Art. 205 of the Criminal Code. The terrorist act: comments

People have solved violence through many questions throughout most of their history. But the problem is that even today the tendency to increase in violence does not fall. Moreover, it is inexorably growing. Thus, the mistakes of history are not taught by mankind. However, violence at the turn of the XX-XXI century has acquired its own characteristics. If a couple of centuries ago, the wars were in the order of things, then today, the struggle took over partisan ways, adopting the face of terrorism. This term can be repeatedly heard in modern media. Many statesmen of different powers even create special coalitions to combat this phenomenon. But very few people know what terrorism is all about. At the same time, people who are direct executors are criminals. If we consider this issue from the standpoint of the legal field of the Russian Federation, then it is condemned in accordance with the strictness of the existing law. This approach corresponds to the peculiarities according to which terrorism is classified all over the world. The main legal factor of protection from this phenomenon can rightly be called criminal law. In the structure of the key law of this industry there is a norm that condemns such socially dangerous act as an act of terrorism. Therefore, in this article, the author will try to explain the composition of this crime, as well as highlight its qualifying and particularly qualifying features.

Features of the concept of terrorism

Before the direct examination of Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, 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 only for the legal sphere. If we consider this concept broadly, then terrorism is a specific kind of policy that is completely based on the implementation of systematic terror (violence, intimidation, etc.). Even with 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 deduced.

Definition in different countries

The definition of terrorism can 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 population of a peaceful nature or state objects by special criminal groups with the aim of influencing society. The concepts presented give an opportunity to distinguish the characteristics of terrorism. It should be noted that this phenomenon acquired an international character in the 1960s of the 20th century.

Features of terrorism

On the basis of the above concepts, there are several key features of terrorism, namely:

It is always an illegal activity;

- immediate 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 directed primarily at the disorganization of society;

- the phenomenon in most cases has a political background;

- is realized through the commission of terrorist acts;

- regulation is carried out mainly from a single center or one, a key special.

Terrorist act: concept

The concept of a terrorist attack, as well as of all terrorism, is characterized by differences depending on state ideology and other factors. But the main feature is that a terrorist attack is more a legal characteristic than a theoretical one. If we take into account the attitude to such a socially dangerous action directly in Russia, 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, the commentary to which will be provided below, a terrorist act 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, frighten the population with the aim of influencing state authorities or individual international organizations . More detailed information gives comments to the article of the Criminal Code, which regulates the terrorist act.

The difference between the terrorist attack and terrorism in general

It is necessary to clearly differentiate terrorism as a whole and a separate terrorist act. Many are mistaken, considering these concepts 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 phenomenon, more precisely, a concrete manifestation of the ideology of violence.

Legal characteristic 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 for simple, qualified and highly qualified crimes. According to the degree of public danger, this norm fixes a crime of special gravity. Thus, sanctions for its commission will be the most stringent, rather than for other crimes similar in their composition. It should also be noted that the composition of this crime has characteristic features in almost all constituent elements.

Objective side of the crime

Terrorism (Article 205 of the Criminal Code treats this concept quite clearly), or rather, the objective side of this crime, involves socially dangerous acts. They manifest themselves in the form of extreme violent measures. It should be noted that actions need not necessarily bring direct harm. The objective side of the crime will exist even in case of threat of violence of extreme form. When it comes to other grave consequences, which are specified in Part 1 of Article 205, this wording should be understood as any activity that can cause significant harm. This category includes the contamination of a given 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 provides an opportunity to cover a large number of socially dangerous acts of supporters of the ideology of terrorism.

Determination of damage

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 position 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. Such a sign of damage assessment shows not property losses, but a level of intimidation due to its application. After all, the main purpose of the terrorist act is to cause panic and fear among the population and public authorities.

It must also be remembered that the act of terrorism brings not only property damage, but also moral damage.

Object of Crime

Terrorist act is a socially dangerous act, the direct object of which is legal relations in the sphere of public security. The terrorist act actually violates social peace and changes the normal conditions of life of a large number of citizens. The most common objects are life, health, property relations, etc.

Qualified elements of a crime

In Art. 205, part 2 of the Criminal Code indicate the moments of qualified crime. According to the Criminal Code, the following situations are considered as aggravating signs of an act:

- Committing a crime by a group of persons who have previously conspired;

- commission of a crime with the use of firearms;

It should be noted the features of the second aggravating feature. Qualification is created not only by the direct use of firearms in the process of carrying out the terrorist act (shooting at people), but also by demonstrating it in order to provide the necessary conditions for the implementation of the prepared plan. The mere fact of having a firearm in order to avoid being harassed by law enforcement agencies will not create a qualifying feature unless the weapon is used as described above.

Particularly qualified staff

Due to various interpretations of criminal plans and the development of professional crime in general, the legislator, along with qualifying staffs, also secured the highly qualified, that is, the most dangerous species for the human and public safety that this crime can accept. In Art. 205, part 3 of the Criminal Code lists fixed types of specially qualified personnel. According to this article, all actions envisaged by the objective side of the crime specified in Parts 1 and 2 become especially burdensome if they are infringement of nuclear facilities or are committed 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.

Subject of the terrorist act

Due to the special danger of the crime provided for in Art. 205 of the Criminal Code, the composition of the act contains an underestimated age of criminal responsibility. Thus, the subject of the terrorist act is an individual who has reached the age of 14 years. When it comes to the group commission of a terrorist act, it is possible to single out the moments when a person is quite possible to be released from criminal liability. For example, a natural person who timely warned the state authorities about a terrorist attack or otherwise prevented its implementation is not punishable.

So, in the article were presented all the main elements of such a crime as an act of terrorism. The study of this problem plays an important role, because relations in this criminal sphere of human life continue to develop more and more regrettable. Therefore, the creation of an adequate legal protection will allow at least a little to prevent the evolution of such crime.