Hooliganism motives, causes and conditions. Odessa District Court of the Omsk Region

PROBLEMS OF QUALIFICATION OF INTENTIONAL CAUSEGREVIOUS HARMHEALTH FROMHOLIGAN INCIDENTS

N.V. VASILYEVA, judge of the Ustyansky District Court of the Arkhangelsk Region

IN In law enforcement practice, the classification of intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm for hooligan motives is very contradictory. When committing any crime, a guilty person expresses disrespect for society and violates the established public order. Clear criteria defining the essence of the violation public order and obvious disrespect for society has not yet been developed. In order to avoid mistakes when qualifying the crime provided for in paragraph “e” of Part 2 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, various options were proposed for determining the motive of the crime: with reference to the place where the crime was committed, the presence of witnesses during the commission of the act, and the causelessness of the actions. The nature of errors in law enforcement practice is that the specified circumstances are not assessed in conjunction with the incentives for their commission. Often, serious harm is caused to people during intergroup aggressive-violent clashes and group hooliganism. When analyzing the motive for criminal behavior, one cannot limit oneself to stating the contradictory interests of the group or the misunderstood interests of the group. When causing grievous bodily harm, the perpetrator knows that he is violating a criminal law prohibition and the motive for him lies in the sense of criminal actions. The motive may be the fear of being rejected by the group, the desire to improve one’s social status under the guise of fighting for a common interest. Establishing the motive for a crime depends on the psychological readiness of the subject of the crime to admit real reasons of his criminal act. Often the accused does not find sufficient strength in himself to admit the guilt of his behavior; the motivation for criminal behavior is determined by the difficulties of the life situation and the prevailing circumstances. Genuine motives that led to the infliction of serious harm to the health of another person are often disguised as a response to the unlawful or immoral behavior of the victim, and sometimes hidden under socially neutral motives. Therefore, to establish the motive for the crime, it is important to establish the subjective attitude of the guilty person towards

their actions, establish the cause of the conflict, its dynamics and the nature of the actions.

Based on the fact that the motive of a crime is the motivating reason for criminal behavior 1, to establish these motives it is necessary to analyze all the circumstances of the case: the behavior of the perpetrator, the nature of his actions, the reason for committing the crime, the relationship of the guilty person with the victim at the time of the crime and after it has been completed. Evidence of the motivation of the act when causing grievous harm to health is a combination of objective and subjective signs.

Thus, the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, changing the verdict, indicated that liability using the qualifying characteristic “out of hooligan motives” comes for an act committed out of obvious disrespect for society and generally accepted moral norms, when the behavior the perpetrator is an open challenge to public order and is due to the desire to oppose oneself to others, to demonstrate a disdainful attitude towards them 2.

When intentionally causing grievous harm to health, the object of the attack is human health. When committing hooliganism, the perpetrator encroaches on the totality of relationships that determine the behavior of people in the process of life. The hooligan motive in the case of intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm is the immediate internal motivating cause of the criminal act. Motive is born from need. Need is the starting point for the emergence of a motive, its formation and development. But the motive cannot be reduced only to the need, since the need is the source of the motive, an important component. Establishing a hooligan motive gives the answer to the question of why a person causes serious harm to health, what was driving force, formation of a goal that led to the violation of moral and legal prohibitions. Needs, internal psychological factors, interacting with the external situation, encourage the commission of an act.

Intentional infliction of harm to health from hooligan motives can be committed with both direct and indirect intent, but more often it is committed with indirect intent. It is important for the subject to satisfy the need for self-affirmation, while he does not exclude that serious harm to health may occur, or is indifferent to the consequences that occur as a result of his behavior. At the same time, actions in the deliberate infliction of grievous harm to health for hooligan reasons are not aimless, but are directed against the personality of the victim and his health.

IN judicial practice Errors are often encountered when classifying the intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm out of personal hostility and hooligan motives. The motivating reason for the hooligan motive is not interpersonal relationships, but the violation of moral principles and moral rules of society as a whole. Personal hostility in most cases is caused by relationships between acquaintances, when one has a negative attitude towards the behavior of the other, his actions, and statements. Hooligan motives are recognized as a motive for a crime when a crime is committed without a reason, for no reason, or an insignificant pretext is used to commit a crime. The behavior of the perpetrator is determined by the desire to oppose himself to others, to demonstrate disdain for them. These motives are mutually exclusive, therefore it is unacceptable to classify actions as both hooligan motives and personal hostility.

For example, the accused F. was prosecuted under paragraph “e” of Part 2 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code. Accused F., on the basis of personal hostility, during a quarrel that turned into a fight, took a wooden bat from the car and deliberately, out of hooligan motives, dealt several blows to P.’s head, causing serious harm to the victim’s health. as a result of a wound to the scalp and a linear fracture of the right parietal and temporal bones. As can be seen from the case materials, the convicted F. and the victim P. studied at school together, and friendly relations developed between them. Being in a state of alcoholic intoxication, a conflict situation arose between them, which escalated into a mutual fight, during which the convict suffered serious harm to the health of the victim. Under such circumstances, F.’s criminal actions are qualified as committed for red-handed motives 3 .

According to paragraph 15 of the explanation of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation “On judicial practice in cases of hooliganism” dated December 24, 1991 (as amended on December 21, 1993 and October 25, 1996), courts should distinguish hooliganism from other crimes depending on the content and focus the intent of the perpetrator, motives, goals and circumstances of the actions committed by him. Insulting, beating, causing minor or less serious harm and other similar actions committed in the family, in an apartment, against relatives, acquaintances and caused by personal hostility, wrong actions of the victims, must be classified according to articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, providing for liability for crimes against the person" 1.

Thus, at the protest of the Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the court’s verdict was changed in relation to K., who was convicted under paragraph “e” of Part 2 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code. In the bar, while drinking alcohol, K. began to talk loudly, the victim reprimanded him and called him a stutterer, a quarrel occurred between them, personal hostility arose, during which K. deliberately stabbed the victim in the chest with a knife, damaging the top of the left lung, which is regarded as serious harm to health on the basis of danger to life. From the evidence collected in the case, it follows that hostile personal relations arose between K. and the victim Yu., caused by the remark and insult made. There was no hooligan motive in K.’s actions, and therefore they were reclassified from paragraph “e” of Part 2 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code on Part 1 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation 5.

Sometimes, instead of establishing the motive for the act, they are limited only to the statement that the intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm was committed in a quarrel, although the quarrel relates to the circumstances of the commission of the criminal act and the motive for the crime can be replaced

cannot, since quarrels arise for various reasons and reasons.

For example, T. and K., during a quarrel in T.’s apartment, alternately struck victim V. on the head with a ladle, causing him bodily injuries in the nature of an open fracture of the left parietal bone, a contusion of the brain, falling into the category of grievous harm , based on danger to life. The court found that the events took place in the apartment of T., who took part in the beating of the victim V., and therefore public order was not violated, and also in the presence of people who knew each other. Serious harm to health was caused due to the fact that the victim V. disseminated information disgracing the defendant K.. Analysis of subjective and objective signs in the case indicates that the quarrel arose from interpersonal hostile relations. Therefore, the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Arkhangelsk Regional Court excluded the qualifying feature “out of hooligan motives” 6.

More often, serious harm to health from hooligan motives is caused in public places, in the presence of eyewitnesses, since through their actions the goal is to demonstrate disdain for the foundations of society. At the same time, violation of public order, disrespect for society, which underlie the hooligan motive, can also occur when an act is committed in the forest, in an apartment, etc.

In the case of intentional infliction of serious harm to health from hooligan motives, the role of emotions in motivation is very noticeable. For example, the indictment in the case of R. states that during a quarrel, experiencing a strong attack of anger, he stabbed the victim in the chest and stomach, causing injuries penetrating into the chest and abdominal cavities, accompanied by damage to internal organs, which were considered, as serious harm to health. In this example, a quarrel is the motive for a criminal act committed out of hooligan motives 7 . However, it is impossible to understand the motive for the crime by pointing out only that at the time of stabbing the victim, the perpetrator was experiencing a strong attack of anger, although this emotion had a significant influence on the decision-making. Emotions reflect acute contradictions between a person and a specific life situation. A state of anger, which arose during a quarrel and led to serious harm to health, indicates poor adaptation of the individual to the environment.

Often, the intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm is preceded by hooliganism, or they are committed after the intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm. In such cases, they form independent compositions and are qualified as a whole.

Hooligan motive for intentional reasons. serious harm to health is often determined by one’s own personality, formed by the influences of one’s life lived, which determined one’s personal characteristics. These motives determine internal meaning and motivate certain behavior. Objective circumstances are refracted through personal qualities, formed in different periods of a person’s life, reflect the motivation for a criminal act. Determining the motive for criminal behavior in close connection with the personality of the criminal will reveal why this motive is characteristic of a given person when causing serious harm to a person’s health.

The fight against crimes that encroach on human health for hooligan reasons has a centuries-old history. Although there were no rules on intentionally causing harm to health from hooligan motives, responsibility was provided for actions that, under modern legislation, would receive the above qualification. In the Cathedral Code of 1649 in Art. Chapter 17 XXII established criminal liability “if someone, out of boasting, or drunkenness, or with intent, rides a horse on someone’s wife, and the horse tramples and knocks her down, and thus dishonors her, or mutilates her in that fight”*. According to Part 4 of Art. 261 of the “Charter of Deanery, or Policeman,” approved on April 8, 1782, provides for liability for actions that fall under the signs of intentional harm to health from hooligan motives in the modern understanding: “If anyone during a nationwide game or fun or theatrical performance, in that place or near the spectators a hundred yards away, will inflict an insult on someone, or cavil, or scold, or fight, or take a sword from its scabbard, or use a firearm, or throw a stone, or gunpowder, or anything else something like this, which could cause injury or harm or loss or fear to someone, should be taken into custody and sent to court” 9 . In domestic legislation, hooliganism was first identified as an independent offense under the Criminal Code of 1922, and was placed in the same chapter as crimes against health. Section 2 Ch. 5 of the code was devoted to bodily injury and violence against the person. The Criminal Code of 1960 did not provide for increased liability for causing grievous bodily harm due to hooligan motives. Hooliganism was defined as “deliberate actions that grossly violate public order and express clear disrespect for society” (Part 1 of Article 206) 10. The inclusion of this qualifying feature under the 1996 Criminal Code led to the strengthening of legal measures aimed at protecting public order. In its content, the hooligan motive, along with a gross violation of public order and obvious disrespect for society, includes violence against the individual, which led to serious harm to health.

Federal Law of December 8, 2003 “On Amendments and Additions to the Criminal Code Russian Federation“Hooliganism is defined as an action “grossly violating public order, expressing clear disrespect for society, committed with the use of weapons or objects used as weapons.”” Actions that violated public order, but were carried out without the use of weapons or objects used as such, the sign of hooliganism in the form of the use of violence against citizens or the threat of its use, as well as the destruction or damage of other people's property, is also excluded.At the same time, clause "d" part 2 of article 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has not undergone any changes, therefore, the weapon of the crime when causing grievous bodily harm did not affect the qualification of the crime.

Federal Law No. 211 of July 24, 2007 defined hooliganism as a gross violation of public order, expressing clear disrespect for society, committed: a) with the use of weapons or objects used as weapons; b) for reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity towards any social group 12. The legal qualification of hooliganism has been modified; currently, public order has become the only object of hooliganism.

All this allows us to conclude that the main criterion for a hooligan motive in the intentional infliction of grievous harm to health is the desire of the guilty person to demonstrate to society a disregard for the foundations, rules, peace, dignity, i.e. norms that exist for the necessary maintenance of public order. The perpetrator causes harm to public order and human health. In this case, the actions of the guilty person are aimed at violating public order, in the process of which serious harm to health is caused. The victims often include random people. The actions of the guilty person are inconsistent, chaotic, spontaneous. It is the individual’s subjective focus on violating public order, in the form of arrogance, cynicism, offensiveness of the acts committed, that is the main argument in recognizing the hooligan motive in the deliberate infliction of grievous harm to health.

9 See: Russian legislation of the 10th-20th centuries. T. 3 / Acts Zemsky Sobors. M.: Legal literature, 1985. P. 379.

10 See: Criminal Code of the RSFSR (with article-by-article materials) / Ed. V.V. Titova, M., 1987. P. 112.

11 SZ RF. 2003. No. 50. Art. 4848.

The hooligan motive occupies a special place in the criminal structure of crime. These are some of the common motives for committing crimes. It is the main incentive for committing hooligan acts, which occupy one of the first places in the structure of crime. The hooligan motive is also widespread in cases of crimes against the person. A quarter of all murders are committed for hooligan reasons. Hooligan urges- quite common motives for bodily harm and other crimes against the person. Therefore, a correct understanding of the hooligan motive is important for the qualification of crimes committed on the basis of this motive and the strengthening of socialist legality.

This motive is also specific in its socio-psychological content. It is hardly possible to find any other motive that, from the point of view of its socio-psychological content and forms of manifestation, would be so diverse and cause such complexity in its definition.

Usually, in the socio-psychological characteristics of a motive, we first of all pay attention to the immediate source with which the emergence of a particular impulse is associated. Each motive, from the point of view of its substantive justification, has its own specifics. In this regard, the hooligan motive is a special motive. It does not have any externally “visible” reason that would explain the emergence of this motive and the commission of socially dangerous actions on its basis.

Yu., while intoxicated, broke the glass in the windows of the Kindergarten and entered the room, where he broke furniture, children's toys, and office accounts. Climbing out through the window onto the street,

began to break down the fence. B., who lived not far from the kindergarten, approached him and asked him what he was doing here. In response to this, Yu attacked B. and began to choke her. When B. fell, Yu. struck her multiple times with his feet, wooden blocks, and pieces of wood. The victim died at the scene from her injuries.

Yu.'s actions were classified as a set of crimes - under Part 2 of Art. 206 and paragraph “b” of Art. 102 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR 9.

Hooligan motives are often called motives without cause, irrational, devoid of any meaning, insignificant. In fact, hooligan motives have their own, special, characteristic social determination, which lies not so much in the external circumstances of the commission of a crime, but in internal conditions determined by the socio-psychological characteristics of the individual and the circumstances of his moral formation.

Hooligan acts, as a rule, are committed by persons who are intoxicated and are externally expressed in destruction, damage, bravado, violent and other actions, and therefore their cause is seen mainly in drunkenness and a broken psyche.

Undoubtedly, intoxication greatly contributes to the manifestation of hooligan impulses, since it significantly reduces control over a person’s thoughts and actions. Nevertheless, this factor, which is of great importance in the determination of hooliganism, does not yet fully explain to us either the cause of hooliganism, much less the features and socio-psychological content of the motives underlying them. Intoxication is only a favorable condition for the manifestation of hooligan impulses. Intoxication does not necessarily lead to a violation of public order; other motives may also arise on its basis. In order for intoxication to be able to cause hooligan urges, not only an external reason is needed, subjective conditions are necessary for their occurrence.

The basis of hooligan impulses is the desire to express oneself in a defiant form, to express deliberately ostentatious disdain for society, other people, the laws and rules of socialist society.

These impulses cannot be explained by purely biological characteristics, innate, following the example of Freud, instincts, in particular the instinct of destruction. They are rooted not in the biological nature of the personality itself, but in the social conditions of its formation and upbringing. It is also impossible to explain the behavior of a hooligan solely by the paradoxical nature of his thoughts and the perversion of his psyche, although these moments, undoubtedly, are of no small importance in characterizing these motives.

Hooligan motives are usually based on unbridled egoism, a feeling of anger and dissatisfaction,

sometimes leading to unaccountable anger and dull despair, caused by a clear discrepancy between the level of a person’s aspirations and the available possibilities for their implementation. Most often, this level of aspiration is much higher than the available capabilities, determined not only by personal characteristics, but mainly by the objective conditions for their implementation. But the level of aspirations may be underestimated, which also does not exclude a feeling of dissatisfaction with oneself 10.

However, the point is not only the level of aspirations and the discrepancy between them and the actual possibilities of their implementation. Such divergence is a necessary feature of the contradictions in life that almost everyone faces. The whole point is how and by what means these contradictions are overcome. This is where the circumstances of the moral formation and education of the individual come to the fore, especially the circumstances that had a decisive influence on the formation of a personal attitude and a system of drives, needs, and interests.

If a person was brought up in such conditions where the individual and his dignity are simply not respected, when hypocrisy, violence and cruelty in personal relationships are encouraged, then there is no doubt that the feeling of dissatisfaction will most often manifest itself in cruelty, violence, cynicism and other at first glance, causeless actions. On the contrary, a person brought up in different conditions will undoubtedly find a different form of resolving these contradictions. Consequently, the point is not in the peculiarities of the specific situation in which hooligan impulses manifested themselves, but in the peculiarities of upbringing and personality formation. The basis of hooligan motives is lack of culture, bad manners, and cruelty. Wild thoughts and actions are generated by wild morals and habits.

Of course, in assessing such motives as hooligan motives, one cannot fail to take into account the individual psychological characteristics of the individual. The personality is not only educated, but also educates itself. And what relationships will be included in the structure of the personality depends not only on the nature of the relationships surrounding the personality, but not least on the characteristics of the personality itself. Moreover, the influence of these characteristics (for example, characteristics of temperament, will, etc.) when committing hooligan acts can be very direct.

The peculiarity of hooligan impulses and the actions of the same name committed on their basis is that they (hooligan impulses) are formed under the influence of the immediate situation. And in this case, the individual psychological characteristics of a person can play a decisive role in her behavior and the commission of socially dangerous actions.

Amazing in plot and extremely complex in socio-psychological terms is the case described in

Arkady Vaksberg’s essay “At a Steep Cliff”, published in Literaturnaya Gazeta on October 24, 1973.

A certain Slugin, a minor, rowdy and drunkard, who terrorized the entire village where he lived, saw a woman on an empty sports ground, “who was staggering, holding a bottle of wine under her arm.” “Here, take a sip,” she handed the bottle to Slugin. He took a sip, then pulled out a knife and stabbed her several times in the back. (“Twelve puncture wounds... serious, life-threatening injuries,” from the expert report). The victim died from the injuries received.

After some time, Slugin met the minor Bulbakov and “took him to the sports ground to see what happened to that woman who was left bleeding on the ground.” On the way, at the edge of a small cliff, they came across three sleeping men, who, after “washing” the vacation of one of them, immediately fell asleep on the sports ground. Slugin, with a knife he had and with the help of Bulbakov, inflicted mortal wounds on them, after which they searched the corpses. They took with them “a pair of worn-out shoes, loose change and a pack of cigarettes.” At the trial, the perpetrators claimed that they “killed without any reason.” Both Slugin and Bulbakov were declared sane.

This case is unique not only in its plot, but also in its psychological content, in the nature of the motives for committing the crime.

The court saw a selfish motive for murder in the actions of the perpetrators. The author correctly expresses doubts about this assessment: the small objects taken by the perpetrators from the victims did not determine their behavior. The motivation for their criminal actions has a more complex psychological content and is characterized not so much by petty selfish interests as by other motives. The main thing in the content of their motives is a feeling of unaccountable anger and the associated desire to express ostentatious disdain, to show cruelty and strength. With regard to Slugin, this conclusion is beyond doubt. He was prepared for this: he was repeatedly detained for hooliganism, systematically drank, and did not work anywhere. But the author A. Vaksberg and the psychologist M. Kochnev, who commented on this case, correctly note that a bigger mystery It is not Slugin who introduces himself, but Bulbakov, who is from a prosperous family and is characterized as “kind, frank, polite.” Obviously, personal characteristics, in particular lack of will, played a decisive role in Bulbadov’s behavior. M. Kochnev rightly notes that Bulbakov’s behavior “makes us think about the danger to society of such quiet guys, whose weakness of will can turn them into an instrument of crime,” etc.

The hooligan motive has many faces. It is this circumstance that makes the named impulse particularly complex and makes it difficult to determine the hooligan motive and distinguish it from other motives.

Particularly many discrepancies in judicial practice arise in connection with the distinction between crimes committed for hooligan motives, on the one hand, and for revenge motives, as well as for motives related to the performance by the victim of his official and public duty, on the other.

As for the issues of distinguishing between revenge and hooligan motives, they will be discussed below. Here we will briefly dwell on the signs of differentiation between hooligan motives and motives associated with the victim fulfilling his official or public duty.

The difficulty in distinguishing between these motives is caused by the fact that both in the external forms of their expression and in the setting in which these motives usually find their manifestation, they have much in common.

The main thing in distinguishing these motives is the nature of the immediate circumstances with which the perpetrator connects his behavior, namely, whether he connects his behavior with the fact that the victim fulfilled his official or public duty or other circumstances.

The motives associated with the victim’s performance of his official or public duty are based on such motives as revenge for the official or public actions of the victim, which significantly affect the interests of the perpetrator or his relatives, the desire to prevent the legitimate activities of this person, to resist and avoid responsibility. When crimes are committed out of hooligan motives, this circumstance - the fact that the victim fulfilled his official or public duty - is not significant in determining the behavior of the perpetrator. It acts as a reason for expressing aspirations characteristic of hooligan motives.

S, being in a drunken state, was walking along the street and accidentally touched a woman passing by with his shoulder and elbow. Ch., in connection with which her son, N., made a remark to S. In response to N.S.’s remark, using obscene language, he attacked N. and began to beat him, causing him minor bodily injuries. Ch. tried to stop the beating of her son, but S. began to beat her and kicked her hard in the head. The victim died from her injuries at the scene.

S.’s actions were qualified as murder committed in connection with the victim’s fulfillment of her public duty (clause “c” of Article 102 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR) 12.

In fact, the fact that the victim fulfilled her social duty did not play a decisive role in this case and the perpetrator did not associate his behavior with it. His antisocial behavior was based on hooligan motives -■ the desire to express ostentatious disregard for the elementary rules of community life, to show his strength, prowess, and cruelty. Exactly these

motives determined the behavior of the perpetrator, and therefore his actions should be qualified under paragraph “b” of Art. 102 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.

The variety of forms in which hooligan impulses can manifest themselves is explained mainly by the conditions of their external determination.

Personal characteristics, as already noted, are of decisive importance in determining the content of hooligan motives. However, these motives are formed under the influence of a certain life situation, specific circumstances that accompanied the commission of a crime.

The hooligan motive can take on the character of unaccountable anger, cruelty, mischief, cynicism, etc. But whatever form the hooligan motive takes, it always expresses the desire to somehow express oneself, to express ostentatious disdain for other people, society, laws and rules dormitories.

Hooligan motives are one of the types of motives for which illegal actions are committed. And the motive is a determining part of the subjective side of the crime, along with guilt, the purpose of the action and the emotional state of the offender.

What are these hooligan motives?

A crime, when it is disclosed and qualified, is decomposed into its component parts, which include the subjective side. It characterizes how the criminal felt while committing his actions, what thoughts were in his head, what goals he pursued.

Some crimes, and as statistics say, quite a large part of them, are committed due to hooligan motives. This means that the criminal did not set any serious goals for himself, and he had no reason to commit an illegal act. He did not want to take possession of other people's property, did not want to take life. Those. The criminal had no rational motives. He directed his actions against public order.

Motive as a qualifying feature

In many crimes, hooligan motives are a separate qualifying feature. And if it is proven that the crime was committed precisely because of hooligan motives, then the punishment will be harsher. And this is understandable. The person simply went against the foundations of society, without having any grounds for this, and at the same time directed his actions against other people or their property.

Let's take several crimes for comparison. Each of them has a punishment in the form of imprisonment, and sometimes it is the only one, and there are no other alternatives. Let's compare how the term changes depending on the motives for committing criminal acts.

Hooligan impulses are not hooliganism

A more detailed explanation of both the crime of hooliganism and hooligan motives was given by the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in its Resolution No. 45 dated November 15, 2007. In particular, according to paragraph 12 of this document, courts and other persons engaged in law enforcement activities should distinguish hooliganism from other criminal offenses acts, the qualifying feature of which is hooligan motives.

Grounds for refusal to initiate a case

The criminal procedure law includes a comprehensive list of grounds under which a criminal case is not initiated, and if it has already been initiated, then it is subject to termination. When considering crimes whose qualifying feature is hooligan motives (including murder, beatings), it should be borne in mind that the suspect or accused will not be charged with this qualifying feature if during the preliminary investigation or later it turns out that:

1. The initiator of the quarrel was the victim.

2. The reason for the crime was the unlawful behavior of the victim.

3. There was an adversarial relationship between the offender and the victim.

In all of the listed cases, the culprit will not have these motives, that is, when he is brought to justice, this aggravating feature will not be part of the crime.

A combination of hooliganism and hooligan motives

The above concepts are not mutually exclusive. The offender can be held accountable for hooliganism, that is, an act established by Art. 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and at the same time for a crime provided for by another norm and containing the sign “out of hooligan motives”.

A simple example of such a case is when the culprit causes significant damage to the property of the victim for hooligan reasons and at the same time commits other actions by which he violates public order and expresses clear disrespect for society. As explained Supreme Court, when considering such cases, the qualification of criminal actions must be made as under Art. 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and under Part 2 of Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Hooliganism as a special case of hooligan motives

If a person commits actions that are expressed in a gross violation of public order, then his hooligan motives are transformed into a separate crime described in Art. 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The hooligan has no intention of causing harm to health or life, or destroying or damaging property. He simply expresses his dissatisfaction and disrespect for the people around him. In this case, there may be collusion or resistance to the police.

Qualification of the crime - important point. The type of punishment depends on this. If wording about hooligan motives arises in the case, the accused will face a more severe punishment. Lawyer Ekaterina Mikhailovna Murzakova will help you challenge your qualifications. Her experience in criminal representation helps to find the right arguments in favor of the defense and convey them to the person handling the case or to the judge.

Legal assistance: why it is important

Independent defense from criminal prosecution in the absence of serious knowledge in the field of law is fraught with negative consequences. Taking this into account, in the event of criminal prosecution, you should take care of legal defense as soon as possible. This will allow:

• prevent illegal actions on the part of law enforcement officials and other persons during the investigation;
• objectively evaluate the evidence, including the witness base;
• call witnesses;
• challenge unlawful actions at the right time;
• require certain investigative actions to be taken;
• draw up the necessary social and psychological portrait of the suspect.