In Russian criminal law, each crime is one whole, which consists of various interconnected elements.
One of these parts, which is decisive in determining the sentence, is the types of crime. Classification of compositions in criminal law has its own characteristics.
What is a crime?
This concept defines the act in terms of the presence of certain circumstances. Elements included in the composition must take place, otherwise the crime will not be such:
1. The object of the crime is that against which the act is committed.
2. A subject is one who commits a crime.
3. The objective side - signs indicating the external manifestation of the act, available for observation.
4. The subjective side - the internal attitude of the offender to the actions taken.
Thus, these signs are common to all crimes, regardless of the type of act.
By number of items
If we consider crimes by the number of signs, we can distinguish simple and complex types of crime (textbook "Criminal Law of Russia" in 2015, edited by V. I. Chuchaev).
Here it is immediately worth noting that simple ones contain only that description that does not allow ambiguity. Thus, a simple composition has no structure.
Complex compositions are a combination of features that also has subspecies:
- with alternative symptoms;
- with biased signs.
If there is a crime with alternative characteristics, then, according to the textbook on criminal law, the described signs of an act of the type "either / or" are considered. That is, the totality of actions will be a criminal act, if at least one of the elements is present.
Combined features are described in terms of “and / and”. Here, in order to get the full corpus delicti, several signs must be observed.
By example, these approaches can be noted in the following articles:
- alternative - article 106, part 1 of article 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- combined - Articles 162 (set of objects), 131 (combination of socially dangerous actions), part 4 of Article 111 (combining dangerous consequences) and the like.
In content
In addition to the above classification, there is also a division according to the content of the crime.
There are tangible and intangible types of corpus delicti in criminal law.
In crimes that have a material attribute, there are consequences that are dangerous to society (Articles 105, 158).
As for intangible features, there are no such consequences, but criminal acts are also divided into types.
Composition in the absence of consequences
Among acts of intangible content distinguish between formal and truncated types of corpus delicti under Russian criminal law. In the first case, the act in the code is fully described, that is, from the object to the nature of the consequences (Articles 120, 125 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
A truncated format defines a truncated look (Articles 162, 163, etc.). Thus, there is a classification by the nature and presence of socially dangerous consequences. Also, the structure examined shows the difference between the way of describing an act under the Criminal Code.
By danger
Types of crime in the theory of criminal law have the following structure in terms of their danger to society:
1. The main composition.
2. Additional composition.
With regard to the basic structures, we can say that according to the signs that this structure contains, the act is recognized as a crime.
The additional composition is based on such signs that allow to characterize the degree of danger of the act and to indicate the measure of punishment. There is also a division by type: qualified and privileged compositions.
Additional composition
The privileged composition, as the name implies, contains such signs that allow us to talk about reduced punishability. This is noted in Articles 106-108, 113 and 114 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
In accordance with the signs of a qualified composition, they speak of the increased punishability of the act. This classification seems to be the main one when sentencing , since these types of corpus delicti in criminal law are the only characteristics of the act, where all circumstances are taken into account.
If a privileged corpus means that a criminal can be assigned a shorter term than that provided for the act, then with a qualified corpus, the opposite is true.
Aggravating circumstances
Any crime can and should be considered from the point of view of the theoretical provisions of criminal law, that is, correctly qualified.
Acts can be either simple or aggravated.
Accordingly, not only the danger of the crime, but also the punishment depends on the presence or absence of these events and elements. Such circumstances are called qualifying.
Almost every article of the Criminal Code describes such circumstances that determine the types of corpus delicti in criminal law in general.
For example, article 158 is theft. If this was a hidden theft of property (in part 1 of this article), then a simple corpus delicti is determined.
In the case when the theft was committed by a group of persons, or the consequence of the crime was significant damage to the victim, they speak of the presence of aggravating circumstances and, as a result, of a qualified staff. Such signs are indicated in part 2 of article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
In the 3rd part of this article, there are special circumstances that are socially dangerous, and in this connection are allocated in a separate category - theft with illegal entry into housing, secret theft from an oil pipeline or a crime committed on a large scale.
In the third part, the act will have a particularly qualified composition, since there are relevant signs.
Thus, in the second and third parts, the theft can have not only the named compounds, but also alternative ones ("or / or").
Extenuating circumstances
The privileged corpus delicti in criminal law also has a place to be. This means that the main act (for example, murder) was committed in the presence of special circumstances, when it was impossible to do otherwise, or in the presence of other related events.
For example, article 108 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation describes the unlawful deprivation of human life. But unlike article 105, this is a murder that was committed as a result of the defense necessary to preserve one's own life or property. At a more detailed consideration, it can be noted that the article describes 2 types: excess of defense and excess of measures when detaining a person.
Thus, if a murder was committed at the moment when the person was supposed to defend himself or defend his family, the crime is qualified not according to article 105 with the presence of aggravating circumstances, but according to article 108, which already provided for a privileged composition with the appropriate punishment.
Application
In criminal law and judicial practice, an aggravating or mitigating circumstance is never applied separately, if it is already provided for by the relevant article.
That is why it is necessary to take into account the concept, types and elements of the offense in order to apply the correct classification and impose punishment.
It is impossible, for example, to attribute the killing of two people to part 2 of article 105, and at the same time, when sentencing, take into account the deprivation of life of several people as a separate aggravating circumstance.