Author

Petrov S.V.

Title of article

A new view of classification of criminal complicity

Section

Criminal Law

Issue, year

1 (31) 2015

Abstract

The growing influence of criminal societies, confirmed by recorded crimes statistics, is stated. The need to improve normative legal acts regulating combating organized crime as well as investigative and judicial practice of their application is emphasized. The scientific publications study shows that there’s no common position on the content and classification of the most important concepts and their definitions characterizing the institute of complicity in criminal law: its forms and types. Uniform interpretation of these terms is a prerequisite for optimization of normative instruments that regulate countering joint criminal activities. The analysis of the available scientific approaches to the institute of complicity structure allowed the author to formulate an original approach to its type differentiation. Basing on the study of investigative and judicial practice, the author determines the most appropriate ways of classification of criminal encroachments having elements of compound complicity from the standpoint of effective law enforcement. The type of complicity is a theoretical category, which can be classified on two grounds. According to the content of the accomplices’ actions concerning the objective elements of crime it can be classified into simple (no roles), compound (with roles), complicity of special kind (criminal society, criminal organization). According to the presence or absence of prior agreement it can be classified into complicity with preliminary conspiracy and without it. The form of complicity is a specific combination of individual elements by which complicity takes real existence. These forms should be described in the legislative act, as implemented in Article 35 of the RF Criminal Code.

Keywords

complicity, joint criminal activities, type differentiation, form, type.

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