People have resolved many issues with violence over almost their entire history. But the problem is that even today, the trend towards increased violence is not falling. Moreover, it is growing inexorably. Thus, the errors of history teach mankind nothing. However, violence at the turn of the XX-XXI century acquired its own characteristic features. If a couple of centuries ago, wars were in the order of things, today, the struggle has adopted partisan methods, taking the form of terrorism. This term can be heard repeatedly in modern media.
Many statesmen of different powers even create special coalitions to combat this phenomenon. But few people know what constitutes terrorism in general. At the same time, people who are direct executors are criminals. If we consider this issue from the perspective of the legal field of the Russian Federation, then it is condemned to the fullest extent of the existing law. This approach meets the characteristics according to which terrorism is classified worldwide. The main legal factor in protecting against this phenomenon can rightfully be called criminal law. There is a norm in the structure of the key law of this industry that condemns such a socially dangerous act as a terrorist act. Therefore, in this article, the author will try to explain the composition of this crime, as well as highlight its qualifying and especially qualifying features.
Features of the concept of terrorism
Before a direct review of Art. 205 of the Criminal Code, which condemns terrorist acts, it is necessary to understand the very essence of terrorism. It should be noted that scientists from all over the world have been struggling with the problem of explaining this phenomenon for many years. Of course in Art. 205 of the Criminal Code provides an approximate description of terrorist activities, but it is suitable exclusively for the legal sphere. If we consider this concept broadly, then terrorism is a specific type of policy that is completely based on the implementation of systematic terror (violence, intimidation, etc.). Even taking into account the existence of a large number of legal explanations of the term and the presented classical concept, the true definition of the phenomenon is still not derived.
Definition in different countries
The definition of terrorism may vary from state to state. For example, in the Russian Federation terrorism is considered not only direct, but also ideological violence, as well as the impact on the consciousness of society, public authorities or international criminal organizations, which is associated with the use of any form of violent action.
A completely different understanding of terrorism in the United States. According to the interpretation of this state, this phenomenon is nothing more than politically motivated, premeditated violence carried out directly against the peaceful population or state facilities by special criminal groups with the aim of influencing society. The concepts presented provide an opportunity to highlight the features of terrorism. It should be noted that this phenomenon acquired an international character in the 1960s.
Features of terrorism
Based on the concepts derived above, several key features of terrorism can be distinguished, namely:
- it is always an activity of an unlawful nature;
- The direct implementers of terrorism are criminals of international importance;
- the phenomenon carries a special danger to normal public relations authorized by various states;
- as a rule, terrorist activity is primarily aimed at disorganizing society;
- the phenomenon in most cases is politically motivated;
- implemented through the commission of terrorist acts ;
- regulation is carried out mainly from a single center or one, a key special one.
Act of terrorism: concept
The concept of a terrorist attack, like all terrorism, is characterized by differences depending on state ideology and other factors. But the main feature is that the attack is more a legal characteristic than a theoretical one. If we take into account the attitude to such socially dangerous acts directly in Russia, then its detailed description can be found on the pages of the Criminal Code. Thus, according to Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a comment to which will be provided later, a terrorist attack is the deliberate commission of arson, explosions or any other actions that cause significant material damage, lead to the death of a large number of people, intimidate the population in order to influence public authorities or individual international organizations . More detailed information is provided by comments on the article of the Criminal Code governing the attack.
The difference between a terrorist attack and terrorism in general
It is necessary to clearly differentiate terrorism as a whole and a separate terrorist attack. Many are mistaken in considering these concepts to be absolutely identical, which is fundamentally wrong. As mentioned earlier, terrorism is a whole ideology, that is, a set of principles according to which violence is carried out to achieve certain goals. In other words, this concept characterizes a whole complex of actions. The terrorist act, in turn, is a single occurrence, or rather, a concrete manifestation of the ideology of violence.
Legal Characterization of Article 205
In the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a terrorist act as a socially dangerous act is enshrined in Art. 205 of the Criminal Code. It provides a simple, qualified and highly qualified corpus delicti. According to the degree of public danger, this norm enshrines a crime of special gravity. Thus, the sanctions for its commission will be the most severe than for other crimes of similar composition. It should also be noted that the composition of this crime has characteristic features in almost all its constituent elements.
The objective side of the crime
Terrorism (article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation interprets this concept quite clearly), or rather, the objective side of this crime implies socially dangerous acts. They manifest in the form of extreme violent measures. It should be noted that actions do not have to be directly harmful. The objective side of the crime will exist even in the event of a threat of extreme violence. When it comes to other grave consequences that are indicated in paragraph 1 of Article 205, then this wording should be understood as any activity that could entail significant harm. This category includes infection of a particular area with radioactive, poisonous, other harmful substances, the destruction of energy supply systems in settlements, the spread of dangerous biological viruses, the organization of accidents, etc. In this case, Art. 205.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation makes it possible to cover a large number of socially dangerous actions by supporters of the ideology of terrorism.
Definition of damage
The comments on the article of the Criminal Code give different concepts of damage. It should be remembered that property damage in the context of Art. 205 of the Criminal Code is not determined from the standpoint of its value. In this case, we are talking about the degree of destruction or damage to certain things. The threat of such destruction is also taken into account. A similar sign of damage assessment does not show property losses, but the level of intimidation due to its application. After all, the main purpose of the attack is to cause panic and fear among the population and public authorities.
It must also be remembered that the attack does not only damage property, but also moral damage.
Object of crime
A terrorist act is a socially dangerous act, the immediate object of which is legal relations in the field of public safety. The attack actually violates social peace and changes the normal living conditions of a large number of citizens. Additional objects most often are life, health, property relations, etc.
Qualified offense
In Art. 205 h. 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation indicate moments of qualified corpus delicti. According to the Criminal Code, the following situations are considered aggravating signs of an act:
- the commission of a crime by a group of persons who previously entered into a conspiracy;
- committing a crime using firearms;
It should be noted the features of the second aggravating sign. Qualification is created not only by the direct use of firearms in the process of carrying out a terrorist act (shooting at people), but also by its demonstration in order to provide the necessary conditions for the implementation of the prepared plan. The mere fact of having firearms in order to avoid harassment by law enforcement agencies will not create a qualifying feature if the weapon is not used as described above.
Highly qualified staff
Due to various interpretations of criminal plans and the development of professional crime as a whole, the legislator, along with qualifying structures, has also fixed especially qualifying, that is, the most dangerous types for a person and public safety that this crime can take. In Art. 205, part 3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation lists the fixed types of specially qualified personnel. According to this article, all the actions provided for by the objective side of the crime, indicated in parts 1 and 2, become particularly aggravating if they are an encroachment on nuclear facilities or are carried out using nuclear materials, as well as toxic, biological or chemical substances. Also a particularly qualifying feature is the death of people. In this case, the number of dead individuals does not matter.
Terrorist
Due to the particular danger of the crime under Art. 205 of the Criminal Code, the composition of the act contains an underestimated age of criminal responsibility. Thus, the subject of the attack is an individual who has reached the age of 14. When it comes to the group commission of a terrorist act, here we can highlight the moments when a person is quite possible to exempt from criminal liability. For example, an individual who has timely warned state bodies about an impending act of terrorism or otherwise interfered with its implementation is not punishable.
So, the article presented all the basic elements of such a crime as a terrorist act. The study of this issue plays a rather important role, because relations in this criminal sphere of human life continue to develop more and more, regrettably. Therefore, the creation of appropriate legal protection will allow at least a little to prevent the evolution of such crime.