Crossing the state border is determined by the relevant rules established by the Government of our country. Any actions committed by persons violating such rules are considered a criminal offense and are punishable by art. 322 of the Criminal Code.
Wrongful acts
Law No. 4730-I “On the State Border of the Russian Federation” was adopted in April 1993 after the collapse of the Union. The document, signed by the President of Russia, examined in detail all issues concerning the border of our state. In particular, Article 7 of Chapter III contains regimes, one of which describes the rules for crossing the established State Border by any persons or vehicles. Violation of these standards is a criminal offense and is considered to be under Art. 322 of the Criminal Code.
There is a certain list of documents that citizens should have when entering the territory of our country. For a Russian, a passport (ordinary, foreign, official or diplomatic) will be enough. For foreigners, you may additionally need: travel tickets, medical insurance, visa and declaration. The absence of any of these documents deprives a person of the right to freely enter the country. For this, he may be held liable for Art. 322 of the Criminal Code. Such actions are considered as absolutely illegal crossing the state border and are punished in all severity.
Serious violations
Any Russian citizen can move absolutely freely both inside the country and abroad. The main thing is that he always has the necessary documents for this: a passport or a special permit issued in the prescribed manner. But there are people who are not at all embarrassed by the lack of such documents. Any attempts in this case to cross border control are doomed to failure. Customs and checkpoint workers strictly monitor the accuracy of the documents they check. If obvious discrepancies are found, law enforcement officials are involved to resolve the conflict. Citizens trying to cross the Russian border without having the appropriate documents are held criminally liable. According to the law in accordance with part 1 of article 322 of the Criminal Code, they may face:
- a fine in the amount of 200,000 rubles to the total amount of all types of income for a period of up to one and a half years;
- forced labor or even imprisonment for up to 24 months.
The decision is made by the court after a preliminary investigation of the reasons for which this violation was committed.
Offending guests
Everything looks a little different if the offender is a foreign citizen or a stateless person. Each of them, entering the territory of our country, must have with him a certain package of documents. A detailed list is specified in Art. 24 Federal Law No. 114-03. Such an act constitutes a public danger, since, in fact, it is an encroachment on the inviolability of the borders of the state. This situation is considered in Article 322 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in part 2.
In this case, intent must be present to determine the corpus delicti. That is, a foreign citizen knew in advance that he had no right to enter the territory of our country, but tried to do this bypassing the existing rules. In Art. 26 and 27 of Federal Law No. 115-03 of July 2002, all sorts of reasons for such prohibitions are set out, ignoring which, a person puts himself outlawed. For such a violation, article 322 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for appropriate punishment.It could be:
- a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles;
- forced labor or complete imprisonment for a period of up to 4 years.
Moreover, it must be borne in mind that the violation is considered perfect only after the border has actually been crossed. Both previous options concerned actions committed individually by one person. But part 3 of Art. 322 of the Criminal Code of Russia considers cases when such actions are committed by a group of persons. In addition, there must be a preliminary conspiracy. That is, people prepared their criminal plan in advance and tried to implement it, despite all the prohibitions and restrictions. Among other things, paragraph 3 provides for actions involving violence, as well as a possible threat of its use. All these circumstances determine the corpus delicti, for which violators face imprisonment for a longer term - up to six years. To make a final sentence, there must be all the signs of such an offense:
- actual border crossing;
- criminal intent;
- violence in various forms of its manifestation.
Otherwise, the fact of the offense cannot be proved. For example, a passenger plane made an emergency landing at an airport in another country. In fact, all those on board unnecessarily crossed the border of a foreign state. But in this situation, firstly, they did not have intent, and secondly, passengers did not use violence. With this example, it becomes more clear how such misconduct should be qualified.
Criminal aiding
Sometimes foreign citizens still penetrate into our country, remaining undetected. To get a new place, they need to find work and housing. But, without official permission, this is not easy at all. Here, people come to the rescue, offering to resolve the issue of registration by drafting fictitious documents. Such actions of "enterprising" citizens are considered by Article 322.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
In the case of forgery, they are prosecuted and punished:
- a fine ranging from 100,000-500,000 rubles to the total income for a period of up to 3 years;
- imprisonment or forced labor for the same period with a possible ban on working in a certain position or engaging in specific activities.
As a rule, these people are civil servants and commit a similar offense using their official position. Preventing such cases, the court protects the interests of the state, restoring justice in relation to both parties to the crime.
Frequent cases
In recent years, cases of violations that fall under Art. 322 of the Criminal Code. Judicial practice today has many examples of illegal migration of citizens of other states to the territory of our country.
The situation is complicated by the fact that these illegal immigrants sometimes become the culprits of serious crimes. Feeling their impunity, they neglect the laws of the society in which they are forced to be. All this leads to a complication of the criminal situation in the country, and creates certain difficulties for the citizens living in it. To resolve this situation, the Government of Russia in December 2012 adopted Federal Law No. 312, which refers to the strengthening of criminal liability for those who contribute to the organization of illegal entry into the country of citizens of other countries. It was decided to toughen the punishment of such people, considering such acts crimes of moderate gravity. In exceptional situations, they are even qualified as especially serious.
