Article 275 of the Criminal Code: the nature of the crime, commentary

State treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code) is an act against the external security of the country. Let's consider it in more detail.

Article 275 of the Criminal Code:

Under this act, one should understand the extradition of secret, espionage or any other complicity to a foreign government, service or their representatives in the implementation of hostile activities against Russia. As a punishment under Art. 275 of the Criminal Code is a prison sentence of 12-20 years. In addition, the court may also order the confiscation of the property of the guilty subject.

Norm 275 of the Criminal Code: comment

In the note to the norm in question it is said that the person who committed this illegal act can be released from liability if it by timely and voluntary communication to the authorized authorities or in another way contributed to the prevention of subsequent harm to the interests of Russia. At the same time, his actions should not contain any other corpus delicti. This rule extends to the norms of 276 and 278 of the Code.

Public danger

The act established in the norm 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Treason") is a threat to the country. The public danger is that from the possession of Russia the data that make up a special secret go away. Having fallen into the hands of foreign special services, they can be used against the interests of the country. This, in turn, creates the risk of zeroing down the many years of labor of various teams to develop and implement original technologies, defense plans in special periods, new types of weapons, and so on. Behavior of the traitor can cause huge economic damage to the state, lead to a halt in the construction of strategically important facilities, to disrupt prospective research in the scientific and technical fields. Of particular importance are illegal actions in the area of establishing international relations, since it can provoke their break.

The essence of the act

Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation regards the conduct of the subject as an act of treason. A citizen of Russia assists a foreign government, organization or representatives in the course of hostile activities against the country. Norm 275 of the Criminal Code establishes responsibility for special types of complicity. They are expressed in espionage, the issuance of particularly secret secrets and other acts aimed at undermining the external security of the state.

An object

They are, according to the norm 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the security and defense capability of the country. These characteristics refer to the state of Russia's security against external threats. The conduct of the guilty subject creates a danger to the territorial inviolability, sovereignty, public, federal system of the state. All these spheres have a close interconnection. The question of which component the harm is more relevant to, should be addressed individually in each case in accordance with the available materials.

Espionage

Its subjective and objective features are identical in the sense of the norms of 276 and 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Espionage implies the transfer of highly sensitive information to foreign countries, organizations or their representatives. It is also regarded as collecting, kidnapping or storing for the subsequent redirection of the specified data to these subjects. Under espionage is understood the collection and transfer of information on the instructions of foreign intelligence to the detriment of the Russian Federation. These acts committed by a Russian citizen are examined under art. 275 of the Criminal Code. If the subject is a foreign person or does not have citizenship, then it is held liable, in accordance with the norm 276 of the Code.

Secrecy issue

According to the norm 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it acts as one of the forms of rendering assistance to foreign entities in conducting hostile activities towards Russia. Under the issuance of secrets, one should understand the transfer of information by a foreign entity to a person to whom it was entrusted for work, service or otherwise, other than kidnapping and collection. This kind of high treason is different from espionage. Within the framework of the latter, the transfer of information that the subject does not have for work or service is carried out. For example, a citizen, being an employee of a research institute, on personal initiative, established an illegal connection with a foreign person and issued information known to him on the service, representing state secrets.

Note

The subject of unlawful actions when issuing information is state secrets. This is data protected by law from the field of foreign policy, military, intelligence, operational-search, counterintelligence, economic activities, the dissemination of which can be harmful to Russia's security. The legislation establishes a list of information that acts as a state secret.

Completion of the act

The crime of issuing a state secret is considered complete from the moment when the information has passed to the address of the foreign entity. Representatives of a foreign country or organization are their officials. They can be members of delegations, employees of special services and other structures. In addition, the law provides for an attempt or preparation for a crime. For example, the perpetrator may be detained while trying to give information to the said entities.

Other help

Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for various actions aimed at rendering assistance to foreign entities in the conduct of intelligence or other activities that undermine the constitutional order and the security of Russia, unless they are covered by other forms indicated above. The objective side in this case is connected with establishing the connection (contact) between the citizen of the country and foreign representatives and committing according to the tasks received from them:

1. Other illegal actions against the constitutional foundations and security of Russia.
2. Crimes that do not form a composition for the article under consideration, but cause damage to the Russian Federation.

The actions of the perpetrator in the first case will be qualified according to the set of norms. In particular, he will be charged with high treason and a specific deed (armed rebellion, terrorist act, and so on). In the second case, there is no exhaustive list. Acts can be very diverse. However, as the main feature in all cases is an encroachment on Russia's external security.

Completion and stages of misconduct

The crime will be regarded as completed at the time of the actual rendering of assistance (assistance). In this case, the stages of the act may also take place. In particular, cooking involves:

• Development of a plan for assistance.
• Formation of conditions for establishing contacts with foreign entities.
• Bringing information into a system that is easy to transfer and so on.

The attempt involves:

• An unsuccessful attempt to establish contact with foreign representatives.
• Performing actions that are aimed at providing assistance that foreign services could not take advantage of, and so on.

The subjective side

To liability at the rate of 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, only a Russian citizen may be involved, whose age is from 16 and more. As partners, foreigners or citizens who do not have any citizenship can speak. The subjective side is characterized by direct intent. The guilty person understands the public threat of his behavior and wants to commit illegal actions. The intentionality of intent in the course of the qualification of a crime is to be determined. The purposes and motives of the citizen can be different. They are self-serving, nationalistic motives, revenge, and so on. Motives, in spite of the fact that they are not normally indicated, are of significant importance in the process of disclosing the mechanism of committing an act, establishing the degree of guilt and applying punishment.