The composition of the crime and the qualification of crimes with evaluation characteristics

The theory of criminal law very recently established what is the concept of corpus delicti. In practice, this concept has been used for a long time, but the exact content and definition was not.

The term "crime"

To understand what the composition is, what is the basis and how the crime is qualified, it is necessary to understand the very concept.

Crime is an act or omission (act) that is socially dangerous. In simple words - the harm from this event is expressed in damaging the interests that fall under the jurisdiction of criminal law.

For example, theft harms property rights that are accepted in society. That act, which falls formally under the offense, but does not contain signs of public danger, will not be a crime. For example, inflicting bodily harm on a maniac to protect children from it. If we consider it formally, the action is punishable, but it has no public danger, so there is no talk of a crime.

The concept of

The system of subjective and objective elements (signs) of deeds (actions or omissions), provided for both in the hypothesis and in the disposition of norms, and characterizing a certain dangerous act as criminal, is called the composition of a crime.

It consists of four components of the subsystems:

• The object of the offense;
• The objective side of the offense;
• The subjective side of the crime;
• The subject of crime.

The meaning of the composition is that it serves as the basis for assigning criminal responsibility. When there is no element of the composition, criminal responsibility does not come. For example, the deed is committed by a person who is declared insane. In such a situation, there is no crime subject. So, the sentence can not be pronounced, since such a person is not brought to criminal responsibility.

The crime in the Criminal Code

The composition and qualification of crimes in the criminal law are not disclosed. Use this term investigative-judicial practice and the theory of criminal law.

Adopted by the composition of understanding the union of signs of objective and subjective, which, according to the law, characterize a certain act socially dangerous as a crime.

The composition of the crime is a legislative image of a specific criminal act, which is described in specific articles of the Special Section of the Criminal Code.

Qualification of crimes

In translation from Latin, "qualification" is quality. They talk about qualifications for crimes in two senses:

• As a certain logical process or activity;
• As a result, where the activity received a final assessment of a dangerous type of behavior and the deed is fixed in a specific document.

In order to properly qualify the crime, and then make the right decision regarding punishment, it is necessary to understand how to divide the crimes.

They sing out the logical, philosophical, legal, psychological basis of qualification.

In the field of criminal law, qualification is understood as establishing the conformity or equality of the signs that a committed dangerous act has, with the signs that are prescribed by law.

The conclusion about whether there are such signs and whether they correspond to what was described is done on the basis of comparing the deed with the existing norms. Comparison is done only on one basis of the criminal legal standard measures, other signs are not taken into account.

The very concept of the crime is influenced by the qualification of the crime.

For example, for a crime in illegal hunting, the "crime scene" is considered mandatory. The decision on the issue will depend on it.

Qualification is an assessment of the criminal-legal nature of those factual circumstances in the case that took place. Correctly established qualification depends on the correct establishment of circumstances.

The crime is qualified in the course of the preliminary investigation (inquiry, preliminary conducted investigation), as well as the trial, and then - the sentencing. Also, the assignment of qualifications is included in the tasks of supervisory and cassation proceedings in criminal cases. Conclusions that there is a crime in the act that corresponds to the established criminal law norms are reflected in the documentation:

• Decision to initiate a case or in disagreement on the initiation;
• Decree that a person must be brought in as an accused;
• Application of preventive measures;
• A conviction;
• Indictment.

In these documents, the names of all articles under which the crime falls are detailed and accurately recorded.

Value of qualification

The definition of the crime and the qualification of crimes is one of the most crucial moments in the work of law enforcement agencies. The law enforcer is given the widest powers in deciding on the issue of the qualification of the crime.

The same moment stipulates full responsibility for the decision made by the law enforcement officer in the case.

The problems of qualifying crimes by composition still exist, despite numerous attempts to make a clear classification. Establishment in the act of signs of a specific crime can be achieved only by qualifying the crime. Here it is a justification from the point of view of the law, according to which a person is brought to criminal responsibility, coercive measures are applied, charges are brought, punishments are determined or punishment is executed.

Qualification as a result is not only a reflection of protective criminal legal relations, but also reflects related criminal-executive and criminal-procedural relations.

Proper qualification is the key to making the right verdict.

Types of qualifications

The composition of the crime and the qualification of crimes during its definition imply the division of the qualification process into different subspecies. The composition of the crime is the basis for the qualification of the crime.

Types of qualifications:

• Official. Such qualifications are given by the investigator, investigator or court at all stages of criminal proceedings.
• Informal. It is given by students, scientists, other persons in private.

Qualification process

During the qualification of crimes, several actions are performed:

• It is being investigated whether the criminal act is criminal (compliance with Article 14 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
• It turns out who is the object (and in some cases - the subject) of criminal assault;
• An analysis of the characteristics that are included in the objective as well as the subjective aspects is carried out;
• Determine the legal requirements that are imposed on the subject of the crime.

The proper qualification of a crime makes it possible to clarify the issue of the presence or absence of criminal liability, and also allows the court to determine a fair punishment for the committed act.

Evaluation signs in qualification

Qualification of the composition of crimes with evaluation characteristics is an important stage in the analysis of the deed.

The evaluation characteristics are variables. Their content significantly depends on what kind of legal awareness is observed by a lawyer who applies the law. These signs are the closest to the constantly changing situation, which has to be assessed by the investigating authorities, the prosecutor's office and the court. And with a certain degree of conventionality, they are usually called "evaluation" signs.

An example of a typical evaluation feature will be the reference to "significant harm", which is inflicted upon abuse of power, public or state interests, as well as interests that are protected by law, public interests and interests and citizens' rights.

Substantial harm

Since the very concept of "significant harm" is not disclosed in the Criminal Code, the final decision on whether the crime itself is significant or not is taken only by the court.

The composition of the crime and the qualification of crimes is one of the most crucial stages in the entire judicial process. At the same time, appraisal concepts are a reflection of the relationships between objects or phenomena, and also characterize the result of comparing an object with a certain sample (standard or standard).

It is worth noting that the concept of the standard in the application to crimes is considered very specific.

The meaning of the crime for qualifications

First of all, the meaning of the corpus delicti is to be the basis for criminal liability. This means that a person whose deed is a part of a crime is subject to criminal prosecution by the prosecutor's office, the court and the investigating authorities, and the person does not have to bear such responsibility.

The second function that the crime has is to help qualify. The meaning of the corpus delicti for the qualification of crimes consists in establishing the necessary conformity, identity, identification of the composition made by the signs, which are stipulated in the legal norm.

A fully defined crime has a social and criminal-legal significance.

The meaning of the corpus delicti for the qualification of crimes of a general social character consists in the expression of a negative evaluation of the society of a set of characteristics that form a certain composition of the crime. The state can also express its attitude to this issue.

The criminal-legal significance is expressed by a number of different moments.

Qualification errors

The qualification of the act on the composition of crimes, unfortunately, may have errors.

Qualification errors are wrongly established absences or presence of signs of the crime, as well as compliance with its description in parts of the Criminal Code (definition by Kuznetsova NF). Such errors are of a criminal legal nature, unlike criminal procedure. The main sources of such errors are the shortcomings in law enforcement and the lack of legislation.

Qualification errors are summarized in three groups:

1. The existence of a crime is not recognized where it exists.
2. It is recognized that the composition of the crime is where it is absent.
3. The norm of the Criminal Code for the implementation of qualifications is chosen incorrectly.

Qualification of adjacent crimes

The qualification of related crimes has certain difficulties.

Adjacent formulations are related by the nature of the danger they pose to society, and also differ in one or more of the common characteristics. In the Criminal Code, there are at least 150 contiguous offenses.

For the qualification of such crimes, it is important to distinguish elements that will delimit them. For example, in the case of theft of someone else's property, the form of embezzling a stranger will be the dividing features. If theft is a secret embezzlement, robbery is open, and robbery is forcible.

Related crimes of an official nature are different objects - the interests of the service in different organizations, against the interests of public service, justice, military service.

The qualification of crimes based on the elements of the offense in related cases, as well as the determination of the relatedness of actions, make it possible to define such a concept as the recurrence of conviction and crime. This means that there can be several objects. Criminologically, this decision is fully justified.

conclusions

The composition of the crime, the types of formulations, the qualification of the crime in the aggregate constitute the only basis for determining criminal responsibility. They serve the correct legal qualifications to which a criminal act is exposed, and they are also grounds for the court to determine the amount of punishment, its appearance and severity, and also establish another measure of criminal liability.

Accurate and correct definition of the corpus delicti is one of the guarantees that the rights and freedoms of the individual, the citizen will be protected, law and order will be respected and strengthened, and the state will continue to have signs of a democratic and legal one.