Russian Criminal Law Research Articles

Об уголовной ответственности владельца за вред, причиненный домашним животным (собакой) третьим лицам

The laws of Russia and some foreign states have no special criminal law provisions that establish the liability of the owner for damage caused by his/her pet (dog) to third parties. The article reviews issues of qualification of such acts under the laws of Russia and foreign countries. A comparative analysis of laws of some foreign states and Russia that regulate the bases and procedure for bringing pet dog owners to the legal liability for damage caused by them to health of third parties has shown the unity of approaches towards strict legal liability including criminal liability of such owners in cases of gross violation of rules for handling their pets. At the same time, countries apply different approaches within their jurisdiction to solving the issue of specification of criminal laws applicable to the cases under consideration by singling out or refusing to single out special elements of crimes for violation of pet handling rules. The task of determination of legally relevant attributes of the link between the crime subject (dog owner), behavior of his/her pet and actions/inactivity of the victim seems relevant for the Russian criminal law practice.

The sentencing specifics of the courts in the Lugansk People’s Republic during the special military operation

This article highlights the historical aspects of integrating the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) into the Russian Federation. The authors consider the specifics of the application of Russian criminal law by the courts of the LPR during its integration into the Russian legal system. The mechanism is shown which provides a unique punishment for the defendants who participated in special military operation for protecting the civilian population of Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics that is realized by giving suspended sentences. The article reveals the specifics of the courts acknowledging the defendant’s participation in a special military operation as a mitigating circumstance. The current practice of imposing punishment upon those who committed crimes before the day of LPR’s incorporation into the RF is examined. The issues of the formation of judicial practice of applying the norms of criminal and international law when dealing cases of crimes against civilians of the LPR were examined. The results show that the courts reasonably equally apply the provisions of the criminal law of LPR if it does not worsen the status of the convicted persons.

International Treaties as Sources of Criminal Law Prescriptions in Chapter 34 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

The authors examine how Russian legislation can be brought in accord with Russia’s international obligations that are used in practice by the lawmakers in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: implementation and overt or covert reference. They analyze the examples of implementation and references in Champer 34 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the specifics of adding articles and the used legislative formulations. The authors present examples of a different scope of criminalizing an action at the domestic and the international levels. Besides, they highlight the problem of sometimes a considerable time gap between the ratification of an international treaty and its implementation in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and note that ratified but unimplemented international treaties are only a part of the Russian legal system, however, they are not sources of Russian criminal law. The research revealed that implementation is sometimes non-linear: several international treaties can be implemented into one Article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation or, vice versa, one Article of the Code can determine liability for violating several international treaties. A special part of the work is devoted to studying the list of international agreements referred to in Art. 353–356, 360 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The analysis allowed the authors to conclude in which cases non-self-executing international treaties are the source of criminal law prescriptions. They also mention a new type of a blanket disposition introduced in 2014, which refers not to a normative act from a different sector, but to a court act (Art. 354.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The authors conclude that in this case the Nuremberg Tribunal's decision will be a source of Russian criminal law. In conclusion the authors outline the most urgent problems at the legislative level that require scientific and practical solutions.

Vizantijskij tranzit yuridicheskoj iudaiki v otechestvennoe ugolovnoe pravo

he purpose of this work is to study the historical and legal phenomena of penetration into the legal space of Russia provisions of Hebrew law in the process of global reception of Christianized law of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 11th 17th centuries. Judaica not only influenced the formation of domestic legal acts (in the aspects of legal goal-setting, the specifics of legal technology, etc.) the provisions of the Law of Moses were included as an autonomous segment in systematized domestic codes and were subject to direct application by state authorities of Russia. Understanding the true historical roots of the formation of domestic law forms the foundation for its development currently and release the reform of Russian criminal law from artificially imposed dependence on the trends in the development of European public law.

A Critical Analysis of the General Principles of Sentencing under the Criminal Law Doctrine and Their Application by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

This article highlights the need to enhance the procedures for determining guilt through criminal law. The study is based on a careful analysis of the legal standards laid down in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and key academic sources of the Russian criminal law. Potential solutions were offered to address the contentious matters within the criminal law doctrine. According to the obtained results, when the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation voices its stance on a number of issues regarding sentencing, it occasionally surpasses its powers conferred by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It was established that the general principles of sentencing are such regulations that apply to all types of offenses, regardless of the type, nature, or gravity of the crime committed. The scope of these regulations extends beyond Article 60 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and specifies its provisions. Another batch of standards includes regulations governing the rules and procedures for imposing certain types of penalties, as well as their specificity for certain criminal behaviors.

Первичные системно-структурные элементы российского уголовного права

The article is devoted to the analysis of the primary system-structural elements of Russian criminal law. Based on the results of the study, the constitutive parameters of these elements are revealed, three main models of the doctrine of the criminal law norm are identified and conclusions are formulated aimed at optimizing the criminal law system, including by including its normative prescriptions in this system.

Problems and Prospects of Administrative Prejudice in the Criminal Law of Russia

Introduction. The emergence and then increase during the current decade of the number of corpus delicti with administrative prejudice in the acting Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Code, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) proves the good result achieved by the legislators in implementation of this legal construct of the Special part of the Code, as well as the efficiency of this tool in fulfilling the current policy of our state referring to the criminal law. Every year a number of such kind of corpus delicti in the Code is only increasing, which indicates the correctness of the policy taken by the legislators more than ten years ago on integrating it into the Code. The aim of the study is to identify the features and problems in the legislative design of the corpus delicti with the administrative prejudice in the Russian criminal law and to propose ways to optimize the corpus delicti of particularly this kind of offences.Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the research are the provisions of the national criminal law, for which the corpus delicti with administrative prejudice are foreseen, studied both in historical and present day aspects, criminal laws of the near-abroad countries, as well as the scientific works of the researchers studying this topic. The following methodological tools have been used during the research: the general scientific, as well as some specific scientific methods, i.e., dialectical, system analysis, legalistic, comparative legal and other methods.Results. The historical and present day aspects of the administrative prejudice application in design of corpus delicti, the features of design of the corpus delicti with administrative prejudice and various variants of prejudice integrated by the legislators in the acting criminal law of the Russian Federation have been analysed. The legislative examples of the administrative prejudice application in some of the Criminal Codes of the CIS countries have been provided. The authors’ own standpoint regarding the presence of the corpus delicti with administrative prejudice in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has been expressed. The authors’ conclusions and suggestions on optimisation and expansion of such norms in the acting criminal law of the Russian Federation have been made. The tendency for the further increase of the number of corpus delicti with administrative prejudice in the acting Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has been supported.Discussion and Conclusion. The conducted research is considered important for the Russian juridical science due to the classification of the prejudices presented by the authors, which implies the availability of "classical" (simple) and "double" (complex) administrative prejudice in the corpus delicti. The amendments proposed by the authors to a number of provisions of the Special part of the Code, in particular, to Articles 180, 213, 330 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation about including the administrative prejudice, as a mandatory feature of the objective side of the above corpus delicti, are recommended to be used in further research of the corpus delicti with administrative prejudice

The voluntary refusal to commit a crime in the criminal law of Russia and China

The voluntary refusal to commit a crime in the criminal law of Russia and China

Ответственность за подлоги в России (досоветский период)

The emergence of criminal liability for forgery is a rare case when it stems from the subject of the crime, and not from its object. This is natural for Russian legislation, since for a long time there was no clear division into branches of law. Purpose. The purpose is to show the development of criminal liability for forgery in Russian criminal law. Methodology. The methodology includes the use of comparative historical, formal logical and statistical methods. Results. The following types of forgeries were distinguished in the criminal legislation of Russia: political, official, judicial, military, managerial, outrageous (rebellious), quarantine, religious. Of particular interest is identity forgery (imposture). Conclusion. A historical overview of the responsibility for forgery in pre-Soviet Russia allows us to take a fresh look at the existing practice of protecting individuals, society and the state from creating false documents for their socially dangerous use in public relations.

Возрастной критерий уголовно-правовой деликтоспособности лица

Tort capacity is the central institution of any branch of law that regulates tort relations. Determining the procedure and conditions for bringing subjects to responsibility, fixing the types and sizes of punishments to which they may be subjected, the legislator has no right to ignore the fact that the delinquency of these subjects is predetermined by their properties. Criminal law has a special role in the system of regulation of tort relations. Among all offenders, criminals are subject to the most severe measures of state-legal response. This article is devoted to the study of one of criteria of criminal law capacity – the age at which an individual can be held criminally liable, as well as the problem of the so-called age-related insanity of minors, which excludes the possibility of their participation in tort legal relations. The article presents a synchronous comparison of approaches to establishing the age of criminal responsibility adopted in the international community and in individual countries, as well as a diachronic comparison of these approaches in Russian criminal law. Regularities are revealed between the difference in approaches to determining the age criterion of criminal law capacity for delinquency and the difference in the scope of measures of state coercion applied to juvenile offenders. Three principles of establishment and differentiation of the named age criterion are defined. The examples of the current criminal legislation illustrate the adverse consequences of non-compliance with these principles. Based on the analysis of judicial practice, the problems of legislative regulation of the age-related insanity of a minor who has committed a socially dangerous act have been identified. The conclusion is made about the possibility of a conflict between the principles of establishing the age of criminal responsibility and ways to achieve a balance of general and private interests are proposed.

Compulsory Treatment of Persons Who Have Committed a Socially Dangerous Act in a State of Mental Disorder or Who Have Fallen Ill After Such an Аct: Historical Aspect

Introduction. The object of the study is the legal relationship on the establishment of state compulsory medical treatment for persons with mental disorders who have committed socially dangerous acts established in the monuments of Russian criminal law (1649–1960). Methods. In this study, the historical method was used accordingly. The comparative legal method was also used, which made it possible to draw the main conclusion – about the evolutionary (smooth, not abrupt) state regulation of these legal relations. The application of the theological method led to the conclusion that until the beginning of the XIXth century, these persons who had not committed serious socially dangerous acts were kept either by relatives or in monasteries, being essentially outcasts. Results. One of the main conclusions was the conclusion that it is necessary to return to the list of socially dangerous acts committed by persons in a state of insanity or by persons who became insane after committing such an act, as the basis for applying compulsory medical measures to such a person. Discussion and Conclusion. In this study, the author came to the following conclusions: 1) state compulsory measures against persons with mental disorders were first officially enshrined in the Cathedral Code of 1649: they represented control over the independent healing of a sick person for his subsequent responsibility in court; 2) state compulsory measures for persons with mental disorders in the form of premises: in the monastery were provided in 1715 by the Military Article, in the orders of public charity in 1775, in special homes of the insane in 1845 by the Code of Criminal and Correctional Punishments; 3) state compulsory measures against persons with mental disorders in the form of compulsory treatment of such persons were first provided for in 1922 by the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. At the same time the basis for the application of such measures narrowed: if before the RSFSR Criminal Code of 1922, such a basis (in addition to the crime committed by him) was the danger of such a person (both for himself and for society), then since 1922 such the basis (in addition to the crime committed) began to recognize the danger of such a person only to society. This state of affairs existed normatively until the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in 1996. The statement of this fact refuted the hypothesis of an evolutionary improvement in the attitude towards persons with mental disorders according to the monuments of Russian law. This research can be used in the study of the historical development of the types of state compulsory measures on the treatment of persons with mental disorders (who committed or fell ill after a socially dangerous act), and for determination of the grounds for the application of each of them.

Producing and/or Distributing Intimate Images of a Person without its Consent

Modern times have created different types of new crimes unknowable to the criminal law doctrine before. One of these new crimes is unlawful distribution of intimate images of person in public without its consent, including distribution in Internet. In the world practice this action usually named as “nonconsensual porn”. Nowadays this type of unlawful actions is actively studied in foreign law systems, some of these recently criminalized it; however in the Russian law “nonconsensual porn” is not popular theme for researching in doctrine and also in practice, although the act itself exists. Dispositions of a number of articles of Chapters 19 and 25 of Special part of the Criminal Code of Russian Federation only partially cover the act mentioned; therefore, the need to change the law is already brewing due to the need of modernization of criminal legislation in connection with various ways of committing such a crime. Focusing on the ways of committing the researched act, authors identify and explore three ways of creating “nonconsensual porn”: its production by secret shooting, the production of intimate images of a person with the consent of the person himself and the production of “nonconsensual porn” by using computer technologies. Authors also made an attempt to differentiate the studied act with the already existing crimes of the Special Part of the Criminal Code (Articles 128.1, 137, 242, etc.). The subject of that research is “nonconsensual porn” as an unlawful act. The aim of the research is creating the complex model of offence of “nonconsensual porn” in Russian criminal law system and explanation of necessity of criminalization this act as an independent crime. The need of protection of people’s rights from “nonconsensual porn” especially by criminal law because of the danger of that act, differentiation “nonconsensual porn” from other crimes and need of criminalization of that act in the Russian criminal law is proving by authors. Present research provides significant thesis for developing of study of criminal law and formulate drafts in the Russian Criminal Code, what gives the practical meaning to the work.

Contract Chatters of Russian Grand and Appanage Princes of the 14th–15th Centuries as a Source of Knowledge for the History of Russian Criminal Law Development

The paper examines the value of the contract charters of the Russian Grand and Appanage Princes of the 14th–15th centuries for the national historical and legal science. During the period of feudal fragmentation, the charters formed one of the most important sources of criminal law in medieval Russia. It was the charters that enshrined the fundamental criminal law terms and elucidated the main elements of crimes, namely: «svada», «rubezh», «vyvod», etc., which have not yet been studied and described properly. The problem of their poor academic coverage gives rise to misconceptions in modern science of the history of the Russian state and law that a criminal act, up to the development of the Judicial Code in 1497, was designated in Russian legislation only by the term «obida [offense]».The author focuses on the patterns of development of princely law-making activity under the influence of the norms of canon law, which was a characteristic feature of medieval Russia, where there was no division of public relations into «secular» and «ecclesiastical», as it is customary to assert and consider in scholarship, since princely law, also in matters of crime and punishment fully reflected the spiritual and religious values of society and should not contradict them, and the administrative activities of the princes were everywhere subordinated to church canons.

Институт административной преюдиции по уголовным делам, или О закономерностях перехода количества в качество

The return of the institution of administrative prejudice into Russian criminal law in 2011 caused a flurry of criticism, roughly repeating in material and legal terms the criticism to which the institution was subjected in the late Soviet and early post-Soviet years, which then led to its abolition. Today, procedural criticism has also been added to it. At the same time, the legislator continues to develop administrative prejudice, which leads to a gap between normative existence and doctrinal assessments of the institution. How adequate are its substantive and procedural criticisms? The question is not simple and requires special analysis.

Отзыв официального оппонента о кандидатской диссертации Н. С. Гончаровой «Символы в российском уголовном праве» (Саратов, 2023): основные вопросы научной дискуссии

The article presents a review of the Royal Corruption about N. S. Goncharova’s candidate dissertation “Symbols in Russian criminal law” (Saratov, 2023): issues of basic scientific reasoning. The conclusion is made about the undoubted ways to find candidates for independent scientific analysis of the current problems under consideration. This connection, despite a number of controversial conceptual provisions of the work, gives a positive assessment of the dissertation research, excluding its creative and innovative nature.

Telecommunications Secrecy Violation in the Context of Russian Criminal Law: Current Problems and Prospects for Overcoming Them

The paper is devoted to the controversial issues of criminal liability for violating the secrecy of correspondence, telephone conversations, postal, telegraph and other messages based on the analysis of Russian legislation, generalization of judicial practice and experience of foreign countries. The author explains the concept and content of communication secrecy, examines its correlation with other types of legally protected information, provides a criminal legal assessment of the dissemination of mutual correspondence without the consent of one of the addressees, and considers a sign of insignificance of the act in relation to encroachments on constitutional human rights. Telecommunications secrecy is defined as any information transmitted using wired, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems, to which access is restricted in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, other regulatory legal and local acts. It is proposed to consolidate the provision that only a person who is not the addressee of negotiations, correspondence and other messages can bear criminal responsibility for violating the secrecy of communication. The rules of qualification of the violation of the secrecy of communication are formulated in conjunction with the crimes in the field of computer information, as well as with the illegal receipt and disclosure of information constituting a trade secret. It is noted that Part 2 of Article 138 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation should be supplemented with the provision listing qualifying signs of the use of information and telecommunication networks by a person and about unauthorized access to the critical infrastructure of the Russian Federation. The author criticizes the refusal of the courts to recognize the violation of the secrecy of communication as an insignificant act only because of the special significance of the object of criminal law protection. A rule is established to eliminate competing criminal law norms concerning exemption from liability for violating the secrecy of communication by applying the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which is the most favourable for the person who committed the crime. In conclusion, the author proposes a new version of the article of the criminal law on violation of the secrecy of correspondence, telephone conversations and other telecommunication messages that provides for the composition of a crime with administrative prejudice.

Modernization of Criminal Legislation in the Context of Criminalization of Responsibility for Social and Domestic Violence

The present study is devoted to the lack of proper legal regulation in the Russian criminal law of responsibility for violence in family relationships. The amendments and additions made in 2016–2017 to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation regarding responsibility for inflicting beatings or other violent acts that caused physical pain, but did not entail the consequences specified in Article 115 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in particular, the decriminalization of beatings against loved ones, are currently questionable and a number of questions. The article analyzes the proposals of researchers on the problem of domestic violence, as well as their own conclusions on the issue of legal regulation of domestic violence. The authors recommended criminalizing domestic violence as a separate crime.

Развитие института отбывания наказания в виде лишения свободы на территории белорусских земель в XVIII веке

The article systematically examines the development of the institution of serving a sentence of imprisonment on the territory of the Belarusian lands in the XVIII century. Due to the fact that the Belarusian lands of this period were part of both the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Empire, the influence of the two legal systems of these states on the development of this institution is noted. The attention is focused on the fact that the main normative legal acts regulating the development of the institution of serving a sentence of imprisonment on the territory of the Belarusian lands at that time should be recognized as the statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russian and Zheimot of 1588, the Cathedral Code of 1649, the Military Article of 1715 and the manifesto "Institutions for the administration of provinces" dated November 7, 1775. Expanding the influence of Russian law, including criminal law (and its constituent penal enforcement rights), on the territory of the Belarusian lands occurred according to the rule of "soft influence", enshrined in various decrees and charters of the Russian rulers. It is concluded that the institution of serving a sentence in the form of imprisonment in the Belarusian territories began to develop actively both legally and organizationally only under the influence of a more systematic Russian criminal law in the last quarter of the XVIII century, in connection with the three sections of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the annexation of all Belarusian lands to the Russian Empire since 1795.

Каноническое право Восточной Римской империи как исторический источник отечественного уголовного права

The purpose of this work is to refute the point of view of a number of theorists about the legal "backwardness" and programmed implementation doom of domestic public (and, above all, criminal) law. In this article, the author declares and argues the thesis that domestic criminal law (Russian/Russian) was initially, from the moment of its formation, based on the traditions of classical Roman law in its most developed Byzantine form. The reception of Roman law into Russian criminal law was carried out in two directions: canon law and secular law. And if the vector of Byzantine influence on the development of secular criminal law has faded over time, then canon law continues to test it to this day. As a result, the author substantiates the conclusion that understanding the true historical roots of the formation of domestic law forms the foundation for its development at the moment and frees the reform of Russian criminal law from artificially imposed dependence on the trends of development of European public law.

On the Concepts of Insolvency and Bankruptcy in Russian Law

The article is concerned with defining the boundaries of the terms "insolvency" and "bankruptcy". The author analyzed the correlation of terms, also including the history of Russian legislation, on the basis of which the features of the change in this institution to date are noted. The modern approach of the legislator to the definition of "insolvency" and "bankruptcy" seems to the author not fully justified, which includes the application of the category "bankruptcy" in Russian criminal law. Taking into account examples of foreign practice, it is proposed to legally distinguish between the categories.