Any human actions in most cases have certain legal consequences. This postulate of human life was derived even at a time when law was not a key regulator of social relations. Already in ancient Rome there were special rules that limited the activities of people of a certain kind. Thus, the offensive sphere of human activity has been developed for a long time. Of course, over time, the legal rules governing this industry and its principles as a whole have undergone significant changes.
Today, in most countries there are codified criminal laws that enshrine basic unlawful acts. In addition, the totality of such acts led to the emergence of a separate legal branch - the criminal one. It exists with a certain percentage of changes in each country.
The Russian Federation in this matter is not an exception to the rule. Our state has its own criminal law, which establishes liability for certain crimes. To analyze the key features of legal liability of this type, for example, 164 Art. Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Theft of items of special value."
Criminal law: concept, features
For a long time, the scope of offenses was not delimited into separate areas of regulation. Of course, people understood the destructiveness of some acts and the insignificance of others, but all this was coordinated through the use of identical legal constructions. As for the modern Russian Federation, in the state the mechanism of criminal liability is of rather great importance and effectiveness. Many principles of this branch of law were borrowed from a similar sphere of coordination that existed in the USSR. Criminal law is enshrined in the rules of a special codified legal act. In addition, this area of legal regulation has an extensive structure that brings together many interesting institutions.
What is called a crime?
One of the key institutions of criminal law is a socially dangerous act. Article 164 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation just touches on one of the crimes. But what features are characteristic of this institution? To understand its features, it is necessary to recall the key points of legal theory. We all know that human actions can be both positive and negative. In the second case, we are talking about offenses, that is, moments when human activity goes beyond the permissible limits. Crimes in this case are qualified actions of a negative nature. In other words, we are not talking about simple offenses, but about those that bring the most serious consequences. Their public danger necessitates the application of special legal measures to the perpetrators. For this reason, only in criminal law are there penalties associated with limitation or deprivation of will.
Theft of items of special value: structure, composition
So, we found out that article 164 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is an example of a central institution of criminal law - a crime. Based on the name of this norm, it fixes the punishment for actions related to the theft of especially valuable items. However, the article has a rather interesting structure and composition. In the Criminal Code, the norm is presented in two parts. The first presents the usual, unencumbered corpus delicti. In the second part, qualified acts are indicated, that is, more serious.
The elements of the composition of this crime are: subject, object, subjective side and objective side. Of particular interest is article 164 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation due to the mandatory presence of the subject of a socially dangerous act. These are items of special, exceptional value. In the process of law enforcement practice, it is far from always possible to effectively qualify an act of this kind. The stumbling block, as we understand it, is the aforementioned things, the legal status of which differs in certain features.
What things are of exceptional value?
The theft, which provides for Article 164 of the Criminal Code, implies the presence of special items. These are things of exceptional value. In most cases, people having heard this concept represent property that is quite expensive. However, such conclusions are erroneous. In this case, the legislator in Art. 164 The Criminal Code indicates what things are of exceptional value.
This legal status is assigned to objects and documents that are endowed with historical, artistic, scientific, cultural value. Thus, only if there is a fact of significance, property of a certain kind can be reckoned as one of particular value. As we see, Article 164 of the Criminal Code of Part 1 does not say anything about the value of items. Only their exceptional significance for society and our multinational state, that is, the Russian Federation, is taken into account.
Why is criminal liability established?
At first glance, the socially dangerous act does not describe article 164 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The corpus delicti must fall within the definition. However, the detriment of the actions mentioned in the norm lies in the fact of harming public relations, which regulate the distribution of material wealth and the protection of cultural property. In other words, the intangible component of the life of the state receives damage. An additional object is the ownership of items of particular value. Indeed, in the process of theft, they are illegally seized.
Subject of crime
Any kind of socially dangerous act is committed by a certain person. This fact is the basis of criminal law in general. As concerns specifically the norms of article 164, the subject of the crime in this case is any person who has reached the age of 16. Thus, Art. 164 establishes the general boundaries of criminal prosecution. Of course, there are situations when the aforementioned act is carried out by minors. In this case, such entities are also liable, but according to other norms of the current legislation.
What is the objective side characterized by?
The basis of any crime is action or inaction. In the case of Article 164, we are talking about human activities aimed at unlawfully extracting the aforementioned things from someone else's possession. In this case, it is necessary to highlight several important points of the objective side.
First, the action must be purely unlawful. That is, the owner did not want the transfer of his property to other persons.
Secondly, theft should be directed to the objects mentioned in the article. If other items are stolen during illegal activities, then qualifications must be made under another article of the Criminal Code.
If the points presented are not met, then the objective side is virtually absent. As we are finding, this element is mandatory as part of a crime. If he is absent, then it is impossible to incriminate the commission of an act under article 164.
Qualified compositions (164 article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, part 2)
The norm of the criminal law provides for the existence of certain types of theft of objects of special value. Qualified compositions are provided for in part 2 of Article 164 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. To date, these include:
- committed by a group of persons (organized or by prior agreement);
- entailing the actual destruction, destruction, damage to objects and documents of value.
Thus, these actions will have more serious consequences, which makes it necessary to create a special framework of legal liability, that is, more stringent. 164 article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for other qualified compositions. Part 4 or 3 (specially qualified acts) is not required in the context of this crime. If violence was used in the theft process, then the qualification will have a different character.
Conclusion
So, in the article we presented a comment on article 164 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It should be noted that this norm is quite important, since it protects public relations directly related to the state and its cultural basis.