Fake and understood: intentional accidents were not singled out in a separate article of the Criminal Code

The intentional commission of an accident will not qualify as an independent crime. The relevant amendments to the Criminal Code, providing for the allocation of the so-called auto-arrest in a separate article, were rejected by the State Duma. Lawyers and experts have mixed opinions about this decision. The details are in the Izvestia article.

You don't need to stand out

The State Duma rejected amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation providing for the introduction of a new article "Deliberate creation of a traffic accident for the purpose of extortion." This follows from the data published in the legislative support system of the Parliament.

The bill was supposed to classify auto-theft as a separate crime, for which it would have been punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles. For committing such an act by a group of persons by prior agreement or causing serious harm to the victim's health, it was proposed to punish him with imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of up to 1 million rubles. According to the authors of the document, these measures would contribute to greater protection for motorists and insurance companies.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Elmira Zakirova

However, at the plenary session of the Parliament, the deputies rejected these amendments in the first reading. The State Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation explained in its response to the bill that crimes against traffic safety and operation of transport are already provided for in Article 27 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

"The indication in the projected norm of such a purpose of creating a traffic accident as extortion, in the absence of signs characterizing extortion listed in Part 1 of Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, is not sufficient to classify this crime as crimes against property," the committee's conclusion says.

In addition, depending on certain circumstances, such acts can be qualified both under art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Fraud" and art. 163 of the Criminal Code "Extortion", and in some cases under Art. 264 of the Criminal Code "Violation of traffic rules and operation of vehicles", follows from the conclusion of the relevant the committee.

Prove intent

It doesn't make much sense to single out the intentional commission of an accident in a separate article of the Criminal Code, says Sergey Radko, a lawyer for the Freedom of Choice movement. The key issue here is the proof of the intent to commit such an act, he notes.

— If during the investigative actions it was proved that the collision occurred intentionally and was aimed at obtaining benefits, then depending on the further actions of the attacker, the case qualifies as either fraud or extortion. Even if the proposed amendments had been adopted, it would still have been necessary to prove intent," he said in an interview with Izvestia.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Yulia Mayorova

If we follow the logic of the authors of the bill, then for each type of extortion or fraud (by phone, using "Public Services", in relation to real estate, etc.), a separate article should be provided in the Criminal Code, the lawyer explains. This will only lead to the expansion of the law itself, he believes.

Igor Morzharetto, a member of the Presidium of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, called the initiative to allocate autopostavs to a separate article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation excessive.

— Today we will introduce a separate penalty for car accidents, and tomorrow they will start staging accidents on motorcycles, the day after tomorrow on SIM, then on bicycles. And should we prescribe separate sanctions for motorcycle, sim, and bicycle arrests? I doubt that there is any need for this," he told Izvestia.

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"We need protection, not an article"

Maxim Kadakov, the editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, considers the idea of introducing a separate criminal article for car dealers to be sound. However, in the form in which this initiative was proposed by parliamentarians, it is incomplete, he notes.

— Car rigging is most often not a one—time action. As a rule, criminals engage in them purposefully and serially. Therefore, punishments for such acts should be different from sanctions for one-time fraud or extortion. For example, it may include mandatory confiscation of a car used as a crime weapon. Then the introduction of a separate article for the intentional commission of an accident makes sense," Maxim Kadakov believes.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Eduard Kornienko

Despite the fact that the efforts of law enforcement agencies are reducing the number of staged accidents and car bombings, the appearance of a separate article in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for these acts could have made it possible to further reduce their number, says Valery Soldunov, a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, chairman of the All-Russian Society of Motorists.

— I think that such an article would at least be useful, — he believes.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov

Drivers do not need an article of the Criminal Code, but real protection from intruders involved in car theft, says Anton Shaparin, vice President of the National Automobile Union (NAS).

— A driver who has suffered from auto-dealers, by and large, does not care whether they are punished for fraud, extortion or brought to justice under the Cathedral Code of 1649. The inevitability of punishment is important. And for this, any accidents that show signs of intent should be investigated as crimes, not administrative offenses," the NAS Vice President is confident.