The age of criminal responsibility in the Russian Federation is one of the main conditions under which it is possible to bring a criminal to punishment as defined by the Criminal Code. Establishing such a criterion is required to understand whether a person can realize the meaning of the actions he performs.
Consequently, bringing a young child to punishment under the Criminal Code, who is not able to understand the negative consequences of his actions, does not correspond to the main goals of lawmaking.
Establishing the age of criminal responsibility
A person who was already 16 years old at the time of committing the crime may be held liable under the Criminal Code.
This is most often referred to by lawyers when answering the question at what age is criminal punishment imposed. Important! Part 2 of the article stipulates that when committing certain types of criminal acts, a child who has reached 14 years of age may be subject to punishment under the Criminal Code. Download for viewing and printing: Article 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “The age at which criminal liability begins”
Determining the age of the perpetrator
The legislation contains a nuance that must be followed when determining whether a child can be held accountable. From the point of view of lawyers, the age of the perpetrator of a crime is not determined on his birthday. That is, a 13-year-old child turns 14 only from zero o'clock on the day following his birthday.
If a child does not have documents confirming his age, then this indicator is determined on the basis of a conclusion obtained from the results of a special forensic medical examination. In this case, the day the child is born is the last day of the year contained in the document.
If it is not possible to determine the year of birth of the child, and it is not possible to determine the minimum and maximum number of years, all doubts should be interpreted in favor of the minor.
VUO in legal systems of the world
VLU directly depends on the legal systems operating in countries.
The minimum age at which a child can be punished for committing an unlawful act is established in England; here punishment in criminal cases is possible from 10-17 years. In Germany and Japan, the minimum HEU is similar to Russia and is 14 years.
In America, according to general standards, only a minor child who is already 16 years old at the time of committing criminal acts that have negative consequences can be subject to punishment. It is believed that from this moment he can realize the danger of his actions and fully manage them. However, in some states there are exceptions to this rule.
Criminal liability of minors under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
It differs in that the courts pay special attention to the child’s environment, his parents, the conditions in which the teenager lives and is raised, his level of development, and personality characteristics.
Age itself is already a mitigating factor. But the following circumstances can be additionally taken into account:
- committing a violation of the law for the first time;
- pregnancy;
- presence of children;
- difficult life circumstances that pushed a person to commit a crime;
- coercion, committing a crime due to dependence (material, service);
- immoral behavior of the victim;
- confession, assistance to the investigation;
- providing assistance to the victim.
Aggravating factors are also taken into account. These include:
- relapse;
- serious consequences of the crime;
- participation in a crime as part of a group;
- motive of racial, national or religious hatred;
- concealing traces of another violation;
- assault on a pregnant woman or child;
- special cruelty.
One of the features of the punishment is that the period specified in the relevant articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is reduced by half for teenagers. This applies to serious and especially serious illegal acts. If a minor offender has previously received a suspended sentence and is again caught for a violation that is not particularly serious, he can again count on a suspended sentence.
For example, the maximum penalty for rape without aggravating circumstances is 6 years; accordingly, for a teenager the upper limit is reduced to 3 years. If there are aggravating factors, the duration of imprisonment can be increased to 10 years.
Minimum VUO in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
The need to determine the minimum SRL is contained in the UN Standard Rules.
This normative act notes that in those legal systems where the possibility of bringing minor children to criminal liability is assumed, the lower limit of the age established in the normative acts should not be too low. The same act stipulates that, in providing a minimum age for criminal liability, legislators must take into account human development, that is, if spiritual, emotional and intellectual activity, which changes significantly during growing up.
Download for viewing and printing:
UN General Assembly Resolution of November 29, 1985 “UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules)”
Grounds for criminal prosecution of minors
Articles 87-96 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation tell us at what age the criminal liability of minors begins and why teenagers can be punished. From them you can learn about the peculiarities of sentencing, the types of sanctions that courts apply to persons under 18 years of age, the procedure for applying penalties, educational methods of influencing minors, as well as exemption from punishment.
Regardless of who the offender is, a teenager or an adult, when imposing a sanction, the courts rely on the principles established by law:
- the punishment must be fair;
- a more stringent measure is applied only when a less stringent one does not give the required result;
- a more severe measure can be obtained based on the totality of crimes;
- the judge takes into account the personality of the offender, the circumstances of the crime, motives, mitigating and aggravating factors, and the characteristics of the life of the accused.
Maximum VUO
The maximum age at which it is possible to apply punishment to a criminal is not limited in any way. That is, even an elderly person who committed an illegal act will be convicted to the fullest extent of the law.
The only exception is cases when a person, due to mental illness, could not realize the negative consequences of his actions and their danger. An examination is carried out in his regard, based on the results of which the mental state of the criminal is determined.
If such a study reveals a mental disorder, the guilty person is sent for treatment or detention in a special institution.
Release of minors from criminal liability
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains grounds for exempting minors from criminal liability. For example, a teenager will not be seriously punished if he committed a crime of minor or moderate gravity. In this case, the courts in most cases apply educational measures.
A minor who has committed a serious violation may also be exempt from criminal liability, but in this case he will be placed in a special closed educational institution for a maximum of three years. In such institutions, teachers and psychologists work with children, and special living conditions are created for correction. A teenager will be able to return home earlier than scheduled due to good behavior or serious illness.
Note!
Exemption of minors from criminal liability is impossible in case of committing a particularly serious crime.
The length of stay in a special institution can be either reduced or increased by the court. The second option is possible if the teenager has escaped from a correctional institution or needs further supervision.
Often children who end up in such an institution want to extend their stay there in order to complete their studies; the law allows them to apply for this.
Release on parole is possible if the teenager has already served a third of the sentence (for minor, moderate and serious crimes) or ⅔ of the established period (if a particularly serious crime has been committed).
A person under 18 years of age can also be released from the sanction if the statute of limitations has expired. Such periods for persons under 18 years of age are half the periods established for adult offenders and are:
- a year - for acts of minor gravity;
- three years - for acts of medium gravity;
- five years for serious crimes;
- 7.5 years - for especially serious acts.
What crimes can be punished from the age of 14?
The identification of a group of illegal acts with a lower educational level is due to the danger of such crimes and the child’s perception of prohibitions.
It is because of the last reason that the category of criminal acts entailing prosecution from the age of 14 includes crimes the danger of which is already clear at this age.
The list of illegal acts includes:
- Attacks on human life and freedom;
- Crimes against sexual integrity;
- Acts committed in relation to someone else's property;
- Crimes aimed at public safety.
That is, such illegal acts are expressed in the active actions of the guilty person, which entailed material consequences.
Another criterion for such crimes is the form of guilt. According to the law, minors aged 14 to 16 years cannot be held accountable under the Criminal Code if the unlawful act was committed through negligence.
Criminal liability of minors in 2018
Let's move directly to the types of criminal liability of minors. This includes fines, compulsory and correctional labor, arrest, suspended and real prison terms.
A teenager can be fined if he has income or property. If this is not the case, the obligation to pay money to the treasury will pass to the parents of the offender. The amount can range from 1 to 50 thousand rubles. A fine in the amount of the teenager’s income for a period of up to six months may also be levied.
The period of compulsory work for persons under 18 years of age has also been reduced. It ranges from 40 to 160 hours. There is a clause in the law that violators perform work in their free time from school. Moreover, if the attacker is under 15 years old, he is prohibited from working more than two hours a day. At the age of 15 to 16 years, you can work for a maximum of 3 hours a day. Older offenders are given the same period as adults.
The term of correctional labor cannot be more than one year. It is prohibited to arrest children for more than 2 years.
Note!
Prison does not threaten offenders under 16 years of age who have committed a crime of minor or moderate gravity. A person over 16 years of age will not be imprisoned for committing a minor illegal act for the first time.
In general, a teenager under 16 years old cannot be given more than 6 years in prison. However, even 14 and 15-year-olds can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for a particularly serious violation of the law. 10 years is the maximum prison sentence for criminals under 18 years of age.
In addition to standard sanctions, compulsory educational measures and placement in a closed educational institution are also applied to minor violators.
The first include:
- warning - employees of the commission for minors, police conduct a conversation with the offender, explain the danger of his act and the possible consequences, talk about what he faces if he is detained again;
- transfer to supervision - the attacker can be transferred to the supervision of police officers, guardianship authorities, and parents. They are obliged to control the behavior of the punished and be responsible for his actions;
- demand to make amends - the offender or his parents have the right to compensate the victim of the crime or the damage caused. In addition, the law allows you to eliminate the consequences of the crime yourself. For example, repair a broken fence.
- restriction of leisure time - in this case, the teenager may be prohibited from attending entertainment events, places of public leisure, leaving the house at night, etc.
The court has the right to determine one of the sanctions listed above or several. The term depends on how serious the crime the teenager committed. Usually it is 2-3 years.
However, educational measures are introduced as long as the offender behaves appropriately and does not break the law. If there is no need to talk about correction, the case materials are transferred to the police so that the teenager can be brought to real criminal responsibility.
In some cases, these measures may apply to older offenders - up to 20 years old.
