The subject of the crime and its signs

A crime, regardless of its specifics, is committed by a certain person or group of people who have character-expressed signs that make up their individuality.

The concept of the subject of a crime is not legally fixed in any code, however, theorists will identify such a concept and mean by it the totality of the characteristics of the person who committed the crime, which are necessary to bring the subject to justice. It is the combination of characteristics that plays a decisive role in the imposition of punishment, since the absence of even one sign means that the subject of the crime can not be held accountable.

An entity that can be prosecuted must have the following characteristics:

- Animation, that is, the subject of a crime is a person. In accordance with the rules of the UKRF, only people can be guilty of a crime, unlike civil law, where physical and legal persons can be subjects of offenses .

- Awareness of the crime committed. A person should be aware of his actions or inaction. The fault of the subject who committed the crime is not recognized if, at the time of the commission of the crime, a person did not realize what he was doing for objective reasons.

The ability to understand and perform consciously any actions arises in mentally healthy people from the moment of reaching a particular age, hence the third criterion that a subject of crime must have - a certain age.

- UKRF provides for the minimum age of the subject, who can be held liable - 16 years. It is by reaching this age that a person already has some experience, he has developed systems of behavior in society, there is an idea of the rules of behavior and the concept of guilt and responsibility for violating norms.

Despite the fact that mainly criminal punishment applies to persons who have reached the age of 16, there is a group of grave crimes, the responsibility for which can be attributed to persons who have reached the age of 14 years. In total, the Code contains twenty articles on which adolescents can be attracted, starting from the age of 14, among them: murder, rape, theft, robbery, robbery, terrorism and others.

Also, the legislator singled out the third age group: crimes, responsibility for which is imputed only to adults, that is, the subject of the crime must reach 18 years, for example, evading military service.

Separately distinguish a special subject of crime.

A special subject is understood to mean persons who have not only the above-mentioned age characteristics and are completely sane, but also the corresponding other signs established by law.

The signs of a special subject are reflected in separate articles, and for each crime there is a set of characteristics. For example, in the category of war crimes, a separate feature is the possibility of carrying military service or reaching a certain rank by a person. And in crimes related to bribery, a special feature is the position of the accused. So, the subject of such crimes can only be officials.

All the characteristics characteristic of a special subject can be divided:

- By sex. According to the Criminal Code, only men are guilty of rape.

- By belonging to the state. So, for treason, the state is punished only by citizens of the country, for espionage, respectively, by foreign citizens.

- By family composition: parents or children.

- For military status: conscript or military man.

- Depending on the official position.

- Depending on the profession.

- And so forth.

Knowledge of all the main characteristics of the subjects of crime and their signs makes it possible to quickly and correctly apply this or that norm, which greatly facilitates and saves time in the consideration of the case.