Subjective signs of torture: problems of qualification

The structure of the corpus delicti, regulated by Russian industry legislation, is essential for the process of bringing to criminal responsibility and imposing punishment, taking into account its proportionality to the committed unlawful acts. When qualifying the actions of a criminal, objective and subjective signs of a criminal offense must be established without fail. A serious influence on the volume of negative consequences for the offender, directly related to the criminal punishment, its type and term, is the attitude of this person to the criminal acts committed by him. Russian legislation contains a prohibition on the commission of a number of actions, which include cruel and inhuman actions that can harm a person's life and health or humiliate his dignity. An example of these actions is torture, which can be used both in the process of exercising official powers by individuals and outside their official functions. The purpose of this work is to analyze the subjective signs of torture, to identify the existing problematic issues of their qualifications and to determine the main directions for improving Russian law enforcement practice. Particular attention is paid to the qualification of torture on such grounds as awareness of social danger and anticipation of socially dangerous consequences, goals, etc. The author comes to the conclusion that when qualifying torture, it is imperative to establish not only guilt, but also a special goal. Attention is focused on the need to adopt a separate criminal law norm governing liability for torture, since its absence significantly complicates law enforcement practice.

torture, qualification, subjective signs, deliberate form of guilt, motive, purpose, direct intent, subject of the crime