Smuggling is a crime?

With the introduction of changes to the text of the Criminal Code and the decriminalization of many crimes, it became difficult to distinguish many offenses from infringements on interests protected by criminal legislation. This also applies to such seemingly "non-serious" crimes as an insult, and to much more significant deeds. At the present time, smuggling has also been decriminalized. Is this now a violation of the criminal law, "administrative" or something else? It is necessary to understand the issue in detail.

The objective side

Imagine that smuggling is still a crime subject to analysis in the framework of criminal law. What for? The fact is that only the theory of criminal law gives interested researchers a true idea of each crime, even if in time these acts disappear from the pages of the Criminal Code.

So, earlier it was believed that smuggling is a punishable act committed against the interests of Russia's foreign economy. It is described in Article 188. As an immediate object is the foreign economic system, namely, any rights of participants in foreign economic activity.

The item is all kinds of goods.

Definition of the term "goods" should refer to the customs legislation, according to which it is obvious that the subject of the act under analysis is movable property in all its diversity (including money, securities, any types of energy, vehicles).

The second part lists special groups of crime subjects: drugs, radioactive or explosive, as well as poisonous substances, weapons, ammunition, military equipment, cultural heritage items, and natural raw materials of strategic importance. Theoretically, on the basis of the subject of smuggling - this is a crime, even if at present it is not considered such.

The objective side of the act under analysis is the transportation of the above items across the customs border of Russia. The offense consists in the absence of declaring or unreliable declaration of the transported goods or in another guilty deed connected with non-compliance with the rules of customs regulation.

Since smuggling is an act characterized by a rather complex composition, it is necessary to understand in more detail the peculiarities of its subject matter.

Subject of the offense

It is necessary to clarify the meaning of some of the terms proposed in the article. Thus, poisonous substances are any highly toxic chemicals that are not chemical weapons, but which have a strong enough effect to negatively affect the respiratory or nervous system.

Explosives are chemicals that are capable of rapid chemical reactions under the influence of a certain impulse, resulting in such reactions as gas and releasing heat (for example, dynamite).

Natural raw materials for strategic purposes include resources such as natural gas, oil and products of its processing, as well as some seafood (fish caviar, crayfish and crustaceans).

The subject of smuggling also includes materials and equipment used in the manufacture of weapons, including weapons of mass destruction. In addition to directly raw materials and equipment, this group includes technologies potentially or actually used for the above purposes.

Relationship with customs legislation

Transportation and moving involve both import and export of items. The product in the form of energy can be transported, including through power transmission lines.

Smuggling is a foreign economic offense, so to understand its essence it is necessary to clearly visualize the customs border of the Russian Federation. It is not only land and sea, but also airspace over the waters and land territory, as well as any structures located in the exclusive economic zone on the territory of water bodies.

The free customs zone is not considered a territory belonging to Russia, but in some cases can be considered in this context.

Composition

The composition of the violation is formal, since it is actually considered to be completed at the time of moving items across the customs border. If the intruder undertook the exportation, rather than the importation of goods, then the end of the act means the moment of submission of the tax return to the authorized bodies or other action indicative of the desire or intention of the person to move objects across the customs border.

The subjective side

The subjective side of this offense always implies the existence of a direct intent. The attacker is fully aware of the illegality of his actions.

The subject must be imputed and reached at the time of the illegal activity of sixteen years of age.

In the legislation on administrative offenses

So, to what code does contraband belong: is it the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation or the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation? The question can not be considered unequivocally. The origins of the violation lie in the criminal legislation - this fact can not be changed even by the Federal Law, which excluded the article from the Criminal Code. However, it is now impossible to consider smuggling entirely from the point of view of criminal law - only in terms of its history and prospects for development. Currently, smuggling is an administrative offense, reflected in article 16.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.