The concept, forms, signs and types of theft

The ownership right in importance in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (CC RF) is put in second place after the personal rights of a citizen. In this article we will consider the concept, signs, forms and types of theft pursued by the legislation of the Russian Federation. It is the offenses related to the infringement of property rights that occupy more than half of all the crimes that have occurred in our country over the past few years and even decades.

Concept of theft

In order to formulate the concept, signs, types of theft, it is necessary to study not only the current legislation, but also refer to the previous system of bills.

At all times, among all peoples, including the ancients, the basis of criminal law was property offenses and encroachment on human life. As regards Russian justice, the term “theft”, described in important laws and decrees of past centuries (the Council Code of 1649, the Decree of Catherine II “On Judgment and Punishment for Theft of Different Kinds” of 1781), initially played an important role.

In 1845, the first set of laws on criminal liability of Russia appeared, in which the generic term “theft” was replaced by “theft,” signs, forms, types of which were described and supplemented in subsequent bills of criminal law.

Theft in the modern interpretation means the totality of crimes committed out of mercenary motives, aimed at the deliberate and irrevocable seizure of another's property in favor of the offender.

Signs of theft

All forms and types of theft combine a number of fundamental features, among which:

• Selfish purpose. The sign suggests that the perpetrator or group of perpetrators commit an unlawful act out of personal motives with the desire to extract material benefit in their favor or of third parties. An example of a mercenary misconduct: to appropriate another's property for the purpose of enrichment (wallet). In the history of jurisprudence, there have been cases of embezzlement of other people's material assets and property in order to distribute them to needy people (poor).
• Unlawfulness is an unlawful act committed by a criminal who, according to the current legislation, has no right to seize things of another citizen who has a legal right of ownership of this property free of charge.
  
• Gratuitousness occurs when the perpetrator assumes the right of ownership of another person’s property without reimbursing its value or compensation acceptable to the other party in the form of barter or any services.
• Withdrawal involves the transfer of property or the right to it from the rightful owner to another person without the consent of the first. As a result, the owner’s property fund is reduced, which is the fact of causing damage to his material condition. Moreover, the form of ownership (private, state) is not a significant factor in the qualification of theft.
• Damage in the form of a decrease in the assets of the victim plays an important role in qualifying theft, and it is precisely its size that determines the form and severity of the offense. However, it should be noted that the amount of damage is established only in accordance with the illegally seized property, but not the loss of profit associated with it. For example, if an employee stole some equipment from the company, then he must return only the equipment or its value, while the amount of damage will not include the amount of losses incurred by the enterprise due to production downtime due to the absence of this unit of equipment.

Theft

The concept and types of theft are closely related to the subject of theft, which can be any other property that was illegally seized or appropriated by the criminal. The subject of theft should combine three characteristics:

1. Physical properties - the subject of theft is materially outlined in space (that is, it is in a solid, liquid or gaseous state, animated or inanimate).
2. The legal aspect. The property must belong to someone legally
3. The economic component means that the property has its value.

Forms and types of theft

Forms of theft are grouped in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation according to the methods and features of committing property crimes:

1. Theft (Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
2. Fraud (Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
3. A waste or misappropriation (Article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
4. Robbery (Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
5. Robbery (Article 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
   

Based on the amount of damage caused to the owner of the property, the criminal legislation of Russia distinguishes the following types of theft of another's property:

• Petty theft, the amount of damage of which is not more than 1000 rubles.
• Theft, which caused minor damage to the owner in the amount of from 1000 to 2500 rubles.
• Causing significant damage, the amount of which can reach up to 250,000 rubles.
• Large thefts up to 1 million rubles.
• Particularly large thefts - more than 1 million rubles.

Theft

Theft - secret appropriation of another's property, contrary to the law of the country. The basis of such a crime is the non-violent appropriation of tangible and intangible goods, which are alien to the guilty. Moreover, the theft is classified as secret only if the offender acted in the absence of the owner or in the presence of the owner or other persons who did not give out their presence at the time the crime was committed. Subjects convicted of this offense may only be persons over 14 years of age.

Robbery

Robbery is more dangerous than theft, fraud and embezzlement, since it involves the illegal seizure of property in the presence of the owner or other persons who are aware of the intentions of the offender. In turn, the perpetrator also sees the presence of the victims, but continues the offense, which, however, is non-violent. Moreover, the robbery implies that the offender initially wanted to commit an open seizure of another's property. The violence may be the actions of the perpetrator towards the victims or persons who have the opportunity to prevent the robbery. These actions are violent, but without significant danger to the life and health of eyewitnesses. Examples: causing physical pain, beatings, imprisonment.

Robbery

Robbery is the most socially dangerous seizure of another's property, which is based on the forcible appropriation of the property of others. The robber uses threats and violent acts, which can be dangerous not only for the health of the victims, but also for their lives.

As an unlawful act, a criminal can use both a latent and an open attack on the owner of the property or another person in whose office it is located (for example, a watchman). It should be noted that the threat to the life and health of the victim is not the object of this form of theft and requires a separate qualification.

Fraud

Fraud - the theft of another's property and / or property law by deception or abuse of the trust of the owner. Active fraud is a lie by which a fraudster misleads the owner about the transfer of property rights. It can manifest itself in the form of forged documents, which as a result transfer the property or the right to it to the criminal without informing the owner. Abuse of the owner’s trust also creates an illusion that the action is in his favor, but in fact leads to the fact that the owner, without realizing it, transfers his property to the fraudster. The only difference is that in this case, the perpetrator acts on the basis of trust in property.

Examples of such situations: non-repayment of debt or rented equipment, default by a contractor, etc.

Waste or misappropriation

A waste or appropriation differs from other forms of theft in that the transfer (seizure) of the right of ownership from the owner to the offender does not occur, the perpetrator only uses the right to dispose of the property entrusted to his department.

Rastrata assumes the actual use (expenditure) of another's property, and appropriation - the illegal retention of property until its transfer.

Qualification of theft and responsibility for their commission

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation discloses not only the concept of theft, the forms and types of theft, but also the methods of their qualification, as well as measures to prevent them. Responsibility for property offenses can be of two types: administrative and criminal. The first is established for socially harmful misconduct qualified as petty theft. They can be carried out by theft, embezzlement or fraud, provided that the amount of damage does not exceed the average monthly salary of a citizen at the time the crime was committed. Criminal liability arises if socially dangerous types of theft have been committed, the amount of damage from which exceeds a threshold of 5,000 rubles.

Types of theft can be qualified not only on the basis of the size of the damage suffered, but also taking into account the multiplicity of the offense by the same criminal. Thus, petty theft in the amount of less than 5000 rubles, but committed more than once, will be prosecuted not by administrative, but by criminal liability. On the other hand, the measure of restraint in this case will be established as a petty theft committed repeatedly, even if the amount of damage reaches the level of major theft. An exception is the case when each subsequent crime is committed in the same way as the previous one, and the investigation establishes the intent of the offender to commit a large amount of seizure in total.