According to the law, criminal liability for perfect offenses occurs in the full sixteen years. This is due to the fact that different age periods are associated with the levels of the psychophysical development of the individual.
It is believed that by the age of sixteen, a person is able to fully understand the impact that actions have on the surrounding society, and bear responsibility for them.
At the same time, answering the question “at what age does criminal liability come”, it should be said that the legislator also establishes a lower age for criminal liability for certain types of crimes.
So in article 20 (part 2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains a list of those acts for which criminal liability comes from 14 years.
From the list below it becomes clear that these are serious crimes that are committed due to non-compliance and violation of moral standards and rules embedded in the child’s mind at an early age. These include: do not kill, do not steal, and others.
Deciding at what age criminal responsibility sets in, the legislator established three levels: 18, 16, 14 years. What does this age framework depend on? Some sources indicate that they are established depending on the severity of the criminal act. This theory is confirmed in the list of crimes for which a person has been responsible since the age of fourteen: rape, murder, terrorism, robbery, kidnapping, hostage taking, etc. Also on the list are medium-gravity crimes, for example, theft. However, there are no particularly serious criminal acts, such as high treason, sabotage. Therefore, the gravity of the crime committed is not always a criterion for establishing the described age limits. The determining factor is the level of development of intellectual abilities, which allows us to understand the social, social and political essence of the act.
Determining at what age criminal liability sets in, for some types of crimes the legislator established a special increased age.
For example, criminal liability for non-payment of alimony comes from the age of 18, that is, from the age when the subject can marry (without taking into account special circumstances).
For a more accurate understanding of the age at which criminal liability arises, the legislator identified twenty corpus delicti (listed in article 20 (part 2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). For them, the teenager has been responsible since the age of 14. However, for the rest of the compositions, a person must have a higher level of psychophysical development, which is achieved by 16-18 years.
In addition, the Criminal Code provides for a number of exceptions. So, if a minor subject has reached the age specified by law, but due to a lag in the development of the psyche, could not fully understand the danger of his act, then he is not criminally liable.