None of us are safe from the fact that in contact with law enforcement officials we do not have a conflict with them. In many cases, your actions can be regarded as an attack on a police officer. Sometimes this can happen when they increase their own official powers. Therefore, each of us must know the features of the law, so as not to fall into a possible unpleasant situation.
The legislative framework
When considering the legislation of the Russian Federation, liability for an attack on a police officer is established in Articles 317, 318 of our Criminal Code. What is the key difference between the articles? Article 1 describes the composition of the assault on the lives of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (that is, just an attack on a police officer), for which imprisonment of a citizen of 12 to 20 years or life imprisonment is established. And article 2 extends its actions to situations of attack in relation to representatives of the authorities. 2 article is composed of two parts. The first - with violence, the second - without.
What distinguishes the first and second parts?
In the first part of the article, for the use of violence that did not pose a threat to the life or health of the injured party, or for the very threat of violence against the representative of the government due to the performance of his duties, a fine of up to 200,000 Russian rubles or a salary or other offender’s income for up to 18 months, or forced labor for up to 5 years, or arrest for up to 6 months, or imprisonment for up to 5 years.
The second part of the article indicates that for the use of violence against a representative of the government, which poses a danger to life and health, a prison term of up to 10 years is established.
Features of the application of this article
It is worth noting that the cases under these articles are the responsibility of the Investigative Committee. The Ministry of Internal Affairs only collects primary material for the investigation.
Most often, the police officers themselves are identified as the injured parties, and not the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a whole. Therefore, the defense can rely on the termination of the case of an attack on a police officer based on reconciliation of the parties.
The text of the article indicates such an important detail as the fact that the term "representative of power" in the article in question refers to an official of a controlling or law enforcement body, and in addition, another official who is empowered with respect to persons who are not his subordinates.
Qualification of the offense and the application of law
When creating your own line of defense it is very important to know the qualifications of the act. It is necessary to understand whether the employees provoked you to your actions, it was just a fight, how it all happened. Depending on this, either criminal or administrative liability may be established for the act.
It is necessary to be prepared for the fact that the court will not be completely impartial, since it will certainly be on the side of law enforcement agencies. And according to the law, a much greater punishment is established for an act in relation to police officers than for an ordinary citizen for the same act. Recall that in an attack on a police officer during execution (Article No. 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), the term can be up to 10 years.
However, the law established such harsh punishment for a reason.The social threat of this act is that the action damages the state power and the inviolability of its representatives. However, one should not forget that the norm protects employees of bodies only during the performance of their official duties. Therefore, it can be said that with the article an attack on a police officer in execution (article No. 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) jokes are bad.
What opportunities do we have to protect our rights? For the application of the second part, the court must establish a causal relationship between the use of violence and its consequences. In addition, the offender must have the direct intent to commit the act.
Conclusion
Thus, you and I were convinced that the situation is rather complicated due to the fact that before the court the officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have a "presumption of correctness." Therefore, you need an experienced and professional defender to competently build a line of defense and convincingly prove to the court his innocence.