Describe the types of circumstances. Mitigating and aggravating circumstances

Those who are studying at universities in the direction of training "jurisprudence", clearly received such a task: "Describe the types of circumstances." In this paper, their classification will be considered, we will talk in detail about each species. We begin with an explanation of the very basic concept.

It is important to understand the difference between the concepts of "fact" and "circumstance". They are often confused. The first occurs regardless of the will of the person. For example, you received a summons to the court after it took place. In this case, we are dealing with a "legal fact". But if you have committed a crime because of the immoral or unlawful behavior of the victim, this is a "mitigating circumstance".

Circumstances and their classification

So, you got the task: "characterize the types of circumstances". Now we give a classification. All the circumstances fall into three categories:

• Crimes that exclude criminality;
• Softening;
• Aggravating.

In this category, we did not take another kind - negative circumstances. Now it is very brief about them. The definition of this concept states that these are any factual data that should not be, but are present at the crime scene or vice versa, they must be present, but they are not. Suppose the investigator arrived at the crime scene (murder), where he found the corpse and the scattered things. So, the loss of any things is a negative circumstance, so the investigator is trying to push the wrong way.

Elimination of criminal actions

In this section we will consider the types of circumstances that exclude the criminality of the act. To begin with, we give the definition. These are some circumstances in which the crime is not punishable. In total this group includes 6 points:

• The commission of the crime occurred unintentionally as a result of necessary self-defense;
• Harm in the detention of a criminal (in some cases (pursuit, shootout and so on), because causing harm is an integral part of the detention);
• Extreme necessity (causing harm to the interests of other persons, with the threat of harm to personal interests, other citizens, society or the state);
• Coercion (this includes both physical and psychological coercion);
• Justified risk;
• Execution of the order.

Extenuating circumstances

In this section, we will discuss the types of mitigating circumstances. Details of this topic can be found in art. 61 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to this document, these circumstances are criminal acts that are less harmful to the society. Thus, the punishment should also be softer than it is envisaged.

In this category we can refer:

• coincidence;
• minority;
• Pregnancy and / or the presence of young children;
• A difficult life situation;
• A crime committed because of a feeling of compassion;
• Physical coercion;
• Psychological coercion;
• A crime committed as a result of an emergency;
• Appearance with a guilty conscience.

If during the trial the lawyer manages to convince the court that the committed crime has a mitigating circumstance, then the punishment will be milder.

Punishment

So, we are trying to answer the main question: "characterize the types of circumstances." We have already considered 2 species. As for mitigating circumstances, now you will learn how to reduce the punishment for committing a criminal act.

This information can be found in part 1 of article 62 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. If briefly, it says that the maximum penalty is reduced by one third.

Aggravating circumstances

In this section we will consider the types of aggravating circumstances specified in Article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of 1996 (edition of 2017). This category includes:

• Relapse;
• Grave consequences;
• The commission of a crime deliberately planned by a group of persons;
• Activity in the commission of a crime;
• Involvement of other persons (minors in alcoholic intoxication or suffering from serious mental disorders);
• A crime committed on motives of racial, political hatred and so on;
• A crime committed out of revenge or for concealing another crime;
• The commission of a crime against a pregnant woman, a child or other defenseless persons;
• Especially cruel crimes (sadism, torture and so on);
• The commission of a crime using any kind of weapons, including medicament and psychotropic drugs;
• Crime committed in conditions of emergencies;
• Use of one's official position in the commission of a crime;
• Use of documents or the form of representatives of the law;
• Intentional crime by police officers;
• Criminals are the parents or guardians of the person to whom the crime was committed;
• Accepted alcoholic beverages or other drugs may serve as an aggravating circumstance.

Punishment

Answering the question: "characterize the types of circumstances", it is necessary to know how they affect the purpose of punishment. As is clear from the title, aggravating circumstances make the verdict of the court heavier.

The Court, in aggravating circumstances, seeks to fix the maximum penalty provided by law for the crime in question.