behavior. Discussion and Сonclusion. Thus, it seems reasonable that some scholars propose to return the sign of “active participation” that was present in the dispositions of Article 227 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR and 143.1 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. In order to distinguish the subject of the crime from the victim, it also seems relevant to supplement the disposition of Article 239 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with an “incentive” note (by analogy with Articles 126, 127.1, 210, 282.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, etc.) with the following content: “A person who left an association and reported to law enforcement agencies about its activities is exempt from criminal liability, unless his actions contain another corpus delicti.”