Problems of Qualification of Mercenary Crimes of a Terrorist Nature

Terrorist activity quite often has mercenary motives, since the development of the corresponding criminal organizations requires constant material support. In this context, of significant interest is the commission by representatives of terrorist organizations of criminal acts, which, according to Russian criminal law, are qualified as independent acts. Crimes such as kidnapping and hostage-taking, which are very common in the activities of terrorist organizations, are of significant interest within the framework of the stated problems. In legal science, these acts are usually considered as mercenary crimes of a terrorist nature, since their commission in practice is often accompanied by material demands on the part of criminals. The purpose of the present study is to analyze the existing problems of qualifying mercenary crimes of a terrorist nature. The author comes to the conclusion that, on the one hand, kidnapping and hostage-taking are outwardly very similar crimes, and on the other hand, each of these criminal acts is an independent crime, which has very specific features. Attention is focused on certain criteria that make it possible to distinguish between the above-mentioned crimes, which are subject to precise determination in the process of qualifying the above-mentioned crimes. As a promising direction for improving the current criminal legislation, a detailed regulation of the content characteristics of kidnapping and hostage-taking is singled out, which will help resolve problems that arise when qualifying these related acts.

terrorism, crimes of a terrorist nature, mercenary crimes, qualification problems, Russian criminal law