In the modern world, dozens of crimes occur daily that jeopardize various social relations. Unfortunately, crime is a category that is constantly evolving and changing, law enforcement agencies are actively monitoring and fighting this. One indicator of crime is the number of participants who implement the crime. The most complex and confusing acts are performed by organized groups, the attributes of which we will analyze and analyze.
The concept of organized crime
This is one of the most dangerous forms of crime in which sustainable regular activity appears and develops. The subjects of its implementation are organized groups, communities or gangs. That is, the most important sign of the investigated form of crime is the presence of a union of people for the implementation of a criminal assault. There is such a thing as complicity and distribution of roles, which makes the organization’s work more dangerous for society and the state.
An important feature of such a phenomenon is the commission of crimes in a specific period of time and, as a rule, in a certain territory with its own "style". The latter refers to the manner of committing unlawful acts and the features that distinguish one group from others.
Despite the fact that a lot of research has been devoted to organized crime, scientists are actively studying this topic and offer their own points of view on understanding the essence, in practice, judges face many problems. To overcome them, the legislator makes decrees and other acts, but the more they become, the more confused and difficult the situation is.
Note that in the theory of criminal law there are such types of crime in complicity as an organized group, organization or community, gang, armed group created bypassing the law and other associations of people who stand out in theory, but are not fixed by law. An example is a mafia society. In this article we will pay special attention to the concept and characteristics of an organized group.
Definition and brief description of an organized group
An organized group is the main and easiest way to bring people together to commit a crime, one or several. The legislator considers it from three aspects:
- The form of complicity referred to in the General Part of the Criminal Code. It gives a definition of complicity, which implies a combination of forces, as well as the second part of the article indicates an organized group.
- Part of the qualified corpus of various crimes. Often, articles of the Criminal Code imply not only a general composition, but also a qualified one. One of the most common signs of qualified is the commission of a crime by an organized group.
- A generic name, which includes many different types of associations. A peculiarity is revealed that the creation and participation in such a grouping in itself already constitutes a corpus delicti. For example, banditry, implying the creation or participation in a gang, or a criminal community.
Mandatory features
Mandatory features of an organized group are understood as the totality of characteristic features that occurs in any group. If at least one of the signs is missing, then the existence of organized crime cannot be said. The law in the definition speaks of two signs - this is stability and the purpose of unification. Note that these signs of an organized group in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are clearly defined, they are all in article 35.
We will consider others, which more widely reveal the essence of a concept and its features as a social phenomenon. The legislator understood his mistake in determining the characteristics of an organized group, therefore, in addition to the criminal law, there are a number of Plenum Resolutions in which the issue is disclosed in more detail. We will analyze each feature more clearly and fully.
Union
Of course, the main feature of an organized group will be the unification. The legislator determined that two or more people can already make up a group, even if it is small, there will not be a distribution of roles in it, but it is still a group, so the responsibility of the participants will be more stringent than if the crime were committed by one person .
Unification means a combination of forces, abilities, capabilities, materials and all that each participant can do to achieve the goal.
Sustainability
An equally important sign of an organized group. Its essence is reduced to the constancy and stability of the composition, when there is an informal or formal distribution of roles. Often there is discipline in a group, a certain charter, a “common fund”, which includes the total money of all participants, used for the prosperity and activity of the entire group. The relationship and degree of subordination of the participants, the presence of a hierarchy. All these signs of stability of an organized group at the same time individually represent additional signs, which we will consider further.
Purpose of association
A goal is understood as what this group was created for. The law provides for more serious liability for crimes and the presence of a group with only one purpose and objectives. Simpler forms of organized groups may, as a goal, have the commission of a single crime, structured and complex associations are created, as a rule, to commit a number of crimes. For example, raids on banks, collectors, the sale of drugs, weapons or people. All these crimes are extremely rarely committed in a single form, they are realized in several episodes. These signs of an organized group in criminal law are in the first place and are directly enshrined in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, therefore they are fundamental, secondary ones follow from them.
Qualified signs
As we noted earlier, the characteristics of an organized group are divided into two large categories, the first one is obligatory and the second one is additional. They expand understanding of the considered negative social phenomenon. The absence of one of these signs cannot indicate the absence of organized crime, in contrast to the mandatory signs of an organized group. Additional features are most clearly considered by the Plenums of the Supreme Court, when conclusions and analysis are carried out on the basis of existing practice and real indicators of crime in society. In another way, they are called qualifying attributes of an organized group.
The presence of an organizer or leader
The psychological atmosphere within the association is of great importance, because in the process of teamwork a leader appears, if he was not there before. There is a natural distribution of roles, during which someone executes a crime, he is called that, a performer, someone assists in work with advice, recommendations, supplies information and helps to have access to different bases, premises, he is called an accomplice. This feature most clearly illustrates the psychological aspect of the activity.
Discipline and Charter
The most interesting features of an organized group are the presence of discipline, as well as the charter and income distribution.
The first sign follows from the previous one, because it is the leader who sets discipline and restores order within the association. As with any other rallying, an organized criminal group must be distinguished by cohesion and unity in action. Otherwise, the association is doomed to failure. This is not the place for personal relationships, even if they exist, for the duration of the group are replaced by business. Personal sympathies do not matter, people's actions are based only on the joint commission of a crime.
The second sign includes the existence of a charter. Of course, it is probably not in written or printed form, but verbally the rookie will probably be explained the basic rules and concepts by which this group operates. This is especially true for gangs and criminal organizations. The distribution of income occurs if property or money were received as a result of the crime. As a rule, part of the income remains inside the association, and the rest is divided between the participants. Proportions, division rules and sizes are determined individually in each case. These provisions characterize the signs of an organized group and the criminal community, as the most complex formation of criminals. After all, if there are 2 people in the group, such signs will probably be absent.
Availability of preparation
As the most complex form of crime organized, it is distinguished by the presence of a training stage. We do not say that this stage is skipped by the sole criminal, but in the group it occurs in 9 cases out of 10, so consider how a separate sign is worth it.
The preparation stage includes the study by individual members of the group of the object of the attack, the selection of information, if necessary, access to the safe, to the room or to the database in which the necessary data is stored. As a rule, each participant individually collects information and exchanges take place at general meetings. Based on the results of the work done, a plan is formed and carefully detailed. Possible escape routes are provided, as well as a place to store valuables and money. If theft of property occurs, then you need to find a place of sale. An organized group uses complex and confusing techniques that are also being developed at the preparation stage. It is interesting that if one of the participants contact the police and transmit information about the impending crime at the preparation stage, he will be released from punishment and will not be held accountable. All these are signs of an organized group committing a crime, because it is unlikely that one person can think through all the details.
The presence of structural units
Often in complex forms of a criminal group there are certain links whose presence indicates the scale of activity and the degree of danger to society.
In practice, structural units relate to criminal organizations - these are the largest and most serious forms of organization. Each of the units commits different crimes or small parts of one crime. For example, one link is involved in falsification of documents, the other in giving bribes, and the third in the selection of the necessary persons - bribes. He notes the presence of such signs of an organized group Plenum, which is part of the Supreme Court of Russia in its Resolution. Its essence boils down to clarification of some issues relating to the criminal community and participation in it. He also gives a definition of the structural unit. It is understood as a separate group of people who acts, as a rule, on a separate territory, carrying out their illegal activities in order to solve the tasks of a larger association - the criminal community.
Recall that these provisions are qualifying features of an organized group, and therefore their presence is not necessary to recognize the existence of a group. For her recognition, it is important to prove the necessary features. If a judge uses the concept of an organized group or other concepts of forms of organized crime in a sentence, then he needs to provide confirmation of his arguments and describe them in a specific case.
Case studies
A surge in the emergence and growth of criminal associations occurred in the 90s of the last century, but even to this day there are organized criminal groups that are extremely dangerous and elusive. A striking example is the Kutaisi group, which consisted of Georgians and was created on the basis of ethnicity. The number totaled about 500 participants, as well as 50 "thieves in law" who led the structural units. The purpose of the activity of such a group was not only the receipt of funds illegally, but also interference in the political life of society.
Even at the time of the split of the USSR, members of the group were active in the territory of all the states included in its composition. A businessman from Georgia, Shalikiani, claimed that, under pressure from members of the group, he transferred a large sum of money to the account of the former President of Georgia - M. Saakashvili. To this day, law enforcement officials know the specific names of "thieves in law" operating in Moscow, immigrants of the group in question. A mandatory feature of an organized group is the sustainability shown by the Kutaisi association, famous for its influence and scale. At the same time, the operating time of the group may affect more than one dozen years and more than one generation.
According to the official portal of legal statistics, considering organized crime through a point system, Russia has 4 out of 10 points, followed by Brazil, South Africa, as well as China and India, which has all 5 points.
The Importance of Organized Crime
As we determined at the very beginning, organized crime is a complex criminal legal phenomenon that is increasingly being encountered in practice. The degree of danger of crimes committed by organized groups is much higher, as well as the complexity of the acts committed. Great forces and resources are involved, often the group is supplied with firearms and many other tools that pose a danger to the life and health of others. In addition, if law enforcement authorities detained one participant, the rest will continue to operate, which means the group lives.
Therefore, it seems extremely important to study the phenomenon, determine ways to overcome the problems surrounding it, as well as make some amendments to the laws in order to avoid conflicts and gaps.