ON THE ISSUE OF DETERMINING THE OBJECT OF THE CRIME IN THE CRIMINAL LAW OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

ABSTRACT

The article explores the concept of the object of the crime in Russian criminal law, tracing its development from the pre-revolutionary era to modern times. It discusses the relationship between the subject and object of the crime. The emphasis is placed on the importance of accurately defining and classifying the object of the crime in order to ensure fair punishment and uniform application of criminal legislation. It also touches on the practical implications of this concept for law enforcement officers and legal scholars, calling for ongoing analysis and clarification of criminal law categories.

Keywords: the object of crime, the subject of crime, criminal law, the Criminal Code Russian Federation.

The concept of the object of the crime has long been known in Russian criminal law. Discussions about the problem of the notion of the object of the crime started in legal science at the end of the 18th century when the concept of “constituent element of the crime” ceased to have an initial, procedural meaning and gained the status of an important category of criminal law. [5, p. 207]

In the pre-revolutionary era, in Russian criminal law, the terms “the subject of the crime” and “the object of the crime” were often used as synonyms, but in modern criminal law they have unique definitions.

The established point of view about the subject of the crime in Russian criminal law is that the subject of the crime is the material expression of the object of the crime, i.e. things of the material world, by means of which a perpetrator causes damage to public relations, which are the object of protection of the criminal law, or there is a real threat of causing such harm. [4, p. 412]

In particular, it should be emphasized that the subject of the crime in some cases is not an expression of the object of the crime. This happens when the object of the crime coincides with the subject. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains a number of articles describing situations in which the subject of the crime and the subject of public relations coincide as in the illegal receipt of a loan (Art. 176), smuggling (Art. 188), violation of the rules for handing over precious metals and precious stones to the state (Art. 192), illegal extraction of aquatic animals and plants (Art. 256), acquisition and sale of official documents and state awards (Art. 324) and others.

However, in some cases, the subject of the crime is not an element of the object of the crime, since it is not the subject of a legally protected public relationship. Therefore, the subject of the crime is an independent optional feature of the corpus delicti. Therefore, in comparison with the object of the crime, which often undergoes any changes as a result of the guilty person’s criminal act, the subject of the crime may not suffer from the crime, but on the contrary, it can be created.

Concerning the law enforcement practice, the influence of the object of the crime on its immediate qualification is revealed in most cases. As a result, the question of the qualification of a person’s action or omission is formed in relation to the norms of law. Being compared with the norm of law, a certain act is traditionally classified as legal or illegal.

The importance of the theoretical concept of the general object of crime for determining the qualification of crimes lies in the ability to determine whether the legal relationship under study is under the protection of criminal law and whether the committed action is a criminal violation. Further, the appeal to the common object of the crime is primarily due to the need and the opportunity to identify which relation from a homogeneous group was criminally influenced. The concept of a generic object and its use in the qualification of criminal acts make it possible to identify a certain crime with crimes for which responsibility is fixed by the legal norms of one of the sections of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This provides an opportunity to take the next step towards an accurate and detailed qualification. [6, p. 324] In this case, any error is of fundamental importance. An incorrect choice of a legal norm at the level of a generic object changes the essence of the criminal act being incriminated, the nature of its public danger and the harm that has been caused to public relations. The meaning of the specific object of the criminal act is revealed in the fact that, being enclosed within the generic and compared with the latter as part of the whole, it forms a prerequisite for the lawyer’s train of thought from the general to the particular when choosing a certain criminal law norm. In the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the comparison of specific and generic objects lies in the fact that each section contains a number of chapters, the names of which reflect the essence of specific objects in the shortest possible form. [3, p. 340]

The object of the crime is a key element of the criminal law norm, which defines those social relations that are protected by criminal law from criminal encroachments. An analysis of modern criminal law doctrine and practice shows that the issues of definition and classification of the object of the crime remain one of the most controversial and relevant in the criminal law of the Russian Federation.

It should be highlighted that the importance of this issue is based on the necessity to accurately establish the boundaries of relations protected by criminal law, which in turn affects the correct qualification of acts and the imposition of fair punishment. As stated in Resolution No. 58 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 12/22/2015, a correct understanding of the object of the crime contributes to the uniform and correct application of criminal legislation. Difficulties in determining the object of the crime may arise due to the versatility and complexity of public relations, as well as due to changes taking place in society and legislation. This requires law enforcement officers and scientists to constantly analyze and clarify the categories of criminal law, including the object of the crime.

Список литературы:

1. Commentary on the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation / ed. by V. M. Lebedev. M. – 2013.– 361 p.
2. Commentary on the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation / edited by A. I. Chuchaeva. M. – 2010. –270 p.
3. The course of Russian criminal law. General part / edited by V. N. Kudryavtsev, A.V. Naumova. M. – 2011. – 340 p.
4. Zhuk M. S. The object of crime as a criterion for building a system of institutions of a special part of criminal law // Society and law. – 2010. – №5. – 412 S.
5. Novoselov G.P. The doctrine of the object of the crime. Methodological aspects. - 2001. – 207 p.
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