Order a report
Custom-made industry research, company ratings, competitor analysis
Supreme Court explained the changes in the field of Economic Criminal Law
In July 2016 the amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal-Procedural Code of the Russian Federation, which transferred the number of crimes from criminal to administrative offences, were adopted. Among such crimes are: the non-payment of alimony, beatings, petty stealing amounted up to 2 500 RUB. The punishments for bribes and corrupt payment were changed depending on the amount, appearing in the case. Besides, the individuals, who committed the crime for the first time, as well as those, who actively cooperating with the investigation, may be exempted from criminal liability.
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation gave special comments on application of these humane amendments.
In particular, the comments regarding petty bribery and petty corrupt payment were made. These are the new articles of the Criminal Code. The sum up to 10 000 RUB may be considered as petty bribery and petty corrupt payment. The following fines are intended for such crimes: 200 000 RUB – for petty bribery, 150 000 RUB – for petty corrupt payment.
The Supreme Court explained that the decisions on causing the heavy damage and particularly heavy damage in some cases are subject to review. Since July 2016 the damage more than 2 500 000 RUB is considered as heavy, more than 9 000 000 RUB - as particularly heavy damage. Previously, these amounts were respectively 1 500 000 and 6 000 000 RUB. Thus the court's decision against the individuals, who committed crimes on smaller amounts, may be commuted or they may be exempted from criminal liability.
The Supreme Court also gave comments regarding the review of cases on theft of property by steal, fraud, misappropriation or embezzlement when the theft does not exceed 2 500 RUB. Such crimes are considered as petty theft and lead to administrative responsibility. However the repeated commission of the crimes brings to criminal liability.
The relevance of the government's measures on humanization of criminal law focused on the improvement of business conditions in the country can be assessed after reviewing the statistical data of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on status of criminal records in Russia for the first half of 2016. (Table 1, Pictures 1, 2).
| Types of crimes | The articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation | The number of convicted individuals | The number of justified individuals | The number of individuals, against whom the criminal proceedings were discontinued for various reasons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economic crimes Total: |
158-204 | 151 659 | 108 | 45 741 |
| including the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: | ||||
| The theft | 158 | 104 251 | 16 | 36 119 |
| Robbery | 161 | 15 485 | 0 | 1 952 |
| Fraud | 159 | 10 482 | 40 | 3 030 |
| Illegal seizure of a vehicle or another transportation facility with no intent to theft | 166 | 6 496 | 1 | 1 290 |
| Robbery with violence | 162 | 4 733 | 3 | 17 |
| Misappropriation or embezzlement | 160 | 4 198 | 28 | 965 |
| Deliberate destruction or damage of property | 167 | 2 303 | 4 | 1 792 |
| Extortion | 163 | 957 | 3 | 80 |
| Acquisition or sale of property, obtained by criminal means | 175 | 711 | 1 | 98 |
| Illegal business operations | 171 | 634 | 1 | 48 |
Most of citizens were convicted for the theft, robbery and fraud (Picture 1).
Herein most of acquittal judgements were determined under the articles on fraud, misappropriation or embezzlement and the theft (Picture 2).
