The subjective side of the crime in criminal law: the concept, forms and elements

The subjective side of a crime in criminal law is the invariable obligatory element of each offense, which is expressed in the mental attitude of the offender to the act committed by him, motivation, purposefulness and emotional state. It consists of two elements: guilt (mandatory presence) and additional, or optional (goals, emotions). If the presence of the first is necessary for the qualification of the act as a crime, others allow only to qualify, mitigate, heavier penalties. The elements of the subjective side of the crime are listed in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but not completely exhausted (which is associated with their multifaceted psychic nature).

Destination of the subjective side of the crime

The importance of the subjective side of the crime can not be overestimated, since it is considered one of the four necessary elements of proof in the pretrial investigation. Its role is as follows.

1. Need to evaluate the act as a crime. The fault in this case is of fundamental fundamental importance.
2. Possibilities of distinction of various crimes.
3. It provides an opportunity to separate crimes and other offenses (administrative, labor).
4. Correctly defined content of the subjective side of the crime allows you to correctly qualify the act, determine the margin of punishment, based on the specificity of the goal, motive or guilt.

Wines - the fundamental part of the subjective side

Wine can rightfully be considered one of the main fragments of the subjective side, but it does not limit it. The Criminal Code recognizes only the willful and mental part of guilt, ignoring the emotional. This can only be understood from the point of view of the difficulties of researching and determining the present emotional situation of the offender.

Obligatory signs of the subjective side of the crime are fixed in the criminal law of Part 1. Art. 5 of the Criminal Code, which clearly indicates the indispensability of guilt in the structure of the act.

A type of guilt: direct intent

The intention is allowed to consider the most dangerous form of guilt for society, because the criminal not only consciously goes to an illegal act, but also wants an offensive of negative consequences. It also happens of such varieties: direct and indirect.

Direct intention - a stable willful action of the subject aimed at the implementation of the crime, involves anticipating the consequences (it combines two components: strong-willed and intellectual). To convict a person guilty of such a crime does not matter whether he understood that this was a crime.

During the investigation of illegal misconduct, the subjective aspect of the crime, the forms of its commission, is of great importance. If you take into account the intent, then it has an increased social danger. Some illegal actions are a priori deliberate, because the realization of such an act, as well as its consequences, is obvious in them (theft of property with penetration into the home, robbery).

A type of guilt: indirect intent

Indirect intent has certain differences from direct, but also has a high social danger. The intellectual aspect in them is identical, because in both cases a person realizes that he is committing an unlawful act. The volitional composite in this kind of intent is explained by an indifferent attitude to the results (however there is an understanding of their likely offensive). The criminal directly and accurately focuses attention precisely on the purpose, motives, actions, and the consequences are not for him the key moment.

The task of the investigator is to accurately determine the type of intent, since the attempt is only committed with direct intent. Also, the role of the subject of the offense (performer, organizer, instigator, accomplice) can be individualized due to its correct installation.

Form of guilt: criminal lightheadedness

The concept of the subjective side of the crime also includes cases of commission of a wrongful act by imprudence. A common form of it is criminal lightheadedness. This kind of negligence is characterized by the fact that a person clearly understands the likelihood of negative results, but recklessly believes that they will not come, by virtue of their capabilities, skills, professional abilities, character traits (which are unreasonable).

The intellectual moment in this case can be explained as a person's understanding of the probability of the occurrence of negative results, and volitional - as the belief of the subject in their prevention. In the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the subjective side of the crime, or rather frivolity, does not manifest itself in the indifferent attitude of the offender to various consequences. The offender does not want their offensive, believes in the success of their actions.

Form of guilt: criminal negligence

Of all possible forms of guilt, criminal negligence is considered the least socially dangerous. This is explained by the fact that the offender does not provide for the onset of negative consequences, but due to labor or other duties he must and can do it.

There are two key points that help to qualify an act as criminal negligence. It is a duty and an opportunity. The first is labor, contractual and other duties, which require on behalf of increased attention and foresight of all possible negative consequences. The possibility, however, means that the subject could objectively understand that there are likely losses.

The subjective side of the crime in criminal law is qualified by the investigator, but in practice only an experienced specialist can distinguish negligence from accident. The latter means that the person did not foresee the onset of negative consequences, which should not have occurred, but happened because of the incident.

Mixed wine in criminal law

Although the domestic criminal law establishes only classical forms of guilt, ignoring the possible other severe psychological constructions, it should be noted that in practice such variants have long been investigated. One of them is a mixed, double fault, which can exist in some articles of the criminal law.

The task of the investigator is, first of all, in determining his original true intent. A typical example that can be cited is the infliction of grievous bodily harm. If the person inflicted them on the victim, however, he eventually died, then this crime will be considered intentional (the main action was purposeful - to mutilate a person). The investigator also must exclude the suspect's intention to cause the death of the victim, and not bodily harm. This has a fundamental difference, since these actions are covered by different elements of the crime, articles, there is a difference in the severity of punishment.

This example also requires consideration of one atypical case, where the fault of the suspect will be determined precisely through the prism of the health of the victim. If one person inflicted serious bodily harm on another, which led to death, then a forensic examination of the body is mandatory. Since the suspect could indeed inflict only certain injuries on the victim (not wanting death at the same time), but the latter died because of a state of health, certain characteristics of the body that were not known to the offender. In this case, this act will be qualified precisely as causing grave bodily harm (without a qualifying sign - causing death).

Optional elements of the subjective side

The signs of the subjective side of the corpus delicti are not only guilt, but also other complex psychophysical processes that require installation at the pre-trial investigation stage.

At first glance, only guilt is needed to recognize the perpetrator of the offense. However, such concepts as "motive", "goal" and "emotional state" play an important role in every crime, regardless of whether they are indicated in the dispositions of the norm or not. Silent actions can not lead to the commission of a crime (derived from general psychological knowledge).

The correct definition of this category, as optional signs of the subjective side of the crime, helps to know not only the superficial obvious facts of the case, but also deeply explore the identity of the offender. This activity of the investigator is also connected with criminology (the science of the personality of the offender).

Motive as an optional element of the subjective side of the crime

The concept of the subjective side of a crime does not include such an additional (optional) attribute as a motive. This can be related to the psychological nature of this concept.

The motives of criminal behavior are a combination of causes, motivations, internal beliefs that cause a person to satisfy his needs by criminal means. They are closely related to the needs, upbringing, character, moral qualities of the individual.

The subjective side of a crime in criminal law can not exist without borrowed from philosophy, psychology and logic of concepts. The motive is a dynamical psychological complex of incentive reactions that cause the need to satisfy needs. It can not be separated from the outside world, since motivation is built on the basis of interaction of concrete situations, political events, human relations, social level of society.

Types of motives in criminal law

All facultative signs of the subjective side of the crime are no less important than the fault. Also important are their varieties, which show the danger of the offender, his moral attitudes and antisocial mood. The simplest classification of motifs is borrowed from the science of psychology and is adapted to criminology.

1. Negative motives (have an antisocial coloring): selfishness, anger, greed, revenge, hatred, envy and many others. In many cases, they serve as aggravating circumstances.
2. Neutral motives: unemployment, apathy, boredom.
3. Positive motives: altruism, kindness. They do not exclude criminal responsibility, but they mitigate punishment. An example of a specific positive motive can be cited in the case of euthanasia: a nurse who wants to alleviate the pain and suffering of the patient makes him an injection of a substance that has a lethal effect on the body. The crime is committed, albeit with good intentions.

The goal as part of the subjective side

If the motive can answer the question of why a person commits a crime, then the goal gives an answer to the question of why it does it. The subjective side of the crime is characterized by various psychological moments, but the goal plays an important role in the study of criminal behavior, deviance.

A person sets a goal before carrying out any action, and an offense is not an exception. However, it should be noted that it can exist only in its deliberate forms. This statement can be gleaned from logic, as imprudence loses its essence when setting the goal to commit unlawful action.

The subjective side of a crime in criminal law, namely the purpose, for the qualification of an article and the recognition of an act as guilty, is sometimes decisive. For example, some of the purposes of a crime may be burdensome: self-interest, revenge, satisfaction of sexual needs, envy, concealment of another crime or facilitating its commission.

The meaning of the goal as part of the subjective side of the crime

The goal by its nature is not a legal category, but very often the criminal law (the subjective side of the crime) uses it as a qualifying factor. Its meaning lies in the moments described below.

1. The presence of a special purpose in the commission of a crime can determine whether an act is socially dangerous or not (Part 1, Article 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
2. The goal can be a qualifying (usually aggravating) circumstance (part 1, article 63 of the Criminal Code).

Emotional state - part of the subjective side of the crime

Emotions are short-term human reactions to external and internal factors, which are reflected in actions, behavior. They do not reflect the objective reality, but show subjectivity (a set of views, thoughts). The subject and the subjective side of the crime are inseparable, since the first way of thinking, reactions, social ties determines the last (impossibility of existence without it).

The state of affect in the procedural aspect plays an important role among other emotions. Art. 104 and art. 110 of the Criminal Code establish special provisions on the commission of a crime during strong emotional emotions and shocks. Affect in these articles can be caused by physical or mental violence by the victim.

Casualty or accident

Each sphere of human life includes a variety of incidental circumstances, and criminal law (the subjective side of the crime in particular) is not an exception. The described positions are regulated by Part 1 and Part 2 of Art. 28 of the Criminal Code. If a person did not understand or could not understand that he was committing a wrongful act, did not foresee and could not do it in this situation, then he is considered innocent.

Presumption of innocence in criminal law

This provision is democratic, humane and legal, since a person can not be considered a criminal until the opposite is proven. Its essence is manifested in wine, which is included in the content of the concept of "subjective side of the crime." The motive, goal and other factors do not play a role because of their secondary and skill complexity.

Recognize a person as a criminal can be the only independent state body - the court. The competence of other persons and structures is manifested in facilitating the collection of evidence. To prove the guilt of the subject is possible only in the presence of a number of indisputable, complete, sufficient and independent evidence.

Obligatory signs of the subjective side of the crime - this is the first thing to be investigated in the course of the case, since the determination of the place, time, method and other minor components without establishing a fault leads only to a prolongation of the criminal process. During the pre-trial investigation it is forbidden to call the suspect a criminal. Violation of this principle is the failure to comply with the law on the transparency and immediacy of the trial.

The significance of the subjective side of the crime lies in many provisions that were considered earlier. Let us generalize them again.

1. It is the subjective side of the crime that shows the psychological side of the crime, which really requires detailed investigation. She can also help to make up a psychological portrait of the criminal. Very often the precise definition of psychological specific traits of the nature of the offender allowed one to assume possible post-penitentiary behavior, relapse, correction.
2. The subjective aspect of the offense is the main part of the investigation, without which it is impossible to qualify any act as a crime. If other branches of law provide for punishment without guilt, then in criminal law this is prohibited.
3. The study of the subjective element of the crime requires high competence, education from law enforcement officers. If the objective moments can be collected at the first inspection of the scene, the psychological characteristics require various interrogations, syntheses, inspections, secret investigative actions.

The subjective side of a criminal violation is a real picture of the psychological links of a crime. It helps to solve internal peculiarities, reasons and conditions for the commission of such an act, and therefore it is of great importance in the criminal process.