The use of violence against a representative of the authorities in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

There is an article in the Criminal Code “Use of violence against a representative of authority”. Normally, the punishment for an encroachment on managerial activity is established. An additional object of the crime is the health of a person. Let us further consider this act in detail.

Injured

Representatives of the authorities and their relatives act as them. Under the first should be understood officials of the regulatory or law enforcement agency. Victims also include subjects endowed with administrative powers in relation to citizens who are not dependent on them for service. According to Art. 318 of the Criminal Code punishes the use of violence against a representative of the government, performing his functions either permanently or temporarily, or on special instructions. In the latter case, illegal actions are directed at public workers (combatants, transport controllers, inspectors, etc.). The norm under consideration protects service activities of any type, including those related to ensuring security and the rule of law. When qualifying a crime, the main task is to establish the legality of the victim’s authority.

Objective part

The use of violence against a representative of authority may be mental or physical. Moreover, the latter may or may not be life threatening. The mental impact is the threat of violence against a government official. It can be addressed both directly to the official and to his relatives. The threat may be uncertain or certain. The intensity of its expression is fully covered by the 318th article in part one. An investigation into the use of violence against a representative of the authorities is carried out without aggregate qualifications under Art. 119. The victim must have real reason to believe that the offender can go from mental pressure to real action.

Physical impact

Signs of the use of violence against a representative of the authorities are considered in the second part of Art. 318. It refers to actions that do not constitute a danger to the life of the victim. They may include restricting a citizen’s freedom (binding, locking), beating, causing pain, bodily harm, in which the duration of a health disorder does not exceed 6 days. The use of violence against a representative of a life-threatening authority should be within the framework of Art. 116. However, this norm is fully covered by Art. 318.

Life-threatening physical activities

The use of violence against a representative of the government or his relatives, creating a risk to the health of victims, involves causing harm of varying severity. The danger to life will be recognized in the event that direct physical actions did not harm the condition of the victim. In this case, it is necessary to establish the existence of a threat to life at the time of the use of physical violence.

Nuance

Art. 318 “Use of violence against a representative of authority” and 111, 115, 112 constitute competition. In accordance with the rule developed by judicial practice, additional qualifications in the aggregate of crimes are necessary only for special types of attacks. In particular, we are talking about parts 3 and 4 of Art. 111. They establish punishment for causing grievous harm to a group of persons, a group of persons by prior conspiracy or an organized group, in respect of two or more persons, repeatedly or by a person who has previously committed a murder.

Subjective part

The crime in question is committed with direct intent. The motive acts as an obligatory element of the subjective part. It should be associated with the implementation by a representative of authority of duties. The motive may be different. For example, a crime is committed to terminate or change an official’s performance of his duties, to force him to take any action, to impede future activities or revenge for the previous one. An attacker can be driven by anger towards a citizen because of his belonging to a particular category of employees.

Important point

The use of violence, even if it occurred during the performance by the victim of his duties, but not related to his activities, forms an encroachment on the person and is not qualified under Art. 318. This can be, for example, a physical impact from jealousy, on domestic soil, due to personal hostility, and so on. In such cases, there is no encroachment on the management order. The subject of the crime is a sane 16-year-old citizen.

The use of violence against a representative of authority: term

The perpetrator of the crime in question is threatened by:

1. Forced work. Their duration can be up to 5 years.
2. Arrest up to six months.
3. Up to 5 years in prison.

As part of the first 318th article, a fine of up to 200 tons is also provided. or collection in the amount of income / salary for a period of up to one and a half years. For the use of violence that carries a risk to life / health, the Criminal Code provides for up to 10 years in prison.

Competing Compounds

Art. 318 and 296 are related as special rules. The difference between these crimes is in the category of the victim and the signs of the object. According to Art. 296 encroachment is committed on public relations existing in the field of justice. The object of the act under Art. 318 is a management field. The victims of the crime in question are government officials. Art. 296 refers to those involved in justice as victims. Some citizens may be victims simultaneously under these two articles. At the same time, unlawful actions aimed at prosecutors and related to the implementation of preliminary activities, consideration of materials / cases in court, execution of a decision / sentence, are qualified according to Art. 296. Violence against persons engaged in other management activities falls under Art. 318.

Art. 317

Under this article, responsibility for the encroachment on the lives of law enforcement officials comes. The distinction between Art. 317 and 318 must be carried out:

1. For an additional object. According to Art. 317 they are the life of the victim, according to article 318 - the health of the individual.
2. The list of victims. According to Art. 317 victims are employees of law enforcement agencies or military servants, according to Art. 318 - representative of the authorities. According to the latest norm, the list of victims is much wider.
3. The nature of the functions performed. According to Art. 317 guarded work aimed at protecting order and ensuring security, according to Art. 318 - any legal activities within the service.
4. Signs of the objective part. In Art. 317 they include murder or attempt on him. According to Art. 318 criteria are the use of physical impact or the threat of its use.
   

Conclusion

The use of violence against officials with public authority in connection with the exercise of their direct functions acts as the main or qualifying attribute of a number of other structures. For example, he is present in Art. 212, setting punishment for riots with armed resistance. This symptom is also in art. 213. It provides for liability for hooliganism, accompanied by resistance to government officials. These norms are correlated with the article under consideration as part and whole. In their competition, preference is given to Art. 318. Violence against government representatives poses a significant danger to society. First of all, it encroaches on the normal course of the implementation by officials of their functions. This, in turn, discredits public authority as a whole.