The legislation provides for punishment not only for committing a crime, but also for preparing for it. This is stated in Art. 30 h. 3 of the Criminal Code. What stages of criminal activity are defined in criminal law? What is the punishment for an unfinished act?
Article
The first part of Art. 30 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation defines the concept of “preparation for a crime”. Details of what is meant by this term will be set forth in the article.
For the preparation of not every crime, a person can be punished with a criminal offense. If he visited a grocery store, carrying out a plan to abduct from the counter a small package of refined sugar, and he failed to implement such an insidious plan thanks to the vigilance of employees, law enforcement agencies will not be interested in them. The article in question is not applicable to his actions. The law punishes preparation only for serious crimes.
However, when it comes to preparing for the murder, Art. 30 h. 3 of the Criminal Code. The article says that even an imperfect act is a crime. In the event that it was not possible to realize it due to any circumstances.
Stages
About what stages criminal activity has, it is said in the twenty-ninth article. It may be completed or unfinished. But in addition to these two stages in criminal law, a third is distinguished - preparation. If it is a serious crime, the person is prosecuted. Regardless of stage. Of course, the degree of punishment depends on how far the hapless criminal has gone.
Preparing for the kill (example)
What is crime preparation? Let us analyze the meaning of this dissonant concept using an abstract example.
A certain citizen of advanced age, characterized by quarrelsomeness and suspiciousness, appeals to law enforcement agencies with a complaint about his neighbor. He allegedly intended to commit a serious crime. Namely, to kill a suspicious citizen. Valorous employees are not entitled to ignore the appeal of a person who fears for his own life. Therefore, they immediately go to the suspect’s place of residence (so far only his quarrelsome neighbor) and try to figure out the situation.
But in the apartment of this person there are no crime instruments or any records with step-by-step instructions on how to get rid of a neighbor. At the time of the visit by the police, there is no meeting of accomplices in his kitchen. In a word, everything suggests that the complaint of the master of advanced years is only a figment of imagination and a sign of a developing persecution mania.
Art. 30 h. 3 of the Criminal Code in such circumstances is not relevant. Law enforcement officers go sloppy. Because in the third part of the aforementioned article it is said that the attempted crime is deliberate action. And they should be preceded by certain training activities.
Cooking ingredients
The following actions can be attributed to it:
- Production, acquisition of tools.
- Search for partners.
- Creation of conditions for a crime.
Intent
The stage of the act may be a preparation or an unsuccessful attempt. Intention in Part 3 of Art. 30 of the Criminal Code is not mentioned. All possible manifestations of an intention to transgress the law are not recognized in criminal law as one of the stages of an act. Threats in writing or verbally cannot be recognized as attempted crime. Although the punishment for such actions is also provided for by law. But about them, and about responsibility for their commission, it is said in a completely different article of the Criminal Code.
Threat or preparation for murder (example)
In order to highlight this point from criminal law, let us return to the heroes of the neighboring feuds.
And again the squabbler goes to the police station. Now, as he believes, all the trump cards are in his hands. The neighbor of the third day threatened him with bodily harm, used foul language against him and even promised to kill him in a fit of anger. This is now by no means suspicious gentleman who speaks eloquently and with many details in the statement.
In this document, he also indicates the names and other important data of the witnesses who are now ready to confirm everything as in spirit. Eyewitnesses are the applicant’s legal wife and a deaf old woman from above. However, the application of Part 3 of Art. 30 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is also unlawful. The point is not that the applicant’s wife is an interested person, and the testimony of a deaf woman is doubtful. And the fact that due to the lack of preparatory measures (acquisition of weapons, search for accomplices, etc.), a neighbor cannot be accused of attempted crime. His actions will be seen as an attempt at psychic influence. No more. However, this is enough to interest law enforcement agencies.
The essence of such a crime as an attempt was described above (part 3 of article 30 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) exclusively on the example of the implementation of preparatory actions for the murder. What other acts are provided for in this criminal article?
The heat of passion
Not only about the cold-blooded bearing of the plan, but also about the crime committed at the time of strong emotional unrest, we are talking about in Art. 30 h. 3 of the Criminal Code. The court ruling in the trial of an attempted murder of an unfaithful spouse is likely to consist in a guilty plea of the suspect. In legal practice, such cases are not uncommon. Consider one of them.
Crime in a state of affect (example)
Ivanov I.I. was convicted of attempted murder, because, having found his wife and a stranger in an unambiguous situation in his apartment, he grabbed a chisel and dealt several blows to both. Returning home, he did not plot a crime. Thoughts of the murder came to mind spontaneously. But still, there was preparation for the murder. Fortunately, everyone survived.
A person who acts in a state of passion is aware of the danger of his actions. Therefore, an unsuccessful attempt to kill is considered in accordance with Part 3 of Art. 30 of the Criminal Code. The terms of imprisonment for this act, if guilt is proved, are from six to fifteen years.
The thirtieth article deals with the preparation for crimes under the so-called serious articles, that is, acts posing a danger to the life of one or a group of people. What acts fall into this category? All crimes, the minimum penalty for which, according to the law, is five years. These include terrorist activities. What can be the punishment for preparing for it?
Terrorist activity (example)
In judicial practice, a sentence often contains a punishment based on several criminal articles. To clarify this point, we give another abstract example.
The hero of a fictional story is a businessman supporting the ideas of a terrorist organization. On the phone, he periodically liaises with militants who spend most of their time in the East Coast. Of course, he is not limited to conversations. From time to time, a businessman transfers impressive sums of money to the militants' account using payment terminals. In addition, he regularly visits an extremist and terrorist website.
One fine day, this merchant decides to move on to action. He leaves his family, business and goes to a distant southern country. His goal is to join the ranks of the militants.
However, his plans were not destined to come true. At the airport, a former businessman detained by intelligence agents. How they managed to calculate the activities of the failed militant is not so important. From his IP address, visits to the sites of banned organizations were recorded. Sending money has also been detected. And telephone conversations with residents of the southern country are recorded.
As a result of the investigation and trial, an adherent of extremist ideas was convicted of financing a banned organization and preparations for terrorist activities. As a result, the merchant receives a term in accordance with two articles of the Criminal Code. How many years he will spend behind bars depends on the presence of extenuating circumstances and other factors. But the term for an unfinished deed, of course, is always less than for a completed one.
Signs
In investigative practice, there are many examples when part 3 of art. Was applied to crimes not related to serious ones. 30 of the Criminal Code. Responsibility for the commission of acts of different categories is different. As already mentioned, only in preparation for a grave act can a person be held liable in accordance with Art. 30 h. 3 of the Criminal Code. Comments on this criminal article contain information about the signs of such a thing as “preparing for a crime.” But this does not mean that the courts always follow these standards. So, the signs of the above term:
- Intent.
- Preparation for a crime that belongs to the category of serious.
- Lack of voluntary refusal.
Mistakes in judicial practice
There were cases when the severity of the sentencing was not taken into account.
A certain citizen was convicted of an attempt on the sale of narcotic substances. However, selling illegal drugs is not a serious crime. Subsequently, the higher court quashed the verdict because of its groundlessness. For attempting to sell drugs, the suspect cannot be brought under Art. 30 h. 3 of the Criminal Code.
Limitation period
The punishment for attempting to commit a crime should not exceed half the maximum period provided for for this act. As for the time that has passed since attempts were made to prepare for the murder, the conditions here are similar.
It does not matter to the prosecution whether the crime was brought to an end. If the suspect was preparing for the murder, his case will be examined on the basis of Part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code. This act is especially serious. And the statute of limitations is fifteen years. Therefore, even after fourteen years after preparation for the murder, which was never committed, a person is attracted under Art. 30 h. 3 of the Criminal Code.
Amnesty
Full or partial punishment in 2016 is likely to affect convicts who have committed crimes of medium gravity. First of all, under the amnesty are persons sentenced for acts of minor gravity. Since preparing for a crime involves preparing for a serious crime, the defendants under Part 3 of Art. 30 of the Criminal Code, are unlikely to be released.
Voluntary refusal
An incomplete crime is an act that was not brought to the end due to any circumstances not related to its organizer. If a person plans to kill, but subsequently refuses to carry out it voluntarily, he cannot be involved. But if the police intervened in the actions of a potential criminal, he will be punished according to the Criminal Code.