Vandalism Committed by a Group of Persons

The article reveals the content of such a qualifying element of vandalism provided for in Part 2 Article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as an act committed by a group of persons. By establishing the qualifying element in question, the law-maker relied on the greater public danger of group vandalism not only in relation to vandalism carried out by one person, but also in relation to vandalism committed in complicity when there is a legal differentiation of roles that apart from the vandalist include the organizer, the instigator and the abettor shall be provided. It is noted that vandalism should be classified as an act committed by a group of persons only when accomplices to the offense are co-participants, i. e. in whole or in part they carry out the acts forming the objective side of the offense set forth in Article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation Based on the legislative definition of the perpetrator (Part 33, Article 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), it is noted that only acts of accomplices directly involved in desecration of buildings or other structures, deterioration of property in public transport or other public places, or who have committed these acts by the use of other persons who are not subject to criminal liability due to age, insanity and other circumstances provided for in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation can form joint participation in vandalism Co-participants can act simultaneously, acts of co-participants can be sequential, and it is possible that co-participants can commit different acts. However, it is common to all the co-participants that their acts are wholly or partially consistent with the description of the objective side of vandalism described in the Law The article critically assesses the practice of qualifying acts of participants of vandalism who, at the time and place of the crime, only assist the perpetrator as commission of the crime by the group of persons; similar decisions are also made in the course of qualifying vandalism On the basis of analysis of case law and clarifications of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, it is established that this practice is contrary to the generally accepted understanding of the group crime

Vandalism, group of people, joint participation, complicity in a crime, qualification, case law, Plenum of the Supreme Court of the RF, regulations

1. Бриллиантов А. В., Яни П. С. Применение норм о соучастии: аналогия или толкование // Законность. - 2013. - № 6.

2. Галиакбаров Р. Р. Квалификация групповых преступлений. - М., 1980.

3. Лопашенко Н. Новое постановление Пленума Верховного Суда РФ по хищениям // Законность. - 2003. - № 3.

4. Михеев Р. И. Невменяемый. Социально-правовой очерк. - Владивосток, 1992.