Article 158 of the RF Criminal Code Part 1: comments. Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Theft"

To date, the legal culture of mankind makes it possible to create a framework for the comprehensive protection of fundamental rights, of each individual person. If we take specifically the Russian Federation, then in this state the protection of the individual and his basic competencies is carried out through various legal branches. The most stringent framework is created in the field of criminal law, which exists for the regulation of the most dangerous acts for society. A significant misconception is the view that a socially dangerous crime is only murder and other encroachments on human life and health. This is far from the case.

The object of crime can be practically any sphere of human life. According to this principle, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was created. This normative act contains norms about all acts that can be considered crimes. As the development of social relations, the list of such actions is supplemented. An important part of the Criminal Code is a set of crimes against property rights, one of which is theft. This act has many features and qualifying aspects, which the author will discuss in more detail in the article.

What are crimes against property rights?

Before analyzing the information provided by the comments on Article 158 of the Russian Criminal Code, it is necessary to understand what crimes are against property rights in general. This issue is quite painful for the criminal law of the Russian Federation. Today, preference is given to private ownership because of the development of capitalist relations. But even twenty years ago theorists of the criminal branch exalted exclusively socialist property, because the country was dominated by the doctrine of communism. The Criminal Code of our time proceeds from the principle of equality of all forms of ownership, which provides protection for any type of property.

The main types of encroachment on property

The current Criminal Code of Russia establishes two main types of encroachment on the property of the entity, namely: uncollective and mercenary. The first species is the smallest. To it it is possible to carry only two crimes: deliberate or careless destruction and causing of harm to property. The second species is more extensive. Selfish crimes mean a special sign - enrichment at the expense of the property of another person. Such acts, as a rule, include embezzlement, fraud, extortion, misappropriation, abuse of trust, etc. As for the theft itself (Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), this crime is embezzlement.

Concept of theft

So, above the author has resulted specificity of crimes against the property rights. Theft is one of them. But for many citizens there is no particular difference between theft and, for example, robbery or robbery. In order to somehow differentiate all these concepts, one must understand the meaning of the term itself.

According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the theoretical developments of this sphere, it can be said that theft is a secret non-violent theft of property that belongs to another person. In this case, Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Part 1 fixes this act at the legislative level. At the same time, the responsibility for the direct commission of theft occurs regardless of the form of property that has been subject to encroachment.

The difference from other types of theft

Article 158 of the Criminal Code "Theft" implies a secret (concealed) theft of property. This feature is the key to differentiating this crime from other socially dangerous acts. Another distinguishing feature is the absence of violence in any form in theft. Take, for example, robbery or robbery. In this case, not only the legal relationship of a person in the sphere of owning property, but also his health, especially during robbery, can suffer. When making a theft, there should not be any danger to the person specifically, otherwise the deed will not be qualified under Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Features of the secret theft

The author previously pointed out that Article 158 of the Criminal Code "Theft" implies a hidden theft of property. However, there are a number of cases where such an act can really be called secret. This happens in such cases:

• Both the property owner and third parties do not know about the theft.
• The owner does not know about the crime even after its actual committing (for example, theft of residual raw materials or goods, when the owner does not have a statement of his actual existence).
• The theft took place in a circle of persons who should not have resisted the offender (for example, his relatives).
• There are people who were actually present at the theft, but they did not know and could not know that illegal actions were being carried out.
  

Thus, only taking into account the presented features of the action of a person can be qualified as a form of secret embezzlement. In all other cases Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, part 1 Does not apply, and the act itself must be qualified as a completely different crime.

Legislative characteristic of theft

At the legislative level, there is a consolidation of theft as a socially dangerous act in Art. 158 of Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The application of this rule of criminal law is carried out in the event that all the necessary elements of the offense are present, which will be discussed later. It should be noted that the legislator in Article 158 took into account all possible interpretations of this crime, thereby ensuring comprehensive protection of public relations in the sphere of property. Through the qualifying features of the Criminal Code, the most serious and various forms of secret embezzlement are fixed.

Corpus delicti

There are certain features of the application of Art. 158 of Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Criminal law is designed in such a way that the punishment for any unlawful act occurs only if all the elements of the crime are present. Theft is no exception. Elements of the offense include:

• subject;
• an object;
• The subjective side;
• The objective side.
  

In the absence of at least one of the elements, the act can not be recognized as a crime, and in this case as a theft.

The subjective side

Crime of Part 1 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code "Theft", or rather its subjective side, is characterized by a direct and selfish motive. And the intent of a direct character is a prerequisite. The theoreticians of criminal law agree unanimously that it is impossible to commit theft with an indirect desire to carry out an illegal act. The criminal always controls his actions. Although there is a controversial point about people-kleptomaniacs, but this will be discussed later. As for selfish motives, this is not an obligatory aspect of the subjective side. Very often a person commits theft, for example, out of revenge. In this case, he does not want to be enriched at the expense of someone else's property, but in fact transgresses the law.

Theft Agent

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation presents an understated age framework, according to which you can attract a person for committing a theft. According to Article 158, a person who is 14 years old can be accused of theft. In general, the age of the subject plays an important role not only in the process of qualification, but also in the mechanism of bringing to responsibility for the deed. This must be taken into account. On a general basis, the age of responsibility for criminal offenses comes from 16 years. Legislator, setting this border, proceeds from the fact that after reaching this age a person is already fully aware of his actions and can control them.

As for theft, the situation here is slightly different. In this case, the role of not only the issue of control actions, but also the moral aspect. The fact is that after reaching 14 years everyone understands where the boundaries of another's property are. Parents from childhood instill in every child the belief that "someone else can not touch." Thus, by the age of 14 almost every sane person knows the scope of what is allowed. Based on these specific factors, the legislator has built an understated age framework for the subject of the crime.

Theft is the objective side

The objective side consists of the actual act. Criminal liability occurs when the person actually commits the theft of someone else's property. But for the emergence of the objective side of the theft, the crime itself must have a specific form, which has already been said earlier. Theft is a hidden kidnapping of someone else's property. Evaluate the secrecy of actual actions on the basis of subjective and objective criteria. The first shows the attitude of the criminal himself to the action. He must understand and realize, openly he acts or secretly. An objective criterion shows the attitude of others towards the fact of the theft. As a rule, third parties do not realize that an illegal act is taking place, even with visual observation of the process itself.

Most often, because of the lack of an objective side, it is impossible to implement the verdict of Part 1 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, since the crime is incorrectly qualified. This happens often enough, therefore, it is difficult to properly characterize the objective side of the theft.

Object of Crime

In ordinary citizens there are many questions about the object of the crime provided for by Art. 158 of Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Comments to it provide a lot of information. It should be noted that the object is not the property to which the actual encroachment by the attacker is directed, but an array of legal relations arising between the owner and the concrete material values.

This specific feature of the object of the crime is very often not understood by people who do not understand the issues of jurisprudence. In most cases, the object is an object of crime (stolen property). This fact is due to the fact that the theft is aimed at obtaining specific things, without which there is virtually no theft.

Features of the composition

All crimes are divided into certain types, according to different criteria. As for theft, it is characterized by material composition. Characteristic in this case is based on the moment of the end of the crime. The peculiarity of the material composition is that an illegal act is deemed to have occurred if the property is withdrawn from the actual possession of the proper owner. At the same time, the criminal directly gets the opportunity to completely dispose of material values.

In practice, there are often difficulties in the process of determining the moment of the actual termination of a crime. As a rule, this is due to certain factors, namely: the place and time of the crime, the situation, the nature of the stolen property, its properties.

Qualifying features

There are several basic qualifying features of theft. Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Part 1 gives a report on the model of such a crime as theft. In the following parts of this criminal law, the qualifying features of an unlawful act are presented. In part two, a number of the following points can be singled out:

• A crime committed by a group of persons by collusion (two or more people).
• Illegal act associated with unlawful entry into someone else's premises for the purpose of theft.
• Theft from the hand luggage.

Part 3 presents more serious forms of crime, namely:

• Theft, which is committed from a gas pipeline or an oil pipeline.
• A criminal act with penetration into the home.
• Theft in large sizes.

The most serious forms of the crime of Article 158 are provided for in Part Three. These qualifying features include an act committed by a group of individuals and on a particularly large scale.

The verdict under Part 1 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code ("Theft") and other parts of the norm

Theft can be punished in different ways, depending on the form and severity of the committed deed. The crime under art. 158 part 1 of the Criminal Code, the penalty for which is the most mild, presupposes the following types of sentences: a fine, mandatory corrective and forced labor, deprivation, and restriction of freedom. These types of punishment are practically unchanged in all parts of the article. But the nature of their severity differs depending on the actual gravity of the act performed.

Legislation provides for cases when a person is released from the actual serving of punishment under art. 158 of Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Amnesty is one such case, but it is rarely found in legislative practice. There are other ways to avoid criminal liability for theft. One of them is the general principle of excluding responsibility for a crime under art. 158 of Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The reconciliation of the parties allows not only to resolve the issue of punishment, but also to receive compensation for damages that arose from theft.

Kleptomania

There are many controversial points about whether kleptomania is the reason for releasing a person from responsibility for theft. Psychiatrists in this issue are unambiguous. In their opinion, this phenomenon of the human psyche is pathological. Nevertheless, in the legal assessment of the act, as a rule, kleptomania is not considered as a mitigating factor and an excuse to exclude criminal liability.

So, in the article the author described such a crime against property rights as stealing (Article 158 of the RF Criminal Code, Part 1). The question of characterizing this act is important enough not only for the criminal law theory, but also for the practical application of the provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.