A criminal act, like any other type of purposeful activity, is divided into various stages, taking into account how close the performer is to the expected outcome. It should be borne in mind that in criminal law the stages of the commission of a crime are possible in intentional crimes. In careless, their varieties of stages are never distinguished. It is believed that acts with indirect intent are not carried out in stages, since a person has a goal to achieve an unlawful result of his actions or inaction.
Stages
Criminal law distinguishes four types of stages of intentional crimes. This is the creation of intent, the detection of intent, preparation, ending - obtaining a result, post-criminal behavior.
Since criminal liability for the mere formulation of intent in thoughts is not provided, the creation of intent is considered a mental process. And this stage does not matter in the commission of intentional crimes - this is not punishable in criminal law.
Also, it does not entail criminal liability to write diaries with thoughts about committing illegal actions. This stage of the commission of a deliberate crime is not considered punishable if a person expresses the idea that it would be nice to act illegally. But here it is necessary to take into account additional circumstances.
For example, if a person sets out his intentions, the law can consider this as the formation of a gang, if it shows weapons for the planned robbery, this can be a separate crime. Then intention is a direct assault on the object.
It is noteworthy that when statements from the first stage of the commission of intentional crimes are pronounced in an inappropriate form, this falls under article 189 of the Criminal Code “insult”. In this case, it is the humiliation of the honor and dignity of the victim.
In addition, post-criminal behavior, the last stage of the commission of a deliberate crime, affects the qualification of the act, as it is believed that the illegal act itself has already been committed. At the same time, it is taken into account, determining the measure of responsibility.
According to Article 10 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, penalties are applied starting from the second stage of the commission of a deliberate crime - preparation for it. Thus, the person who has prepared, attempted the crime, and also the completed act is prosecuted by law.
Finished and unfinished deed
The finished crime is established if the person committed the wrongful act itself or if the consequences included in the disposition. But if the action directly prohibited by law has not been performed, if the result specified in the Criminal Code has not occurred, the crime will be unfinished.
If the composition is material, the moment of completion is established in the fact that the consequences of the act have come to the full. For example, if it is a murder, it will be directly fatal. If the composition is formal, the criminal act ends at the moment when the action itself or inaction prohibited by law was committed.
Sometimes the act itself or the consequences can drag on for a long time. For example, a person can carry stolen parts. In this case, the crime ends at the time of the last action. If the criminal offense belongs to the category of lasting, a person for a long time, for example, evades payment of alimony, it is considered completed only after a confession, detention of a person or cancellation of an obligation.
If the composition is truncated, it must be borne in mind that the moment of completion is transferred to the previous stage of the act. So, determining what relates to the stages of the commission of a deliberate crime, it is necessary to take into account that the terrorist act ends at the time of the attempt on life. And it doesn’t matter if there are negative consequences.
Cooking
In the concept of the stages of committing a deliberate crime, preparation for an illegal act occupies the most important place. From that moment on, criminal liability ensues. Cooking is an activity aimed at preparing the conditions for organizing an unlawful act, searching for and preparing the means and instruments of crime. In the concept and characterization of the stages of the commission of an intentional crime, other ways of creating suitable conditions also appear.
The acquisition of funds implies the search and purchase by any means of an object that will be needed to carry out an unlawful act. The device is a modification, alteration of this item in order to increase its suitability for illegal acts. For example, we can talk about cutting the butt, about fitting keys. Another creation of conditions includes activities that are aimed at making the illegal act easier. For example, a person can search for a suitable location, select partners, form plans, rehearse the act itself or its concealment.
The concept of the stages of the commission of a crime emphasizes that preparation should be in relation to a specific action, and not as a whole. It is impossible to consider as preparation simply the presence of a man’s circumcised weapon if his intention to commit unlawful acts has not been proved.
If, in preparing for a crime, a person commits a different act - for example, carries out theft of poison with the aim of poisoning someone in the future, the first act has already been completed as a separate offense. And at the same time, there is an additional action - preparation for another illegal act. Responsibility comes for both acts. If a person stole the poison just like that, the crime was ended at the moment when he got this product.
Differences between cooking and assassination
Understanding the meaning of the stages of the commission of crimes, it is necessary to differentiate preparation and attempt. The first can never include the execution of the actions of the objective side of the offense. It is outside the composition, which in the disposition is given as a finished deed. If the preparation was carried out in relation to an offense that does not have an increased danger to society, criminal liability does not occur at all.
Attempt
An attempt is an intentional act or omission that aims to commit a crime and is not carried through to circumstances that are not directly dependent on the person.
The objective sign in this case is action or inaction, they are brought into disposition. An important point in the attempt is that the act is not brought to the end, not at the request of the directly violator, but because of external factors. For example, someone may snatch a weapon from him at the right time, or a person may accidentally make a mistake, the victim may resist, and so on.
Actions aimed at the embodiment of the offense must correspond to the objective side of the offense. If it is an attempted murder, a person, in order for his behavior to be qualified as an attempt, should begin to fulfill the objective side - get a gun and direct it at the victim, strike, mix the drink with poison and so on.
If the composition is formal, the attempt will be charged with the embodiment of at least one part of the offense. For example, smuggling is considered complete if the goods were moved across state borders. But if the goods prohibited for export are under customs control - this is an attempt on smuggling.
Subjective sign of attempt is considered direct intent. In cases where intent is not determined, a person admits virtually any consequences, his actions are qualified taking into account the consequences. Regardless of them, only according to the results conceived by the criminal, qualify the acts with specific intent. In the meaning of the stages of the crime, it is understood that at the time of striking with a cold weapon, a person understands that this can lead to the death of the victim. If the offender allowed any consequences, he will be held criminally liable for the final result of the act. But this concept of the stage of the crime is somewhat changed if the person wanted to achieve the death of the victim. In this case, despite the end result, the person will be convicted of attempted murder. And in this case, the time of the onset of death is not taken into account - the injured party can die from the consequences of the wounds received both after a day and a month later. And it doesn’t matter that the victim recovered due to medical intervention.
Finished and Unfinished Crime
For a more complete understanding of the types and stages of the commission of crimes, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the concepts of a finished and unfinished attempt. The first is the implementation of only part of the actions to achieve illegal results. For example, it can be a gun charge and aiming. While the attempt is considered to be finished, in which all the actions necessary for the final goal were completed. So, this is directly pressing the trigger of a firearm and producing an inaccurate shot. And if a person refuses to repeat the attempt, this fact will not be reflected in the qualifications of his actions.
In cases where the person’s actions could not cause harm, but he was mistaken, believing that he would achieve unlawful results, his goal, we are talking about an unsuccessful attempt. This is considered an actual error. If an attempt was made on an unusable object, the person interacts with the object, believing that this will lead to a criminal result, but this is simply impossible. So, the offender can shoot a corpse or steal dummies of values. If an attempt was made with an unsuitable means, this means that the person used a tool or a method that could not lead to the expected criminal results. So, he could add a harmless composition, being sure that this substance is poisonous. The criminal liability in all these cases is the same as for the usual attempt.
Criminal liability
According to Article 10 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, preparation and attempt is considered equal to the completed unlawful act. They entail liability under identical articles. Since the formulations are formulated only in the form of completed crimes, during the qualification they refer to the links to Articles 13 and 14 of the General Part.
Determining the punishment for the attacker, the judge takes into account the type, stage of the crime, takes into account how much the person desired illegal results. Necessarily takes into account the reason why the act was not completed.
If, in preparation for an unlawful act, a person used another crime as a means, he is charged with criminal liability immediately for 2 members. And no matter what stage the offenses were.
Voluntary refusal
If a person stops actions in the direction of committing a crime before the full realization of the objective side, this is called “voluntary refusal”. At the same time, it is important that the person has the opportunity to realize an illegal act. Voluntary refusal does not entail criminal liability. But if the actions of the violator already included a sign of crime, criminal liability ensues. For example, if a person was going to kill someone, bought a gun, loaded it, but then abandoned the idea, he was charged with punishment directly for acquiring a weapon under Article 295 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
In the concepts and types of stages of the commission of intentional crimes, voluntary refusal is considered to be the free expression of the will of a person who aims to stop the implementation of illegal acts in life. Motives are not taken into account - in their role, as a rule, there is a fear of punishment, a feeling of pity, and requests from relatives. The criminal law encourages refusal to commit an offense regardless of what specifically caused a change in the behavior of the attacker.
Differences between failure and unsuccessful attempt
It is free will that acts as the main difference between the voluntary renunciation of an unsuccessful attempt. In the latter case, the crime is not brought to an end for reasons that are not directly dependent on the offender. And voluntary refusal is impossible if the person did not decide not to commit a crime on his own. For example, the case when the rapist stopped because the victim began to scream loudly would not be considered a voluntary refusal to commit an act. Not considered a voluntary refusal and the case when the violator could not cope with breaking into a complex castle or saw a number of law enforcement officers.
It is necessary to differentiate the voluntary refusal and the transfer of crime to later, in order to choose the most optimal moment. Failure implies the finality of this decision. It may well take place at the time of preparation, an unfinished attempt. But if the attempt is over, a person can refuse only a second assault. And in this case, he will answer for the attempt.
It is noteworthy that voluntary rejection manifests itself in both action and inaction. For example, a criminal can act very actively in the course of it - to destroy an explosive device, guns, and so on.
In cases where a person prevents the onset of the negative consequences of an attempted assassination - for example, calls for medical workers to help the victim, or returns the stolen after the completed offense - this is a mitigating circumstance. According to the classification of the stages of the intentional crime in Belarus, the Russian Federation, this is considered post-criminal behavior.
If the composition is truncated, the moment the offense ends is postponed to the time of the attempt, preparation, it is likely that a voluntary refusal can occur in the early stages of an intentional crime in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Belarus and the Russian Federation. For example, a person can refuse a robbery at the time of preparation. But robbery is a complete crime at the moment when the offender put forward a demand to give him property, accompanied by violence or his threat. Having formed a group of accomplices, it is impossible to refuse such actions - preparation of this kind contains the composition of the completed crime of Article 286 of the Criminal Code.
Active remorse
The last type of stage of committing an intentional crime in the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Kazakhstan is post-criminal behavior. Active repentance is an act precisely at this stage. This is a confession followed by actions to help prevent the negative consequences of the violation. The guilty person can return the stolen, help the investigation. Active repentance occurs only after the offense has been committed and brought to an end, its consequences have come.
Very rarely, it leads to complete justification, and most often acts as a mitigating circumstance. For example, the person who gave the bribe will be exempted from criminal prosecution if he independently declares the crime. The same rule applies in cases involving espionage, illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and weapons. This assumption was introduced into law to encourage people to extradite criminals.
The view of lawyers
In total, the Criminal Code distinguishes 3 stages of the commission of a crime - this is preparation, attempt, and the finished crime. They are listed in article 29 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Otherwise, the first two stages are called preliminary criminal activity. It must be borne in mind that not all illegal acts go through all these stages. Sometimes the guilty person commits his deed, not preparing for it, without attempt. When an illegal act went through all three stages, it is the last stage that is of importance when considering.
It should be borne in mind that quite acute in modern criminal law is the problem of delimiting the stages of the commission of intentional crimes. Many subtleties in the qualification of illegal acts depend on its resolution. Punishment is determined by the degree of implementation of the illegal act.
Every year, the number of attempts to kill and rape is growing, there are many latent crimes.The problem was formed largely due to the fact that instead of strictly defined research methods in practice, many representatives of law enforcement agencies rely on their own intuition, which brings them down. Numerous authors publishing articles on legal subjects also suffer from this.
It is noteworthy that the criminal law does not contain a definition of an unfinished crime. This is due to differences in Russian and Soviet law schools.
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