Concept, forms, signs and types of theft

The property right by importance in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is put on the second place after the personal rights of the citizen. In this article we will consider the concept, signs, forms and types of theft, pursued by the legislation of the Russian Federation. It is offenses related to encroachment on property rights that occupy more than half of all crimes that have occurred in our country in the last few years and even decades.

The concept of theft

In order to formulate the concept, signs, types of theft, you need to study not only the current legislation, but also turn to the previous system of bills. At all times, all peoples, including the ancient, the basis of criminal law were property violations and encroachment on human life. With regard to Russian justice, the term "theft", originally described in important laws and decrees of past centuries (the Code of Law of 1649, Decree of Catherine II "On the Judgment and Punishment for the theft of various clans", 1781), played an important role in Russian justice.

In 1845, the first set of laws on the criminal responsibility of Russia appears, in which the generic term "theft" is replaced by "theft", signs, forms, types of which were described and supplemented in subsequent draft laws of criminal law.

Theft in modern interpretation means a set of crimes committed out of selfish motives, aimed at deliberate and irretrievable seizure of someone else's property in favor of the offender.

Signs of theft

All forms and types of theft combine a number of fundamental features, among which:

• Selfish goal. The symptom suggests that the perpetrator or group of perpetrators commit an unlawful act out of personal motives with a desire to derive material benefits in their favor or third parties. An example of self-serving misconduct: appropriating someone else's property for the purpose of enrichment (purse). In the history of jurisprudence, cases of theft of other material assets and property were encountered with the purpose of distributing them to needy people (the poor).
• Illegality is an unlawful act committed by a criminal who, according to the current legislation, has no right to gratuitously seize the things of another citizen who has legal ownership of this property.
• Gratuitousness occurs when the perpetrator appropriates his ownership of another's property without reimbursement of its value or compensation in the form of barter or any services acceptable to the second party.
• Seizure implies the transfer of property or the right to it from the legal owner to another person without the consent of the former. As a result, the property fund of the owner decreases, which is a fact of causing damage to his material condition. At the same time, the form of ownership (private, state) is not an essential factor in the qualification of theft.
• The damage in the form of a decrease in the assets of the victim plays an important role in the qualification of theft, namely, its size determines the form and severity of the offense. However, it should be noted that the amount of damage is established only in accordance with illegally seized property, but not related to it the lost profit. For example, if an employee stole some equipment from a company, then he should return only the equipment or its cost, while the amount of damage will not include the amount of losses of the enterprise related to the idle time of production due to the lack of this unit of equipment.

Theft

The concept and the types of theft are closely related to the subject of embezzlement, which can be any alien property illegally seized or appropriated by the criminal. The subject of embezzlement must combine three characteristics:

1. Physical properties - the object of theft is materially delineated in space (that is, it is in a solid, liquid or gaseous state, animate or inanimate).
2. Legal aspect. The property must belong to someone legally
3. The economic component means that property has its value.

Forms and types of theft

Forms of theft are grouped in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the ways and characteristics of committing property crimes:

1. Theft (Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
2. Fraud (Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
3. Waste or appropriation (art. 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
4. Grabes (Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
5. Robbery (Article 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Based on the amount of damage inflicted on the property owner, the criminal legislation of Russia distinguishes the following types of theft of another's property:

• Small theft, the amount of damage which is not more than 1000 rubles.
• Thefts that caused insignificant damage to the owner in the amount of from 1000 to 2500 rubles.
• Caused significant damage, the size of which can reach up to 250,000 rubles.
• Large thefts up to 1 000 000 rub.
• Especially large types of theft - more than 1 000 000 rub.

Theft

Theft - the secret appropriation of someone else's property, contrary to the law of the country. At the heart of such a crime is the non-violent appropriation of material and non-material benefits, which for the guilty are strangers. At the same time, theft is classified as secret only if the offender acted in the absence of the owner or in the presence of the owner or other persons who did not give their presence at the time of the crime. Subjects convicted of this offense can only be persons older than 14 years.

Robbery

Robbery is more dangerous than theft, fraud and embezzlement, since it involves illegal seizure of property in the presence of the owner or other persons who are aware of the intentions of the offender. In turn, the perpetrator also sees the presence of the victims, but continues the offense, which, however, is nonviolent. Moreover, the robbery implies that the offender initially wanted to make it an open seizure of someone else's property. As violence can be the actions of the perpetrator towards the victims or persons having the opportunity to prevent the committing of robbery. These actions are violent, but without significant danger to the lives and health of eyewitnesses of the offense. Examples: causing physical pain, beatings, imprisonment.

Robbery

Robbery is the most socially dangerous withdrawal of someone else's property, which is based on the forcible appropriation of the property of others. The robber uses threats and violent actions that can be dangerous not only for the health of the victims, but also for their lives. As illegal acts, a criminal can use both a hidden and an open attack on the owner of the property or another person in whose office it is located (for example, the watchman). It should be noted that the threat to the life and health of the victim is not the object of this form of theft and requires separate qualification.

Fraud

Fraud - stealing someone else's property and / or property rights by deception or abuse of the trust of the owner. Active deception is a lie by which a fraudster deceives the owner about the transfer of property law. It can be manifested in the form of forged documents, which as a result convey the criminal property or the right to it without informing the owner. The abuse of the trust of the owner also creates an illusion that the action is in his favor, and in fact leads to the fact that the owner, without understanding himself, passes the rascal his property. The only difference is that in this case the perpetrator acts on the basis of trust in property. Examples of such situations are: non-return of debt or rented equipment, non-fulfillment of obligations by the contractor, etc.

Waste or appropriation

The embezzlement or appropriation differs from other forms of theft in that the transfer (seizure) of the property right from the owner to the criminal does not occur, the perpetrator only exercises the right to dispose of the property entrusted to his department. The embezzlement involves the actual use (expending) of another's property, and appropriation is the illegal retention of property until its alienation.

Qualification of theft and responsibility for their commission

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation reveals not only the concept of theft, forms and types of theft, but also the methods of their qualification, as well as measures for their suppression. Responsibility for property offenses can be of two types: administrative and criminal. The first is established for socially harmful misdemeanors, qualified as petty thefts. They can be carried out by theft, embezzlement or fraud, provided that the amount of damage does not exceed the average monthly salary of a citizen at the time of the crime. Criminal liability occurs if socially dangerous types of theft were committed, the amount of damage from which exceeds the threshold of 5000 rubles.

Types of theft can be qualified not only based on the amount of damage suffered, but also taking into account the multiplicity of the offense by the same criminal. Thus, small thefts amounting to less than 5000 rubles, but committed repeatedly, will be pursued not by administrative, but by criminal liability. On the other hand, the measure of restraint in this case will be established as a petty theft, committed repeatedly, even if the amount of damage will reach the level of major theft. An exception is the option where each subsequent crime is committed in the same way as the previous one, and the consequence is the intent of the offender to commit a large amount of confiscation in the amount.