Currently, one of the most dangerous is recidivism. Their number is constantly growing, which causes some concern among law enforcement agencies. Relapse of crimes is dangerous because the offender prepares for them more thoroughly than for the first time. In this regard, it is difficult to catch, and his actions become more thoughtful and brutal.
Hence, an important area of work for law enforcement agencies is the prevention of relapse. They should influence the positive legal consciousness, eliminating the possible reasons for the commission of crimes, if necessary, carry out criminal legal measures and correct the behavior of convicts.
The concept and signs of relapse
A repeat offender is a person who has committed a new criminal offense in the presence of a conviction for a previous offense. And the new, combined with the previously perfect, is recognized as a relapse. But the Russian Criminal Code refused the concept of a recidivist in order to focus attention not on the identity of the offender, but on the characterization of the act committed by him.
Relapse of crimes is characterized by certain signs:
- intentional nature, it does not matter what the intent is, direct or indirect;
- multiple character: at least two crimes;
- the criminal record that the criminal has must be effective;
- The offender must be of legal age at the time of the commission of the offense.
The difficulty in determining relapse lies in the fact that there are concepts such as single and multiple crimes. But some single species can be complex, therefore, sometimes mistakenly accepted as multiple.
Relapse Classification
Depending on a number of signs, the relapse of crimes and its types are determined. Simple type: a person commits a newly intentional criminal act along with a criminal record on a previously committed intentional act. A hazardous condition is determined by the following conditions:
- the commission of a serious crime, which will be followed by actual deprivation of liberty, along with a person having a criminal record with deprivation of liberty for committing previously intentional, two or more criminal acts of medium gravity;
- commission of a grave intentional crime along with the fact that a person was convicted with imprisonment for a grave or especially grave criminal act.
A particularly dangerous species is characterized by the following symptoms:
- the commission of a serious crime, followed by the actual deprivation of liberty of a person who was convicted twice with imprisonment for a similar criminal act;
- commission of a crime relating to a particularly serious one by a person who has been convicted twice for a serious one, or once for a particularly serious act.
In a situation where a relapse is determined, the criminal record is not taken into account:
- repaid and withdrawn;
- for crimes intentional, but of minor gravity;
- for crimes for which either a deferral or a suspended sentence has been imposed , and the person has not served his sentence in prison for his repayment;
- for crimes committed by a person before his majority.
The classification of relapse can be based on: the nature of criminal acts (general and special relapse), the number of convictions (simple and complex), the degree of public danger (simple, dangerous, especially dangerous). In addition to these types of recidivism can be legal (legal), criminological (actual), rehabilitated, penal. If he is recognized by a person who has committed any criminal act, this means that he can be considered a professional criminal capable of repeated criminal acts. The identification and recognition of relapse is a direct responsibility of the court.