Criminal responsibility for occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy: a critical view

The author, using the system-structural method, methods of comparison, analysis and systemic interpretation of legal norms, characterizes component elements of a crime - occupying a higher position in the criminal hierarchy, from the point of view of the principles and norms of Russian criminal law. The author also reveals the concept of criminal hierarchy and identifies its varieties, and also makes an attempt to designate an act, which means occupying a higher position in the criminal hierarchy, in order to understand the incorporation of Article 210.1 into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Speaking about the elements of the crime, the author, referring to the objective aspect, notes that the position (social status) often becomes the result of a person committing certain actions, in the aggregate of which members of a certain social group assign him a particular status, but the person's position itself, including in the criminal hierarchy, an action cannot be. Further, when comparing Article 210.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and part 4 of Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the author establishes that the head of a criminal community, the head of a criminal organization occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy and the person occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy are three different subjects. When the criminal hierarchy is designated, its definition is given, and its varieties are also revealed: the traditional «vorovskaya» hierarchy and the «gang» hierarchy. Turning to the problem of proof, the author notes that when justifying a person's attitude to a higher position in the criminal hierarchy, the law enforcement agencies try to designate the special status of the accused (defendant), and the nature of the harmful activity does not matter. In conclusion, the author argues that the punishment for social status does not correspond to the purpose of criminal law, which does not exclude the need to bring to justice those criminal leaders, as a result of whose actions real damage was caused.

criminal hierarchy, criminal authority, vory v zakone, criminal community, gang, «ponyatiya», proof, component elements of a crime