The theory of criminal law recently established what is the concept of corpus delicti. In practice, this concept has been used for a long time, but there was no exact content and definition.
The term "crime"
To understand what the structure is, what is the basis and how a crime is qualified, it is necessary to deal with the concept itself.
A crime is an action or inaction (act) that is socially dangerous. In simple words - the harm from this event is expressed in the prejudice to interests that fall under the jurisdiction of criminal law.
For example, theft harms property rights that are accepted in society. That act, which formally falls within the scope of the offense, but does not contain signs of public danger, will not be a crime. For example, causing bodily harm to a maniac in order to protect children from him. If we consider it formally, the action is subject to punishment, but it does not have public danger, which means that there is no talk of crime.
The concept
The system of subjective and objective elements (signs) of acts (actions or inaction), provided both in the hypothesis and in the disposition of norms, and characterizing a certain dangerous act as criminal, is called a corpus delicti.
The composition consists of 4 component subsystems:
- object of the offense;
- objective side of the offense;
- subjective side of the crime;
- subject of crime.
The significance of the composition is that it serves as the basis for criminal responsibility. When there is no element of composition, criminal liability does not occur. For example, the act was committed by a person recognized as insane. In such a situation, the subject of the crime is absent. This means that a sentence cannot be passed, since such a person is not prosecuted.
Composition of a crime in the Criminal Code
The composition and qualification of crimes in the criminal law are not disclosed. The term is used by investigative and judicial practice and the theory of criminal law.
It is accepted by composition to understand the combination of objective and subjective signs, which, according to the law, characterize a certain act socially dangerous as a crime.
The corpus delicti 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
Translated from Latin "qualification" - quality. They talk about qualifications regarding crimes in two senses:
- as a specific logical process or activity;
- as a result, where the activity received the final assessment of a dangerous type of behavior and the concept is fixed to the action in a certain document.
In order to correctly qualify a crime, and then make the right decision regarding punishment, it is necessary to figure out how to divide the crimes.
Allocate the logical, philosophical, legal, psychological basis of qualification.
In the field of criminal law, qualifications are understood as the establishment of conformity or equality of signs that a committed dangerous act has to the signs that are prescribed by law.
The conclusion about whether there are such signs and whether they correspond to those described is made on the basis of a comparison of the act with existing norms. Comparisons are made only on one basis of generally recognized criminal law measures, other signs are not taken into account.
The very concept of corpus delicti is affected by the qualification of the crime.
For example, for the crime of illegal hunting, the sign “crime scene” is considered mandatory. The decision made on the issue will depend on him.
Qualification is an assessment of the criminal law nature of the factual circumstances of the case that took place. A properly established qualification depends on the correct establishment of circumstances.
A crime is qualified during a preliminary investigation (inquiry, preliminary investigation), as well as a trial, and then a sentencing. The assignment of qualifications is also part of the tasks of supervisory and cassation proceedings in criminal cases. Conclusions that there is a corpus delicti in the act that meets the established criminal law standards are reflected in the documentation:
- ruling to institute proceedings or disagreeing with the institution;
- a ruling that a person must be brought in as an accused;
- application of preventive measures;
- conviction;
- indictment.
In these documents, the names of all the articles under which the crime falls are detailed and accurately recorded.
Qualification Value
Determining the corpus delicti and qualifying crimes is one of the most crucial moments in the work of law enforcement agencies. The law enforcer is vested with the broadest powers in deciding on the qualification of a crime.
The same moment determines the full responsibility for the decision made by the law enforcer in the case.
Problems of qualifying crimes in terms of composition still exist, despite numerous attempts to make a clear classification. The establishment in the act of signs of a specific corpus delicti can be achieved only by qualifying the crime. Here she acts as a justification from the point of view of law, according to which a person is prosecuted, coercive measures are applied, charges are brought, punishments are determined or punishment is executed.
As a result, qualification is not only a reflection of protective criminal law relations, but also reflects related criminal executive and criminal procedural relations.
Proper qualification is the key to making the right verdict.
Qualification Types
The composition of the crime and the qualification of the crimes during its determination imply the division of the qualification process into various subspecies. The corpus delicti is the basis for qualifying a crime.
Types of qualifications:
- Official. Such qualifications are given by the investigator, interrogating officer or court at all stages of the criminal proceedings.
- Unofficial. It is given by students, scientists, other persons in private.
Qualification process
During the qualification of crimes several actions are performed:
- it is clarified whether this 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 a criminal assault;
- the analysis of signs that are included in the objective as well as subjective side;
- defines the legal requirements that apply to the subject of the crime.
The correct 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 an act committed.
Qualification Characteristics
Qualification of corpus delicti with evaluative features is an important step in the analysis of the act.
Evaluation features are variable. Their content significantly depends on what kind of legal consciousness is observed in the lawyer who applies the law. These signs are the closest to a constantly changing environment, 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 “evaluative” features.
An example of a typical appraisal feature would be an indication of “substantial harm” that is caused by abuse of power, public or state interests, as well as interests that are protected by law, the public interests and interests and rights of citizens.
Substantial harm
Since the very concept of “substantial 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 corpus delicti and qualification of crimes is one of the most crucial stages in the entire judicial proceedings. At the same time, evaluative concepts are a reflection of the relations between objects or phenomena, and also characterize the result of comparing an object with a specific sample (standard or standard).
It is worth noting that the concept of a standard as applied to crimes is considered very specifically.
The value of corpus delicti for qualification
First of all, the significance of the corpus delicti is to be the basis for criminal liability. This means that a person who has committed an offense is subject to criminal prosecution on the part of the prosecutor's office, court and investigation authorities, and the person himself is not obliged to bear such responsibility.
The second function that the corpus delicti has is to help qualifications. The significance of the corpus delicti for the qualification of crimes consists in establishing the necessary conformity, identity, identification of the deed to the signs of the composition, which are provided for in the legal norm.
A well-defined corpus delicti has social and criminal legal significance.
The significance of the corpus delicti for the qualification of crimes of a general social character lies in the expression of a negative assessment of society of the totality of features that form a certain corpus delicti. Also, the state can express its attitude to this issue.
The criminal law value is expressed by a number of different points.
Qualification errors
The qualification of an offense in terms of the offense, unfortunately, may have errors.
Qualification errors are incorrectly established absence or presence of evidence of a crime, as well as compliance with its description in parts of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (determination by N. F. Kuznetsova). Such errors are criminal in nature, in contrast to criminal procedure. The main sources of such errors are enforcement deficiencies and legislation flaws.
Qualification errors are summarized in three groups:
- It does not recognize the existence of a crime where it is.
- It is recognized that the corpus delicti is where it is absent.
- The norm of the Criminal Code for the implementation of qualifications is chosen incorrectly.
Qualification of related crimes
The qualification of related offenses has certain difficulties.
Adjacent compositions are related by the nature of the danger they pose to society, and are also different in one or more common ways. The Criminal Code has at least 150 related corpus delicti.
To qualify such crimes, it is important to highlight the elements that will distinguish them. For example, in case of theft of someone else’s property, the form of appropriation of someone else’s will serve as dividing signs. If theft is secret theft, robbery is open, and robbery is violent.
Related crimes of a service nature are different in object - the interests of service in different organizations, against the interests of public service, justice, military service.
The qualification of crimes on the grounds of corpus delicti in related cases, as well as the determination of the kinship of actions allow us to define such a thing as the frequency of criminal record and crime. This means that there can be several objects. Criminologically, this decision is fully justified.
findings
The corpus delicti, the types of corpus delicti, the qualification of the crime in the aggregate form the only basis for determining criminal liability. They serve the correct legal qualifications to which the criminal act is subjected, and also are the basis for the court to determine the size of the punishment, its type and severity, as well as be able to establish another measure of criminal liability.
Accurate and correct determination of the corpus delicti is one of the guarantees that the rights and freedoms of a person and citizen will be protected, the rule of law and order will be respected and strengthened, and the state will continue to have signs of a democratic and legal one.