Small bribe changes in the Criminal Code. Petty bribery and petty commercial bribery as independent crimes

Current version of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with comments and additions for 2018

1. Giving a bribe to an official, a foreign official or an official of a public international organization personally or through an intermediary -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to five hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to one year, or in the amount of five to thirty times the amount of the bribe, or by correctional labor for a term of up to two years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years or without it, or forced labor for a term of up to three years, or imprisonment for a term of up to two years with or without a fine in the amount of five to ten times the amount of the bribe.

2. Giving a bribe to an official, a foreign official or an official of a public international organization personally or through an intermediary in a significant amount -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to one million rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to two years, or in the amount of ten to forty times the amount of the bribe, or by correctional labor for a period of one to two years with deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions. positions or engage in certain activities for a period of one to three years or without it, or imprisonment for a term of up to three years with a fine in the amount of five to fifteen times the amount of the bribe or without it.

3. Giving a bribe to an official, a foreign official or an official of a public international organization personally or through an intermediary for committing obviously illegal actions (inaction) -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of thirty to sixty times the amount of the bribe, or imprisonment for a term of up to eight years with a fine in the amount of thirty times the amount of the bribe.

4. Acts, provided for in parts first - third of this article, if they are committed:
a) by a group of persons by prior conspiracy or by an organized group;
b) in large size, -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of sixty to eighty times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years, or imprisonment for a term of five to ten years with a fine in the amount of sixty times the amount of the bribe.

5. Acts provided for in parts one through four of this article, committed on an especially large scale, -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of seventy to ninety times the amount of the bribe, or imprisonment for a term of seven to twelve years with a fine in the amount of seventy times the amount of the bribe.

Note. A person who gives a bribe is exempt from criminal liability if he actively contributed to the disclosure and (or) investigation of a crime and either there was extortion of a bribe by an official, or the person, after committing a crime, voluntarily reported giving a bribe to a body that has the right to initiate a criminal case.

Commentary on Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

1. Composition of the crime:
1) object: established order of functioning of bodies state power And local government, government and municipal institutions, state corporations, as well as the Armed Forces Russian Federation, other troops and military formations Russian Federation, legislative, executive, administrative or judiciary foreign country, public international organizations, the authority of government;
2) objective side: actions expressed in giving to an official, a foreign official or an official of a public international organization personally or through an intermediary a bribe for performing actions (inaction) in favor of the bribe giver or persons represented by him, if such 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), as well as for general patronage or connivance in the service. Required element corpus delicti is an item that includes: money, securities, other property, as well as services property nature and property rights;
3) subject: a sane individual who has reached the age of 16;
4) subjective side: characterized by direct intent.

The crime is considered completed from the moment the recipient accepts at least part transferred values. If the conditional transfer of valuables does not take place due to circumstances beyond the control of the person who tried to transfer the subject of the bribe, what he did is qualified as an attempt to give a bribe.

The qualifying features of the crime include:
1) giving a bribe in a significant amount (Part 2). A significant bribe is an amount exceeding 25 thousand rubles;
2) giving a bribe for illegal actions (part 3);
3) giving a bribe by a group of persons by prior conspiracy or by an organized group (clause a) part 4). A bribe is considered to be transferred by prior conspiracy by a group of persons if the crime involved two or more persons who agreed in advance to commit it together of this crime. It does not matter what amount was transferred by each of these persons, or whether the transfer was carried out by only one of them. An organized group is characterized by stability, more high degree organization, distribution of roles, presence of an organizer and leader;
4) giving a bribe on a large scale (item "b" part 4). A large bribe is an amount exceeding 150 thousand rubles.

5) giving a bribe on an especially large scale (Part 5). A particularly large bribe is an amount exceeding 1 million rubles.

The note to the commented article contains conditions for exemption from criminal liability of the person who gave a bribe.

The first mandatory condition for the release of a bribe-giver from criminal liability is active promotion disclosure and (or) investigation of a crime. In the absence of such a condition, the decision to release him from criminal liability will be illegal. Second required condition is of an alternative nature, in order to make a decision on exemption from criminal liability, there must be extortion of a bribe by an official, or the person, after committing a crime, must voluntarily report giving a bribe to the body that has the right to initiate a criminal case.

2. Applicable law:
1) Federal Law "On Combating Corruption";
2) order of the Federal Fisheries Agency dated April 14, 2010 N 338 “On organizing work in the Federal Fisheries Agency to inform about events and incidents related to anti-corruption, passage of the federal government civil service and personnel work";
3) letter Federal service bailiffs dated 04/27/2012 N 12/12-10190-AP “On intensifying work to identify bribe-payers”;
4) letter of the Federal Bailiff Service dated 01.06.2010 N 12/12-11488-AP “O corruption offenses identified in 2010";
5) information from the Ministry of Labor and social protection RF dated 03/04/2013 “Review of recommendations for the implementation of a set of organizational, explanatory and other measures to prevent officials from behavior that may be perceived by others as a promise to give a bribe or an offer to give a bribe, or as an agreement to accept a bribe or as a request to give a bribe”;
6) information from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation dated February 19, 2013 “Review of recommendations for the implementation of a set of organizational, explanatory and other measures to prevent officials from engaging in behavior that may be perceived by others as a promise to give a bribe or an offer to give a bribe, or as an agreement to accept a bribe, or as request for a bribe."

7) indication Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation dated December 29, 2008 N 7/224 "On the organization of work in the system of the Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation in the field of combating corruption."

3. Judicial practice:
1) Resolution of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 9, 2013 N 24 “On judicial practice in cases of bribery and other corruption crimes”;
2) Leninsky District Court of Irkutsk ( Irkutsk region) (sentence dated May 23, 2012) gr.R. found guilty of committing a crime under Art. 30 part 3, 291 part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with the imposition of punishment in accordance with Art. 46 part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the form of a fine in the amount of 25,000 rubles;
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URL: http://docs.pravo.ru/document/view/25954592/25741889/
3) Oktyabrsky District Court of Krasnodar (Krasnodar Territory) (sentence dated January 28, 2011) gr.P. found guilty of committing a crime under Part 3 of the Russian Federation, Part 2 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and he was sentenced to three years in prison (suspended, with probationary period 3 years). As established by the court, gr.P. committed an attempt to give a bribe to an official personally for committing obviously illegal actions, if the crime was not completed due to circumstances beyond the control of this person. The crime was committed under the following circumstances. dd.mm.yyyy., at approximately 10 hours 50 minutes, in, minor gr.F., being in commercial premises, located in underground passage near the intersection of streets and owned by individual entrepreneur Gr.D., acquired tobacco product- cigarettes of the "Kent" brand, which was discovered by the inspector of OPDN OUUM and PDN OM N ATC for gr.I. In accordance with clause 1, part 2, art. 28.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, gr.I., classified by the legislator as one of the persons entitled authority, drew up a protocol on the commission by an individual entrepreneur of gr.D. administrative offense under Art. 14.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, which due to the absence of the latter was not presented. dd.mm.yyyy., at approximately 10:00 a.m., in group P., with the intent to bribe an official in order to evade administrative responsibility his wife, Gr.D., being in the office of the juvenile affairs department of OM N of the Internal Affairs Directorate, located on N, handed over to Gr.I. as an illegal reward of 10,000 rubles for illegal actions consisting in withholding gr.I. protocol on administrative offense and not sending him to the magistrate's court. However, to bring his criminal intent to gr.P. he was unable to complete it due to circumstances beyond his control, since his actions were suppressed by employees of department N of the Department of Economic Crimes of the Internal Affairs Directorate;
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URL: http://docs.pravo.ru/document/view/17985972/15640539/
4) Koshkinsky District Court (Samara Region) (sentence dated August 31, 2011) gr.I. found guilty of committing a crime under Part 3 of Art. 30 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Part 3 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (as amended by Federal Law dated May 4, 2011 N 97-FZ) with the imposition of a fine in the form of a fine of thirty times the amount of the bribe, that is, in the amount of 6,000 (six thousand) rubles.

Introduction

Chapter 1. Petty bribery and petty commercial bribery: history and modernity

1 Historical aspect of the development of legislation on combating bribery and commercial bribery

2 Reasons for identifying petty bribery and petty commercial bribery as new crimes

3 Petty bribery

4 Minor commercial bribery

Chapter 2. Petty bribery and petty commercial bribery: qualification problems and application practice

1 Problems of qualification of petty bribery and petty commercial bribery

2 Problems of proving crimes related to everyday corruption

Conclusion

Introduction

In modern Russia, corruption has a destructive impact on all spheres of society. At the same time, the severity of the problem is recognized both by the scientific community and representatives of government authorities. Thus, “National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation”, approved by decree President of the Russian Federation dated December 31, 2015 No. 683, recognizes it as one of the main threats to public safety. In order to eradicate the causes and conditions that give rise to corruption, an atmosphere of unacceptability of this phenomenon is formed in society, and opposing social movements, law enforcement practice is being improved.

Particularly worthy of attention is the so-called “everyday corruption”, in the area of ​​which research is rather scarce. Everyday corruption is understood as “corruption relations that citizens encounter most often.” Its social danger lies in its widest distribution among citizens, because people give bribes everywhere - at school, at college, in medical institutions and law enforcement agencies, without even realizing that they are committing a crime.

The main reason is so widespread Everyday corruption lies in the undermined moral foundations of a society that has historically become accustomed to looking for workarounds, acting by agreement in order to “not stand in line,” not wanting to comply with the established order of certain procedures. At the same time, participation in corrupt activities is not only a criminal offense, but also violates the rights of law-abiding citizens.

A distinctive feature of everyday corruption is small amounts of bribes, which makes it widespread and almost daily. This fact did not go unnoticed, which led to a number of changes in criminal legislation provided for Federal law dated 07/03/2016 No. 324-FZ “On amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.” In addition to changes in current standards Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, this law established new crimes, namely: “Mediation in commercial bribery” (Article 204.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), “Petty commercial bribery” (Article 204.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), “Petty bribery” (Article 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Correlating the changes that have occurred in anti-corruption legislation with the topic of the work, close attention should be paid to such legislative innovations as “ petty bribery" and "petty commercial bribery", establish the true reasons for the release of data illegal acts into new crimes and analyze the problems of their qualification.

The object of the study is public relations arising in connection with criminal prosecution for petty bribery and petty commercial bribery.

The subject of the study is criminal law in terms of liability for petty bribery and petty commercial bribery, the practice of its application, as well as educational and scientific literature.

The purpose of the work is to establish the prerequisites and reasons for identifying petty bribery and petty commercial bribery as independent crimes and to identify the main problems of their qualification.

To achieve the goal, the following tasks were set:

)analyze the historical aspect of the development of legislation on combating bribery and commercial bribery;

)establish the reasons for distinguishing petty bribery and petty commercial bribery into new, independent crimes;

)study the concepts of petty bribery and petty commercial bribery;

)analyze the level criminal law regulation liability for petty bribery and petty commercial bribery, using the theoretical basis and law enforcement practice, and determine the timeliness and necessity of highlighting these standards;

The main research methods are dialectical and general scientific and special scientific methods of cognition based on it, including formal logical, historical, statistical, comparative legal and formal legal.

The theoretical basis of the work consists of the works of such leading legal theorists as: V.N. Borkov, S.I. Weibert, I.B. Volozhenkin, L.D. Gaukhman, V.I. Gladkikh, B.V. Zdravomyslov, I.A. Mamedov, D.V. Miroshnichenko, A.I Kirpichnikov, E.G. Poniatovskaya, A.I. Rarog, A.Yu. Smirnov, A.I. Chashin, A.I. Chuchaev and others.

The empirical basis of the study was the materials of the published judicial practice, Resolutions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, criminal cases considered district courts Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod region, as well as courts of other regions.

The theoretical significance of the work is determined by the fact that it represents a special study of legislative innovations established by the Federal Law of July 3, 2016 No. 324-FZ “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.”

The practical significance is determined by the conclusions formulated on the basis of the study and recommendations for improving the norms of criminal legislation regulating liability for petty bribery and petty commercial bribery.

The structure of the work is built taking into account the goals and objectives of the study and ensures logical consistency in the presentation of the progress and results of the study. The work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion and a list of references.

bribery commercial bribery crime

Chapter 1. Petty bribery and petty commercial bribery: history and modernity

.1 Historical aspect of the development of legislation on combating bribery and commercial bribery

Historically, the issue of combating corruption in Russia is the most pressing, and the fight against bribery has always been one of the most current problems, since corruption crimes slowed down the political, social and economic development states.

Such crimes, including in the field of everyday corruption, such as bribery and bribery, were known at all stages of the formation of the Russian state. If in ancient Rus' corruption crimes were determined by the traditions of society during the formation of statehood, then in the 14th century the problem of bribery began to take on alarming proportions.

For the first time, the concept of a bribe or, in the terminology of that time, a promise was introduced into legislation: “And do not make secret promises to either the prince or the mayor” (Article 4 of the Pskov Judgment Charter of 1397). By the middle of the 17th century, a system of criminal law rules for punishment for bribery, extortion and extortion had finally been formed in the Moscow state.

Peter I during the Provincial reform and the introduction of the “Table of Ranks” in 1722, an attempt was made to combat corruption by increasing the centralization of power and the formation of a professional bureaucracy. But even despite the harshest types of punishment, the measures taken by Peter I were ineffective, only increasing the corruption of the state apparatus.

Under Catherine II, the fight against corruption and bribery was a priority domestic policy, a number of charters were issued, but as a result, the situation in state apparatus only worsened due to the increase in the number of officials and the growth of favoritism.

Nicholas I achieved some success in the fight against corruption, during whose reign a whole Code of Laws was developed regulating liability for bribery.

The end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century was characterized by the fight against corruption in business as a new object of enrichment for government officials. In addition, the increase in bribery in Russia was associated with an increase in the bureaucracy, military orders, various transactions with real estate and exploitation of mineral deposits. On top of this, a sharp increase in corruption crimes occurred during the Russo-Japanese War and with the outbreak of the First World War.

The Soviet period of the Russian state was characterized by a sharp increase in the number of officials, which led to an increase in the number of corruption crimes: in proportion to the number of officials, the number of bribe takers also increased. During this period, corruption at the everyday level stood out. There have been many complaints from the population about law enforcement officers extorting bribes for “turning a blind eye” to various minor violations of the law.

Particularly spicy this problem showed itself during civil war. The Soviet leadership did not stand aside and took decisive measures to combat corruption crimes. On May 8, 1918, the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR “On bribery” was issued, signed personally by V.I. Lenin. In fact, this was the first Soviet law on bribery. Article 1 established criminal liability persons in the state or public service who are guilty of taking a bribe, in the form of imprisonment for a term of at least five years, combined with forced labor for the same period.

It is worth noting that even then the decree “On Bribery” had retroactive force, however, according to Art. 6, those who gave a bribe before the decree was issued, but within three months from the date of its publication declared judicial authorities about this crime. It is also interesting that only the lowest limit of the sanction was established. Thus, the revolutionary tribunals condemned large bribe takers as long periods imprisonment or execution.

On August 1921, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted a new decree “On the fight against bribery,” establishing punishment for persons “who, while in the state, union or public service, personally or through an intermediary received or attempted to receive a bribe in any form for the performance of in the interests of the bribe giver for any action within their scope official duties».

Since the entry into force of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1922, the provisions on bribery have remained virtually unchanged, clarifying only that a bribe can be received not only for the performance, but also for the failure to perform any action in the interests of the giver.

With the formation of the USSR and during the new economic policy A decree was adopted establishing liability for simple and qualified types of bribery. In 1926, the RSFSR adopted a new Criminal Code, which for the first time established that only an official could be the subject of a bribe. In addition, criminal liability was established for giving a bribe. It should be noted that the sanction for giving a bribe (imprisonment for up to five years) exceeds the sanction for simply receiving a bribe (imprisonment for up to two years), however, the qualified offense of receiving a bribe will entail much more stringent sanctions.

The next round of increased corruption occurred during the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War, although officially corruption is like social phenomenon, disappeared under a totalitarian state and was carefully disguised from the public. In an attempt to correct the shortcomings of the past, the legislator has seriously strengthened the sanctions for bribery. The new Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1960 provided for up to fifteen years of imprisonment with confiscation of property, and taking a bribe by an official or on an especially large scale was punishable by an exceptional penalty.

Corruption reached truly enormous proportions during the period of stagnation, which was primarily due to the lenient style of government leadership. It is important to note that the highest party officials were practically inviolable and stood outside the scope of the law.

Subsequent collapse Soviet Union and the transition to a market economy led to corruption becoming a dominant element of the privatization process. Russian state, in a sense, made a circle in its development: administrative and bureaucratic methods of management were revived with the monopoly of all-powerful local governors. There is an urgent need to carry out economic and political reforms, since the functioning of society, due to the flourishing of corruption, was under threat.

In April 1992, the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On the fight against corruption in the public service system” was issued, which for the first time established the duties of government officials when appointing leadership position submit declarations not only about income, but also about movable and real estate, bank deposits, valuable papers ah, financial obligations.

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, adopted in May 1996, detailed the subject of a bribe, objective and subjective side crimes, specified the concept of a bribe: “in the form of money, securities, other property or benefits of a property nature.” In addition, criminal liability was established for commercial bribery, which recognized the illegal transfer of money, securities, or other property to a person performing managerial functions in a commercial or other organization, as well as the illegal provision of property-related services to him for the commission of actions (inaction) in the interests of giving in connection with the official position held by a person.

Based on the definition, it is possible to establish the main differences between bribery and commercial bribery. They lie in the object and subject of the crime. The object of the crime of bribery is correct work government organizations and authorities various levels, and with commercial bribery there is an encroachment on normal work and interests of commercial and other organizations. In turn, in bribery the subject of the crime is officials, while in commercial bribery they are persons who perform managerial functions in the organization.

Thus, a historical overview of evolutionary development Russian corruption and its manifestations in various forms shows the main reasons for this terrible national disease and the urgency of a decisive fight against it.

1.2 Reasons for identifying petty bribery and petty commercial bribery as new crimes

The “National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation”, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated December 31, 2015 No. 683, identifies corruption as one of the main threats to public security. At the same time, Russia is a party to international anti-corruption conventions, and since 2007 has been a member of GRECO (a group of states fighting corruption). Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 04/01/16 No. 147 approved the National Anti-Corruption Plan for 2016-2017, which proclaims the organization of scientific interdisciplinary research into the legislation of the Russian Federation on anti-corruption and the practice of its application in terms of reducing the level of everyday corruption.

From all of the above it follows that Russia is involved in the process of continuous improvement of the anti-corruption system, and in carrying out the specified in National plan Anti-corruption research aims to develop a clear strategy to combat manifestations of everyday corruption and move closer to its complete eradication.

Data international conventions and regulations influence the formation of the anti-corruption legislative framework, the most important element which is the criminal law.

According to the strategy to combat manifestations of everyday corruption, Federal Law No. 324-FZ dated July 3, 2016 “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation” introduced a number of changes to criminal legislation. Such legislative innovations as “petty bribery” and “petty commercial bribery” deserve special attention.

In addition to changes to the current norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Federal Law No. 324-FZ introduced articles providing for criminal liability for petty bribery (Article 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and petty commercial bribery (Article 204.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Expressed in Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation combines two elements of a crime - taking a bribe and giving a bribe personally or through an intermediary, and hallmark petty bribery from the offenses provided for in Art. 290 and art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, is the size of the bribe - up to 10 thousand rubles. IN explanatory note In connection with the draft of this federal law, it was noted that in the period from 2012 to 2015, criminal cases initiated on the basis of receiving or giving a bribe, or commercial bribery in the amount of up to 10 thousand rubles prevailed. At first glance, such differentiation is appropriate and consistent with the principles of justice.

Indeed, if you look at the data from the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation over the past few years, the overwhelming number of people have been convicted of bribery in small amounts, and greatest number sentences were handed down for bribery in amounts not exceeding 10 thousand rubles. For comparison, in 2015, out of 3,348 small bribe takers, there were only 587 people convicted of significant bribery, and only 88 people were convicted of particularly large bribes.

The initiative to introduce petty bribery and petty commercial bribery into the criminal law came from the administration of the President of the Russian Federation. According to its representatives, this novel has a number of positive properties. Firstly, the differentiation of these groups will not allow law enforcement agencies to create the appearance of actively combating corruption when summing up the results of their work and compiling statistics. Secondly, in view light weight of this crime, the investigation of criminal cases was transferred to the investigative bodies, and jurisdiction was assigned to magistrates, which should help simplify and reduce the time frame for criminal proceedings, since such cases are mainly considered in special order judicial trial. Thirdly, the establishment of more lenient sanctions compared to the previous version of the law ensures a fair differentiation of punishment, because bribery on a large and especially large scale carries a much greater public danger than petty bribery.

Many researchers focus their attention on the problem of using the results of operational investigative activities in evidence. In particular, it is noted that due to the incompleteness of regulation by the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation of the actions of operational officers to verify a report of a crime, the latter are forced to be guided by other laws and by-laws. In this regard, the information obtained during the implementation of operational-search activities at the verification stage does not meet the criteria of admissible evidence, and investigators have to duplicate previously carried out actions in order to give them evidentiary value. Lawyers, taking advantage of this situation, often file motions to induce a bribe and declare evidence inadmissible.

Therefore, separating the elements of petty bribery and petty commercial bribery, as well as changing the jurisdiction of criminal proceedings, can serve as an incentive for law enforcement agencies to identify and disclose facts of bribery on a large and especially large scale. However, the quality of the investigation, which will result in the conviction of the perpetrators, can be ensured, first of all, by the completeness and consistency of criminal procedural legislation.

1.3 Petty bribery

Among the corrupt most crimes widespread and is dangerous corrupt practices, which encroaches on basics state power, undermines authority of state and municipal bodies and institutions, creates citizens have an idea about possibilities personal satisfaction interests by bribery officials persons

In order to improve criminal -legal support counteraction corruption by the Federal by law dated 07/03/2016 No. 324-FZ Criminal code Russian Federation supplemented Article 291.2 “Small corrupt practices ».

Criminal liability under Part 1 of Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation comes for accepting a bribe or giving a bribe personally or through intermediary in an amount not exceeding ten thousand rubles. Behind specified crime Criminal code punishment is provided for form a fine of up to two hundred thousand rubles or in the amount of wages boards or other income convicted for the period before three months, or correctional works for up to one year, or restrictions freedom for up to two years or deprivation freedom for up to one of the year .

The same acts committed face, having a criminal record for committing crimes provided for articles 290, 291, 291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are punished a fine of up to one million rubles or in the amount of wages boards or other income convicted for the period before one year, or correctional work for up to three years, or limitation freedom for a period of up to four years, or imprisonment for term up to three years.

A bribe is considered small and does not exceed ten rubles. Previously, those who took small amounts (up to ten thousand) were judged according to the general Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - receiving and giving (Articles 290, 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). They highlight four

· insignificant - up to 25 thousand

significant - over 25 rubles,

large - 150 thousand rubles,

· large - one million rubles or more.

New Article 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - “bribery” by the legislator to minor crimes

Previously, for a bribe in the amount of ten thousand rubles, under Part 1 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - punishment in the amount of up to one ruble, or in wages of other income for a period of up to two years, in the amount of ten times the amount of the bribe with the right to hold office or certain activities for up to three years, or work for a period of one to two years with deprivation of the right to engage in certain positions for a period of up to three years, forced labor for up to five years with the right to hold positions or certain activities for up to three years, or freedom for a term of up to years with a fine of ten to twenty times the bribe or such.

Even more serious punishments were threatened for especially qualified trains receiving a bribe in such an amount, but in the presence of aggravating circumstances (under Part 3 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - a fine in the amount of up to seventy times the amount with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions for a term of up to three or deprivation for a term of three to years with a fine of forty times the amount of a bribe; under Part 4 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - in the amount of sixty to the amount of a bribe with the right to occupy a position or certain activities for up to three years with imprisonment for from five to ten with a fine in the amount of the bribe) .

After making changes, the maximum punishment for receiving or bribes in the amount of thousands of rubles is punishable by a fine of up to thousand rubles in the amount of income for a period of up to three, correctional labor for up to one year, restriction of freedom for up to two years, and imprisonment for up to a year.

For repeating or giving up to ten thousand, more punishment is provided - a fine of up to rubles or the salary of other income for a period of up to one, or correctional for up to three years, restriction of freedom for up to four years, or freedom for up to years.

Municipal and civil servants may in some cases accept from the population for performing their duties faster or for providing additional services, not job description, but with their activities. All this, however, does not negate the fact that they are doing this. For some, it may be that small things are not truly significant, dangerous act, but from such crimes it is small. However, “petty” corruption serves as a means of enriching those who accept bribes up to 10,000 or others worth up to 10 thousand. Even taking into account the fact that in “petty” corruption we are talking about small ones, it directly affects the population, especially in areas such as education .

1.4 Minor commercial bribery

Federal No. 324-FZ dated July 3, 2016 supplemented the code with Russian Article 204.2 “Petty bribery.”

In accordance with Art. 204.2 of the Code of the Russian Federation, commercial for an amount not exceeding thousands of rubles in small amounts and is punishable in the amount of up to one hundred thousand rubles in the amount of wages or another sentence for a period of up to months, or by work for a period of up to hours, or by work for a period of up to a year, or by freedom for a period of up to of the year.

The same act, by a person convicted of committing crimes, under Articles 204, 204.1, 204.2 of the Criminal Code is punishable by a fine of up to five hundred thousand or in the amount of the fee or income of the convicted person for up to six months, correctional labor for up to one year, restriction of freedom for up to two years, or freedom for up to a year.

Just like the rule on petty bribery, Article 204.1 contains a note defining a special basis for exemption from criminal liability: a person who transfers the subject of commercial bribery is exempt from criminal liability, he is actively involved in the disclosure and (or) investigation and or there was a subject of bribery in relation to the subject of bribery, this the person committing the crime reported to the authority, the right to initiate a case, about the transfer of bribery.

Commercial - this is provided for in Art. Criminal code is intentional socially active behavior, illegal transfer receipt of money, papers, other provision of services of a nature or other property (use of them), encroaching on services in other commercial organizations. actions at the same time two crimes: rewards for bribery and receiving for commercial

The public danger lies in undermining the interests of management activities in a business or organization.

In general, commercial crime accounts for a tiny (but increasing) part of registered crime in Russia.

Thus, in all persons convicted, the share under Art. 204 of the Criminal Code was: in the city - 0% (seven people); in -2000 - 0.01% annually; in -2004 - 0.02% annually; in -2009 - 0.03% annually; in the city - 0.04%; in 2011-2015 - 0.05%. in the city - 0.07%.

The objective side of the crime is expressed in the form of action:

a) in money, money, other property, services property provision other rights for the exercise (inaction) in the interests of remuneration in connection with this person’s position;

b) in the receipt by those performing management in a commercial or organization, remuneration for actions (inaction) in giving remuneration in the official position occupied.

By design, the composition is formal. completed at the moment the recipient (a person with managerial functions in or another or his) receives at least part of the remuneration.

criminal encroachment (transfer of commercial bribery) - i.e. a physically sane person who has reached the age of 16 at the time of the commission. The subject of receiving petty bribery is a special person - a person performing managerial functions in a commercial or other organization.

The subjective side of guilt in the form of intent. It is enough that the guilty person was aware of the public transfer (receipt) of the reward of commercial bribery and was no less willing (to receive) this reward. This crime is self-serving, but as when constructing the elements of bribery, the legislator did not indicate the motive and goals of bribery; accordingly, neither motives nor goals are among the mandatory characteristics of the subjective side.

Chapter 2. Petty bribery and petty commercial bribery: qualification problems and application practice

.1 Problems of qualification of petty bribery and petty commercial bribery

responsibility for “minor” (petty bribery and commercial bribery) is not differentiated depending on the absence of qualifying characteristics for the official, but the nature of the actions () for which the (subject of bribery) is transferred; crimes by a group by prior conspiracy by an organized group; crimes by the person public office RF public office of the Federation, as well as the body of local extortion of bribes (bribery).

With such signs, the latter is subject to the well-known rule of crimes under norms containing privileged compounds.

in words, regardless of the grounds for establishing qualified and qualified types, the receipt or bribe (item), the amount of which is not 10 thousand rubles, must be qualified under Part 1 of Art. 204.2 part 1 art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code.

For example, receiving an amount of more than 10 thousand rubles, but not 1 million rubles, associated with a bribe, follows paragraph “b” of Part 5 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code, which provides for imprisonment from seven to twelve years. same (i.e. with extortion) receiving in the amount of no more than 10 thousand rubles. - according to Part 1 of Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code with a sanction limit of one year of freedom.

The fact that, regardless of the size of the reward, the perpetrators endanger the interests of the briber, such qualifications are not taken into account.

This is that, despite statements about the strengthening of the fight against all its manifestations, the responsibility of entire corrupt officials is significant. Thus, what is committed by employees of medical workers, educational institutions in receiving a bribe, which does not exceed 10 thousand rubles, even if there are qualifications provided for in Art. 290 of the Criminal Code, qualify under Part 1 of Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code, the sanction is much softer, sanctions Art. 290 CC.

The established criminal law on liability for petty bribery does not cover the entire layer of everyday corruption. De facto, the range of subjects of everyday corruption is wider than the subjects of bribery, because its subjects (including subjects of petty bribery) de jure remain officials, foreign officials or officials of public international organizations. On the question of who should be considered the subject of petty bribery and petty commercial bribery, Supreme Court The Russian Federation pointed out that “the subject of petty bribery completely coincides with the subject of the crimes provided for in Articles 290 and 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and the subject of petty commercial bribery - with the subject of the crime provided for in Article 204 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.”

It should be noted that in the new criminal law norm The legislator equalized the responsibility for giving and receiving a bribe. Such equality does not at all correspond to the principle of fairness of punishment, since the degree public danger the bribe taker is always higher due to his official position. As B.V. correctly notes. Zravomyslov, receiving and giving a bribe are independent crimes with different characteristics actions, different content of intent and divergent characteristics of the subject. Traditionally, the degree of severity of sanctions for taking a bribe and giving a bribe is different, which can be seen in the norms of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1922, the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1926, the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1960, and also the current Criminal Code of the Russian Federation discussed above. Therefore, establishing uniform punishment the bribe taker and the bribe giver in the sanction of Article 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation noticeably contradicts the established view of receiving a bribe as an act of greater public danger than giving a bribe.

At the same time, the legislator showed inconsistency in differentiating responsibility for minor corruption crimes. If criminal liability for subjects of petty bribery, namely for those receiving and giving a petty bribe, is mitigated, then mediation in petty bribery should be assessed as complicity in petty bribery and punished in the same way as petty bribery itself. On the question of whether a person who has rendered intermediary services when transferring a bribe, the amount of which does not exceed ten thousand rubles, or the subject of commercial bribery in an amount not exceeding ten thousand rubles, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation indicated: “No, it cannot. In accordance with Article 204.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in force since July 15, 2016, and Article 291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as well as notes to Articles 204 and 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, criminal liability is established only for mediation in commercial bribery or bribery, if the amount of the subject of bribery or the amount bribes are significant (exceed twenty-five thousand rubles).” It should be noted that currently the rule on simple mediation in bribery provides for the most severe punishment, one and a half times less than the most severe basic punishment for receiving a bribe in a significant amount. Based on this, it would be most correct to provide for liability for mediation in petty bribery, reducing it compared to petty bribery itself.

Consequences of the introduction of Art. 291.2 are significantly reflected in the practice of sentencing in these cases. Firstly, petty bribery has been recognized as a crime of minor gravity and the courts are no longer required to resort to the powers provided for in Part 6 of Art. 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on changing the category of crime to a less serious one. Secondly, the establishment of a new standard of punishment in the sanction, more lenient than in the sanction of the provisions of Art. 290 and 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation activates the rule on retroactive effect criminal law (Article 10 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In this regard, a significant number convictions in cases of receiving or giving a bribe in the amount of up to ten thousand rubles, it is subject to review with a change in the classification of the act and a mitigation of the previously imposed punishment.

As follows from the analysis appellate rulings, issued during the period from the entry into force of the Federal Law on Amendments to the present time, requalification under Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is subject to receiving and giving a bribe in the amount of up to ten thousand rubles, regardless of whether the act qualified signs. In other words, at Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation reclassifies the receipt and giving of a bribe in the amount of up to ten thousand rubles, including those carried out for illegal actions or inactions (Part 3 of Article 290, Part 3 of Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), committed by a group persons by prior conspiracy or by an organized group (clause “b”, part 5, article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

For example, according to the Sovetsky district of Volgograd on July 22, an associate professor of the department from universities S. was convicted of receiving (for each - in the amount of not 10 thousand rubles) from students - for successful tests, in the totality provided for in Part 1 Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code. She was given a fine of 300 thousand rubles. The investigation authorities qualified S.’s actions under Part 3 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code (on crimes) as bribes to officials for illegal actions.

The name of the above-mentioned criminal law norm also raises some questions. The legislator defines petty bribery and petty commercial bribery using the adjective “petty” and classifying them as crimes, while other “petty” acts (petty theft, petty hooliganism) are classified as administrative offenses due to their low public danger. So, A.P. Alekseev and A.S. Ivanov are of the opinion that it would be more consistent to place petty bribery in the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences, defining it as “receiving or giving a bribe in an amount not exceeding one thousand rubles”, and a bribe in an amount not exceeding ten thousand rubles , define it in the existing articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, making the necessary changes to it.

commercial bribery and bribery are not included in the crimes entailing the use of coercive measures criminal law- property (clause “a”, part 1, article 104.1 of the Criminal Code).

In this way, the legislator demonstrated his conviction in the priority of illegal remuneration by other signs of behavior affecting the criminal law

Unfortunately, the fact has been ignored that corruption is determined not by the extent of the illegality, but also by the nature of the actions () in the service, performed for remuneration, and other circumstances.

.2 Problems of proving crimes related to everyday corruption

The identification of such crimes as “petty bribery” and “petty commercial bribery” significantly influences the current practice of investigating cases of receiving and giving bribes, as well as commercial bribery.

In the course of studying materials from criminal cases related to bribery and commercial bribery, as well as scientific research in the field of bribery investigation, it has been found that most bribery cases are based on data obtained as a result of operational investigative activities, and this data is subsequently used in the evidentiary process.

The main operational investigative activities carried out to combat corruption include the following:

· inquiry;

· observation;

· operational experiment;

· wiretapping of telephone conversations;

· inspection of premises, buildings, structures, areas and vehicles;

· personal identification;

· survey.

The most effective of the listed operational investigative measures are the operational experiment and wiretapping of telephone conversations.

An operational experiment is the secret observation and documentation of a person’s behavior in artificially created conditions in order to identify his illegal activities and obtaining evidence. According to the results of a number of criminological and forensic research It has been established that in Russia over 80% of all convictions in cases of bribery are based on evidence of guilt obtained as a result of this type of investigative activity.

The main task of an operational experiment is to reproduce the circumstances of an unlawful event and carry out necessary actions to detain a suspect red-handed when receiving or giving a bribe.

Telephone tapping consists of secret auditory monitoring and recording of telephone conversations between persons using special technical means, in order to detect information about the illegal activities of a person and obtain evidence.

Wiretapping refers to operational-search activities that limit constitutional rights person, so implement it operational bodies can only if there is court decision- both before the initiation of a criminal case and after. However, in a number of cases, wiretapping is possible without court approval:

)urgent cases that may lead to the commission of a crime of medium gravity, grave or especially felony, including wiretapping of telephone conversations of a person who is going to give a bribe (most often such information comes from himself) or who is extorting money for performing any actions within his official powers can be organized;

)as a security measure, for example, if a person is forced to perform any action under the threat of violence or destruction of personal property.

From the information obtained as a result of these operational-search activities and their procedural registration the initiation of a criminal case, as well as its further investigation with the formation of an indictment, depends.

Before the introduction of novelties on petty bribery and petty commercial bribery, the effectiveness and legality of such operational-search activities did not raise questions. However, since the entry into force of Federal Law No. 324-FZ of July 3, 2016 “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation,” holding such events has proven difficult.

In accordance with Part 3 of Art. 8 of the Federal Law of August 12, 1995 No. 144-FZ “On Operational-Investigative Activities”, conducting operational experiments and wiretapping telephone conversations is allowed only in relation to persons suspected or accused of committing crimes of moderate gravity, serious or especially serious crimes.

Petty bribery is a crime of minor gravity, since the term of imprisonment in the sanction of Part 1 of Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not exceed one year, and in part 2 - three years. Petty commercial bribery is also a minor crime. The maximum sanction for committing this crime provides for restriction of freedom for up to one year, and in Part 2 of Art. 204.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - imprisonment for up to one year.

It follows from the above that detectives and investigators, whose jurisdiction includes crimes of minor gravity, may experience difficulties in verifying a report of a crime and investigating a case of receiving or giving a small bribe without resorting to an operational experiment and wiretapping telephone conversations, long time used as the main means of identifying such crimes, as well as forming an evidence base.

Analyzing the sentences passed by the courts of the Nizhny Novgorod region in the period from July 2016 to May 2017, we can conclude that most of crimes committed under Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, is associated with an attempt to give a bribe in the amount of up to ten thousand rubles to government officials in the performance of their duties official powers. Moreover, most often bribes were offered to traffic police officers for their inaction against persons who had committed an administrative offense.

As an example of the most common case of giving a small bribe, the verdict of November 14, 2016 in case No. 1-63/2016, handed down in court district No. 2 of the Moskovsky district of Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod region), in relation to a person (full name hidden) accused of committing a crime under Part 3, Art. 30, part 1 art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

It was established that (date hidden) the defendant committed an administrative offense, namely, he overtook a vehicle at a controlled intersection, associated with entering the lane intended for oncoming traffic. In this regard, the defendant was stopped by inspectors of the road patrol service of the 1st platoon of the 2nd battalion of the traffic police regiment of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Was in the performance of his official duties to supervise road traffic and compliance by vehicle drivers with rules traffic The traffic police officer introduced himself and invited the defendant into his official car to draw up a report on the administrative offense. The commission of this administrative offense provides for administrative punishment in the form of a fine in the amount of 5,000 rubles or deprivation of the right to drive vehicles for a period of four to six months. While near the open front right door company car, the defendant, acting intentionally, knowing that the traffic police officer is an official and is in the exercise of his official powers, illegally gave the latter a personal bribe in the form of 1,000 rubles, one banknote of 1,000 rubles, placing it on the front passenger seat of the car, and subsequently sitting down on the specified seat, transferred it to the cup holder located on the console of the gearbox of the car interior, so that the traffic police officer would not draw up an administrative violation report against him, in order to subsequently avoid administrative liability under Part 4 of Art. 12.15 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, that is, for obviously illegal inaction. Despite the defendant committing deliberate actions aimed at bribing an official for a obviously illegal inaction, the crime was not completed due to circumstances beyond his control, since the traffic police officer refused to accept the illegal reward.

The defendant was accused of committing a crime under Part 3 of Art. 30, Part 1 of Article 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which belongs to the category of crimes of minor gravity, the punishment for which does not exceed 10 years in prison.

Magistrate, taking into account the consent of the public prosecutor to consider the case in a special way, considered it possible to pronounce a sentence on the defendant without a trial.

The defendant's guilt in committing this crime was confirmed by the totality of evidence collected in the case, the admissibility of which was not disputed by the defense.

The magistrate qualified the actions of the defendant under Article 30, Part 3 and Part 1 of Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as an attempt to give a bribe, that is intentional acts persons directly directed to give a bribe personally in an amount not exceeding ten thousand rubles, if the crime was not completed due to circumstances beyond the control of this person

Based on the above and guided by Articles 296-303, 316, 226.9 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the magistrate sentenced: the defendant was found guilty of committing a crime under Part 3 of Article 30, Part 1 of Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and impose a fine on him in the amount of 10,000 (ten thousand) rubles.

This example of using a legislative novel reflects the current situation with proving cases of petty bribery. Thus, it is possible to really prove the criminality of an act only in those cases of petty corruption, when the bribe-giver offers a bribe directly to a representative of the authorities for illegal inaction against him, and he, in turn, realizing the criminality of the act of the bribe-giver and being in the exercise of his official powers, suppresses this criminal act. act and contacts the relevant internal affairs body upon the commission of a crime. Evidence in such cases often includes witness testimony, video and audio materials that are recorded as usual, as well as the actual subject of the bribe.

Thus, the analysis allows us to conclude that the legislative novelty on petty bribery and petty commercial bribery does not cover the entire layer of everyday corruption. A huge number of bribes are given not only to government officials, but also to medical workers, workers social services, in schools, institutes and so on. It is extremely difficult to prove the criminality of acts in these cases without the use of operational investigative measures; moreover, one has to rely on the honesty and prudence of government officials, who must suppress any attempts to give a bribe.

For comparison, according to the open portal “Judicial and regulatory acts of the Russian Federation”, in the Nizhny Novgorod region in specified period from July 2016 to May 2017, only fifteen sentences were issued under Article 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Petty bribery”, the vast majority of which were related to the attempt to bribe traffic police officers. In turn, under Article 204.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Petty commercial bribery”, not a single sentence was passed. Such disappointing statistics indicate that the problem of proving crimes related to petty corruption requires an immediate solution.

To help improve the situation with proving crimes in the field of petty corruption, the following is proposed: to amend Federal Law No. 144-FZ of August 12, 1995 “On operational investigative activities”, in particular to allow such operational investigative activities as an operational experiment, wiretapping telephone conversations and other activities previously unavailable for the investigation of crimes of minor gravity, in cases of investigation of crimes in the field of petty corruption. This can be implemented by lowering the lower level of the severity of the crime required for the implementation of operational investigative measures, or as an exception to Art. 291.2 and Art. 204.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Conclusion

The problem of everyday corruption is not new and is widely known to society and the state throughout all stages of development, from ancient times to modern Russia. In each individual era, the state made attempts to counter this phenomenon: decrees and laws were introduced, sanctions for committing crimes in the field of domestic corruption were strengthened, anti-corruption programs and research were carried out. Despite the fact that some successes have been achieved in this area, in general, the fight against corruption and petty corrupt officials still continues.

The National Anti-Corruption Plan for 2016-2017 continues the state policy in this direction. In addition to conducting all kinds of research, as well as developing a clear and consistent strategy to combat corruption, the legislator introduced the first changes to the criminal law regarding petty bribery and petty commercial bribery. Federal Law No. 324-FZ of July 3, 2016 “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation” introduced new articles into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: 291.2 “Petty bribery”, 204.2 “Petty commercial bribery”, with the purpose to separate small bribe-takers from the rest, mitigating their criminal liability.

Despite the apparent positive effects of the introduction of these novelties, a number of problematic issues arise.

Firstly, mitigation of criminal liability for committing corruption crimes does not correspond to the goals and objectives of the current anti-corruption policy states. You cannot defeat corruption by mitigating penalties for it.

Secondly, the size of the bribe cannot serve as the basis for determining the degree of public danger of bribery, since, first of all, it is necessary to take into account the conditionality of the bribe on the activities of the official and the consequences that have occurred. In addition, this novel contradicts traditional legal science And legislative practice views on the degree of public danger of receiving a bribe, the punishment for which should be more severe than the punishment for giving a bribe.

Thirdly, the introduction of articles on petty corruption into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation significantly changes the existing law enforcement practice, in particular, makes it impossible to carry out operational investigative measures necessary for the successful investigation of crimes, such as operational experiments and wiretapping of telephone conversations.

To summarize, it should be noted that the listed problems do not allow us to come to an unambiguous conclusion. On the one hand, liberalization is obvious criminal policy in relation to subjects of petty bribery. With another, new normal does not fully correspond to the criminal realities of modern reality.

Achieving positive results in the fight against everyday corruption is possible subject to further improvement of the institution of responsibility for small criminal acts, while combating corruption crimes on a large and especially large scale requires a more serious approach than isolating petty bribery and petty commercial bribery into separate compositions crimes.

(introduced by Federal Law dated July 3, 2016 N 324-FZ)

Part 1. Receiving a bribe, giving a bribe personally or through an intermediary in an amount not exceeding ten thousand rubles -

are punished a fine in the amount of up to two hundred thousand rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to three months, or correctional labor for a term of up to one year, or restriction of liberty for a term of up to two years, or imprisonment for a term of up to one year.

Part 2. The same acts committed by a person with a criminal record for committing crimes provided for in Articles 290, 291, 291.1 of this Code or this article th, -

are punished a fine in the amount of up to one million rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to one year, or correctional labor for a term of up to three years, or restriction of liberty for a term of up to four years, or imprisonment for a term of up to three years.

Note. A person who has committed a bribe in the amount specified in this article is exempt from criminal liability if he actively contributed to the disclosure and (or) investigation of a crime and either extortion of a bribe took place against him, or this person, after committing a crime, voluntarily reported to the authority having the right to initiate a criminal case for giving a bribe.

Commentary to Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

The article indicates such an offense as:

• Giving a bribe;
• Receipt;
• Transfers as intermediary services.

It is also mentioned that the size of the bribe should be minimal. If the amount of such illegal remuneration is more significant, then liability is provided under other articles of legislation. The article in question clearly states that minimum penalties in the form of a fine are provided if the bribe was insignificant, was carried out for the first time, and the actions did not entail negative consequences. If significant consequences arise, a period of imprisonment may be assigned, but not more than a year. If the actions are repeated, that is, the person who carries out intermediary actions receives or provides money in the form of illegal remuneration, more serious penalties are applied.

At the same time, in legislative framework determined that if the person who provides the funds actively cooperates with law enforcement authorities in order to expose criminal activity, for example, extortion, is exempt from criminal punishment.

Bribe- funds, or cash equivalent, provided as remuneration to the person borrowing a certain position, for the purpose of carrying out illegal actions beneficial to the person who provides such remuneration. Such actions are considered illegal, since they violate the basic principles of competition or established rules, which provokes the possibility of applying criminal law in such a situation.

Small bribe- in the legislative framework this concept may have different meanings. The norm in question determines that remuneration can be considered small in amount if the amount does not exceed ten thousand rubles. If the amount is more significant, then the possibility of applying other articles of legislation is formed.

It is extremely difficult to restore objective reality in such cases; it is for this reason that it is established that a person who actively helps law enforcement officers in the process of investigation, collection of evidence and evidence may be exempt from the established punishment.

Mediation- provision of certain services by a third party, taking into account the fact that one party transfers to him the remuneration that the intermediary provides to another person. Such services are very popular, as they allow basic acting persons criminal scheme to avoid deserved punishment. The legislator determined that such intermediary actions are also an offense, and the actions will be taken into account with all the nuances, but still the punishment will be equal, both for those who provide and receive, and for those who simply carry out a banal transfer. Thus, the legislator seeks to optimize the structure of the fight against bribery, preventing the activities of intermediaries, in order to identify the main extortion schemes. Such serious punishment options are designed to stop mediation services as such, so that in the future they do not become an obstacle to the investigation of cases.

It is quite interesting to encounter human hypocrisy in practice. We have repeatedly conducted small social surveys, the essence of which was to answer a rather simple question: “If you had a guarantee that you would not be held accountable for a harmless, but illegal, action. Would you take it? Surely many guessed what the result of the survey was each time. Yes, indeed, the overwhelming majority responded positively, and only a small number responded with a categorical refusal.

Many motivated their answer in a banally simple manner: “If our officials can and do it, then why can’t I do it too.” Unfortunately, this is the reality of the modern and far from ideal system, which gives rise to such a negative opinion about management structure our country as a whole. This article will discuss a criminal offense directly related to the above-mentioned corruption, in the form of petty bribery, and the degree of responsibility for its commission.

Criminal legal characteristics

Complexity and ambiguity forced the legislator to introduce major changes in the provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In July 2016, Chapter 30 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was supplemented with a number of articles. One of the “new items” was Article 291.2, which, in the current version of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, establishes responsibility and corpus delicti on the topic under consideration. Amendments to previously existing norms were also due to the need to demonstrate and apply the principle of humanity, since it is not entirely correct to give a bribe in the amount of 5,000 rubles, or a similar act, but in the amount of 1,000,000 rubles.

And based on all the circumstances described above, now current edition Article 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is as follows:

1. Receiving a bribe, giving a bribe personally or through an intermediary in an amount not exceeding ten thousand rubles -

shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to two hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to three months, or for a term of up to one year, or by restriction of liberty for a term of up to two years, or by imprisonment for a term of up to one year.

As you can see, part one regulates both independent crimes and combines them into general concept- “petty bribery.” And besides this, the main definition of the introduced concept is immediately provided - it is a bribe, the amount of which does not exceed 10,000 rubles.

It should be understood that the given amount Money or the value of material items or any property, or financial services The maximum amount of the bribe offered is set at 10,000 rubles. This should be illustrated with an example:

Citizen “A”, being a small business entity, planned to expand his own business by opening two new sales stalls alcoholic products. Citizen “A” did not have a license to carry out this activity, and in an attempt to resolve this issue“A” turned to his friend “B” with business proposal. The offer amount was 100,000 rubles, which was divided into several bank transfers. On January 21, 2018, the first and last transfer in the amount of 9,000 rubles was made, since both citizen “A” and citizen “B” were detained by law enforcement officers.

The example shows that the recipient received only 9,000 rubles, which corresponds to the amount mentioned above, since it does not exceed 10,000 rubles. But the qualification will be based on the provisions of Article 290 for the recipient, and under Article 291 for the bribe-giver. The fact is that the disposition of the topic under consideration assumes that the entire amount of the bribe, including all funds received and not received, does not exceed 10,000 rubles, and not the actual funds received. This is one of key points of this crime, which must be taken into account.

1. The same acts committed by a person who has a criminal record for committing crimes provided for in Articles 290, 291, 291.1 of this Code or this article -

shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to one million rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to one year, or by correctional labor for a period of up to three years, either for a term of up to four years, or imprisonment for a term of up to three years.

Part two establishes the punishment for repeating the crime in question. The subject under Part 2 can only be a person who has previously received a criminal record, and it has not yet been expunged, for any of the crimes provided for in the topic of bribery - giving (290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), receiving (291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), mediation (291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) or petty bribery (291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The punishment for the topic discussed does not exceed imprisonment for a term of up to 3 years, which is much milder than the above articles.

Conclusion

In general, this crime is absolutely identical to the main crimes, and the only difference is the amount of the bribe.

The problem of corruption remains the main enemy of socio-economic development and political stability in society and the state. The dishonesty and arbitrariness of government officials and officials pours into serious problem bribery as a socially dangerous criminal behavior.

Bribery concept

Modern domestic criminal legislation qualifies any agreed upon act or refusal to perform an act for compensation as bribery. Remuneration as an object of bribery can be:

1. Cash;
2. Material goods;
3. Values;
4. Services.

The subjects of the crime under consideration are the bribe-giver and the bribe-taker. An official of any state or municipal body may be the recipient of a bribe. And the bribe-giver is any person.

An action or inaction that is performed for receiving a certain remuneration must act as one of the elements of the official competence of the official. The Criminal Code also allows a form of bribery when the bribe-giver promises connivance or official protection.

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Providing assistance to the bribe-giver in sanctioning is also considered bribery. controversial issues, although the decision of which is not within the authority of the official, he has the opportunity to influence the outcome of the situation.

Bribe amount

The punishment imposed by a criminal court verdict largely depends on the size of the bribe. Also important aspect the circumstance of giving a bribe is considered - was it a reward for illegal actions official or it was a kind of manifestation of “gratitude” for providing assistance in resolving the issue.

As previously stated, a bribe can take the form of more than just cash. Transferring a non-cash amount of money and other material assets to an account also forms part of the crime in question.

When qualifying a crime and determining sanctions, the following types of corruption payments are distinguished:

1. Small bribe (size - up to 10 thousand rubles);
2. Bribe in a significant amount (its amount must exceed 25 thousand rubles);
3. A large bribe (which must be more than 150 thousand rubles);
4. Bribe on an especially large scale (the minimum amount is 1 million rubles).

It is important to note that criminal law does not distinguish between minimum amount bribes, accordingly, as a “corruption” act qualify the provision of any amount of money, the provision of services regardless of their cost, as well as the transfer of material assets without distinguishing their estimated value.

Petty bribery

Starting in the summer of 2016, a new legal term appeared in criminal law - petty bribery. The legislator determined that a bribe in an amount of up to 10 thousand rubles will be considered a small bribe.

Now, bribe-takers who received corruption payments in the amount of up to 10 thousand rubles will be punished under a separate article, and not under the general criminal law for taking a bribe. Petty bribery is considered a minor crime.

Behind new line-up crimes, the criminal court may apply the following types of sanctions:

1. Fine up to 200,000 rubles;
2. A fine of up to 3 months’ salary or the person’s real income for the specified period;
3. Restriction of freedom for up to 2 years;
4. Correctional labor up to 12 months;
5. Imprisonment for up to 12 months.

The domestic legislator also provided for the second part of Article 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The regulation of this article covers the actions of persons who have previously committed other corruption crimes under Articles 290 and 291 of the Criminal Code, and who have an unexpunged or unexpired criminal record. Accordingly, sanctions for such acts have been tightened: the fine has been increased to 1 million rubles, the term of imprisonment and correctional labor- up to 3 years, and restriction of freedom increased to 4 years.

Provocation of a bribe and how to avoid it

Petty bribery, despite the insignificant amount, significantly spoils the authority and damages the honor and dignity of the official. It is not uncommon for conscientious public servants to become part of frauds and victims of a group of provocateurs. The Criminal Code in Article 304 provides for liability unscrupulous persons for provoking a bribe. Transferring a bribe without the consent of a public servant or for vile purposes to create a false situation of committing a crime under Article 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation falls under the definition of provocation of a bribe. To avoid liability for taking a bribe, an official should not agree to the conditions of the provocateur and receive money or other material assets in exchange for deviation from official duties.

How to avoid criminal punishment for petty bribery?

The bribe giver will not bear criminal liability under the relevant article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation if he performs one of the following actions:

1. Actively contribute to solving the crime;
2. Voluntarily report to law enforcement agencies about the crime he has committed;
3. Prove the fact of extortion on the part of an official or prove that the initiative for bribery came directly from the official.

The difference between a small bribe and a gift

Ordinary gifts that are given for the conscientious performance of official duties by officials should not be identified with a small bribe. Thus, the Civil Code contains a rule according to which it is prohibited to give gifts whose value exceeds 3 thousand rubles. Gifts worth more than 3 thousand rubles are excluded:

1. Between commercial organizations;
2. On behalf of incapacitated and minor citizens to their legal representatives;
3. Persons who hold public service positions in state and municipal bodies of constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
4. Employees of educational, social and medical institutions.