What amount of bribe is a criminal offense?
What is a bribe under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and what is the responsibility for it? Read more The minimum amount of a bribe has not been established.
Therefore, the answer to the question of what amount a bribe starts at is clear - any amount. This is confirmed by the Plenum of the Supreme Court in its resolution No. 24 dated 07/09/2013.
But the best argument in favor of the absence of a “bribe minimum” is judicial practice. Many sentences have been handed down for bribes in amounts up to 3,000 rubles. (see, for example, the verdicts of the Kirovsky District Court of Makhachkala dated July 27, 2016 No. 1-478/2016, the magistrate judge of the judicial district No. 371 of the Tagansky judicial district of Moscow dated March 2, 2017 in case No. 01-0005/371/2017 etc.).
Attention: these court decisions were made before Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – petty bribery.
Is it true that a bribe is more than 3,000 rubles?
No it is not true.
The reason for this erroneous opinion is probably a misinterpretation of the provisions of Art. 575 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which allows officials to accept ordinary gifts in the amount of no more than 3,000 rubles. Let us make a reservation that the Civil Code of the Russian Federation does not contain instructions that in exchange for such gifts an official promises to “resolve the issue.” No, what we mean is the gratuitous transfer of property as a gift. That is, the crime of “bribe” is not formed, because a bribe is precisely a promise to perform some actions in exchange for a bribe.
The Civil Code does not regulate illegal and socially dangerous behavior. And the crime of “bribe” is precisely about illegality and social danger. Transfer of a gift to an official under Art. 575 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is not a crime, it is not a socially dangerous act. But a gift to an official worth over 3,000 rubles. - violation? Yes. violation, but not a crime.
Why is this rule about 3000 rubles needed? Art. 575 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is a rule that protects the rights not of society, but of an individual (citizen, organization). That is, an official can simply put pressure on the donor with his authority, hinting at gifts and gratitude, although he does not promise to perform any actions for payment. Suppose an official managed to solicit a gift - such a gift transaction is considered invalid, and the donor may demand the return of the donated money or property.
So, the opinion about the connection between the ban on giving more than 3,000 rubles. and bribes are wrong.
Bribe as a crime
A bribe in the Russian Federation (both its transfer and receipt) is theoretically a criminal offense. However, in practice, many such offenses often fall outside the scope of the law. Because it is not beneficial for the bribe giver, much less the bribe taker, to tell anyone about their illegal relationships.
Explicit and implicit bribes
An obvious bribe is a bribe with a preliminary agreement.
When the parties to the transfer and receipt of a bribe stipulate in advance: what, when and for what purposes is being transferred and what each party will ultimately receive from it. In most cases, a non-obvious bribe is a bribe of gratitude. When the bribe recipient is thanked for some perfect gesture after he has completed something. In this case, there may be no advance agreement at all.
Important! At the same time, despite the fact that in the latter case gratitude is often regarded as a gift, if we are talking about a “present” that was presented not as a person, but as an official and directly in relation to his actions (actions, inactions, decisions) directly related to the official position of this citizen, then this is precisely a bribe. And not a gift, as many people think. And here everything will depend on the competent qualification of what the law enforcement agencies did.
Classification of bribes according to their size
So, as we mentioned earlier, an acceptable ordinary gift for officials should not exceed 3,000 rubles in value. In the Russian Federation, receiving a bribe in the amount of up to 10,000 rubles is considered petty bribery. inclusive. Anything more will be ordinary bribery.
A significant amount of the bribe, which already amounts to Part 2 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code, this is the value of the transferred property or the amount of funds exceeding 25,000 rubles. Even if 25,001 rubles are transferred, this will already be considered a significant amount.
The next category is the large size of the bribe, that is, the cost of property, the amount of money in the amount of more than 150,000 rubles. Next comes a particularly large amount: a bribe exceeding 1 million rubles.
What actions can be considered committed for a bribe?
In addition to the circle of persons who are regarded as bribe takers, the law also describes the range of acts considered incidental to the receipt of a bribe.
Firstly, you can receive a bribe not only on your own, but with the help of intermediaries.
Secondly, you can receive a bribe not only for yourself directly, but also for the purpose of transferring it to a third party, including a legal entity and an individual.
Thirdly, a bribe can be transferred for:
- committing actions (inaction) in favor of the bribe-giver or persons represented by him, if these actions (inaction) are within the official powers of the official or if, by virtue of his official position, he can contribute to such actions (inaction);
- for general patronage or connivance in the service;
- for illegal actions (inaction).
Responsibility for accepting a bribe
Legal liability for accepting a bribe depends on the severity of the illegal act committed. The latter is directly dependent on the qualification of the crime.
Responsibility under the law
Article 290 of the Criminal Code contains several elements of a crime, each of which entails its own measure of liability.
Thus, for a simple crime (part 1) liability is provided in the form of:
- a fine of up to 1 million rubles, or in the amount of the criminal’s salary, income for a period of up to 2 years, or in the amount of 10-50 times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years;
- correctional labor for 1-2 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years;
- forced labor for up to 5 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years;
- imprisonment for up to 3 years with or without a fine of 10-20 times the amount of the bribe.
For qualified personnel (Part 2), similar penalties are provided, but to a more impressive extent:
- a fine of 200,000-1,500,000 rubles, or in the amount of the salary, the income of the criminal for a period of 0.1-2 years, or in the amount of 30-60 times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years;
- imprisonment for up to 6 years with or without a fine of up to 30 times the amount of the bribe and with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years.
A separate element is the commission by a special subject of an unlawful act for a bribe - part 3. This is punished even more severely. Namely:
- a fine of 500,000-2,000,000 rubles, or in the amount of the salary, the income of the criminal for 0.1-2 years, or in the amount of 40-70 times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 5 years;
- imprisonment for 3-8 years with or without a fine of up to 40 times the amount of the bribe and with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 5 years.
If all of the above is committed by a person holding a government position at the federal or regional level, as well as being the head of a municipal entity (Part 4), then the punishment will be as follows:
- a fine of 1-3 million rubles, or in the amount of the salary, the income of the criminal for 1-3 years, or in the amount of 60-80 times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 7 years;
- imprisonment for 5-10 years with or without a fine of up to 50 times the amount of the bribe and with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 7 years.
If the acts covered by parts 1, 3, 4 are committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy or by an organized group, with extortion of a bribe on a large scale, then punishment will follow in the form of:
- a fine of 2-4 rubles, or in the amount of the salary, the income of the criminal for 2-4 years, or in the amount of 70-90 times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 10 years;
- imprisonment for 7-12 years with or without a fine of up to 60 times the amount of the bribe and with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 10 years.
If the acts covered by parts 1, 3, 4, paragraphs. “a” and “b”, part 5, are committed on an especially large scale, then the offender will be punished as follows:
- a fine of 3-5 million rubles, or in the amount of the salary, the income of the criminal for 3-5 years, or in the amount of 80-100 times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 15 years;
- or imprisonment for 8-15 years with or without a fine of up to 70 times the amount of the bribe and with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 15 years.
Petty bribery: how much is a petty bribe?
According to Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, petty bribery is the transfer or receipt of a bribe in an amount of no more than 10,000 rubles.
Again there is no minimum size. That is, theoretically, criminal liability for a small bribe can begin from literally 1 ruble.
However, in judicial practice there are no such sentences: in the case the amount of the bribe is so insignificant, the provisions of Part 2 of Art. 14 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:
In practice, criminal liability for giving and receiving bribes is imposed from 500 rubles.
Practical recommendations
In order to challenge false accusations of accepting a bribe, you must take the following steps:
- 1) Find a qualified lawyer with an impressive track record and positive experience in resolving cases involving fraud, bribery, etc.
- 2) If there is no direct evidence of receiving a bribe on your initiative, try to prove the fact of provocation to give a bribe on the part of the bribe giver. Such evidence can include money planted in documents, a desk, an office, a car, as well as money hidden in purely symbolic gifts (a vase, a painting, chocolates), etc. That is, when accepting a gift, you had no idea what was in it bribe hidden. If you can prove the fact of ignorance when accepting a bribe, the charge of bribery will be dropped quickly.
- 3) Do not sign a voluntary confession about receiving a bribe. Very often, such recognition is in fact the only basis for bringing a medical worker to criminal liability.
- 4) Prepare materials proving innocence:
- recording of a conversation during the transfer of a bribe, obtained from a voice recorder,
- testimony (people who heard the conversation were present when the bribe was handed over);
- comments from acquaintances or colleagues of the bribe giver who can tell how the bribe giver told them about his intention to organize a forgery of a bribe;
- documents serving as evidence of the legality of all actions of the false bribe-taker.
Source: Collection “PROTECTION OF DOCTORS’ RIGHTS: PRACTICUM ON TACTICS” - Union of the Medical Community “National Medical Chamber”.
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Is there criminal liability for bribing a nurse or doctor?
To the nurse - no, to the doctor - yes.
The recipient of a bribe can only be an official. Its definition is given in note 1 to Art. 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: an official is an employee of a state or municipal institution, vested with organizational, administrative or administrative powers.
The nurse is not vested with such powers, therefore, transferring money to her for the provision of any services is not considered a bribe, regardless of the amount.
The doctor is also not vested with administrative powers. But in the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court dated October 16, 2009 No. 19, there is an explanation that “organizational and administrative functions include the powers of persons to make decisions that have legal significance and entail certain legal consequences.”
Such decisions may include, for example, issuing sick leave or certificates of contraindications for vaccination. These are documents that provide certain rights and release from responsibilities.
Thus, at the time of making a decision to issue such documents, the doctor performs the functions of an official and, in the event of receiving a bribe, may be held liable under Art. 291.2 or 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - depending on the amount of the bribe. Accordingly, the one who handed over the bribes is also held accountable - under Art. 291.2 or 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, again, depending on the amount.
Swindlers from medicine and law
According to statistics, the number of draft dodgers has decreased by almost a third in 2021. This data was provided by the chief military prosecutor Valery Petrov.
“I would like to note certain positive results of our work in this area. This year, the number of crimes against military service has decreased by more than 18%, and the number of evasions from military service has decreased by a third,” Petrov said at a meeting of the coordination council for combating crime in the Armed Forces.
Corruption in the conscription system has existed for decades, but in recent years they have begun to fight it more effectively, says Anton Tsvetkov, member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, chairman of the All-Russian movement “Strong Russia”.
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Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Bednyakov
Limitedly unfit: The Ministry of Defense is ready to tighten the rules of conscription
Exemptions from military service due to health reasons will be rechecked every spring and autumn
— The leadership of the Ministry of Defense is really, not in words, but in deeds, strengthening control over military registration and enlistment offices and all processes related to conscription. Members of the Public Council and relevant public organizations are actively involved in ensuring the transparency of the process and legal information to citizens, the conscripts themselves and their parents. Special attention, the professional approach of the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, transparency and public control always lead to improvement,” Tsvetkov explained in an interview with Izvestia.
In addition to doctors extorting money from conscripts for deferment and release from the army, there is a huge layer of lawyers who offer illegal services and promise to negotiate with medical commissions, Tsvetkov added. Services originally created to combat rights violations are now working to look for diseases where there were none in the first place. The prices for the services of such lawyers do not differ much from the average amount of bribes, and the revenue of lawyers specializing in exemption from conscription amounts to hundreds of millions of rubles.
— There is a whole layer of swindlers who mislead children and impose their pseudo-legal services. Fraudsters simply deceive conscripts, intimidate them with the conditions of service, sell them “fraudulent” military tickets and promise to reach an agreement with medical commissions. But in most cases, these are just scammers who have no connections in military registration and enlistment offices, selling fake certificates or simply scamming guys out of money,” added a member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Defense.
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Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Bednyakov
The prestige of the army has grown noticeably in recent years, and the opposite trend is observed: young people unfit for service are trying to hide their diagnoses in order to join the Armed Forces. This situation is especially typical for economically depressed areas of the country. In the summer of 2021, an investigation began into the case of a conscript from Severodvinsk, who gave a bribe to a doctor in the amount of 55 thousand rubles in order to be recognized as fit. The 27-year-old suspect explained that he did this in order to find a well-paid job in the future. He was declared unfit back in 2011, but on the eve of his 28th birthday, the young man decided to take a desperate step.
A hundred grand before the order: how they do business with army dodgers
Since the beginning of conscription, scammers have become more active, offering conscripts to avoid military service.
“Those who are not eligible for service due to medical reasons hide their illnesses and try to pass a medical examination. There is no need for forced recruitment now; there are enough volunteers. Plus, the number of contract workers is constantly increasing. But there is another problem. The state of health and physical fitness of the younger generation leaves much to be desired,” summarized the chairman of Strong Russia.
