Violent death is primarily a sign of wartime. But even in a peaceful period, the number of people dying prematurely is menacingly great. In all countries, murder is recognized as the most serious act against the individual. In Russia, the punishment for this crime is spelled out in Art. 105 of the Criminal Code.
Definition
The concept of “murder” (Article 105 of the Criminal Code) in a criminal investigation is not easy to interpret. Violent death can occur as a result of an accident, suicide. In addition, people commit intentional deprivation of life for various reasons and motives. The psychology of murder is the field of forensics, the subject of study of which are these issues.
Based on Art. 105 of the Criminal Code, the accused may be sentenced to deprivation of liberty if his guilt of intentional actions, as a result of which the biological death of a person or group of people has been proved, is proved.
Premeditated murder, according to Art. 105 of the Criminal Code, is a grave act. It does not matter against whom this crime is committed. The moral and moral character of the victim does not affect the court verdict. Motive and method play a decisive role. They can be considered both as aggravating and as extenuating circumstances.
Qualification
Murder has two signs: wrongfulness and guilt of the act. In criminal law, concepts such as “life” and “death” have a somewhat specific meaning. And therefore, the punishment for murder in a particular case for the inhabitants seems often too harsh or, conversely, unreasonably mild. So, life, according to the law, is a value not only personal, but also public. Therefore, if a person committed a murder by consent or even at the request of his victim, he will be held accountable and punished in all severity of the law.
In criminal terminology under the murder, referred to in Art. 105 of the Criminal Code, understand the intentional form of crime. Direct or indirect were the intentions of the accused, determined in the course of consideration of all circumstances of the crime. In establishing qualifications, the mode of action plays an important role. The subject of murder can be any person who has reached the age of fourteen.
Statistics
The number and nature of crimes depend on the social and economic picture in the country. For example, according to statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of murders in Russia in 2015 is half that of 1990. About 10% of the total number of such crimes are committed by women. About 5% of cases considered in court on the basis of Art. 105, instituted for minors. And most of the most serious atrocities against a person occur as a result of intoxication.
Murder in a brawl
Such a crime is qualified under Part 1 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code. It does not matter who was the instigator of the fight. Consideration of such cases requires studying the motives of each participant in the incident. Intentional killing is often the result of a fight. In criminal practice, there are cases when, it would seem, an accidental conflict serves only as an excuse for the intentional deprivation of life.
Premeditated murder entails a sentence of imprisonment of six years. The maximum term of imprisonment for such a crime is 15 years. This is stated in the first part of the criminal article on the murder. But, according to part 2 of article 105 of the Criminal Code, forcible deprivation of human life, committed out of hooligan motives, should be punished more strictly. The term of imprisonment for such atrocities is from eight to twenty years.
The Criminal Code also provides for life imprisonment.That is why in judicial practice, the distinction between such concepts as “murder” and “murder from hooligan motives” is of great importance.
Back in the seventies, in one of the Soviet courts, a case was considered on the basis of an article about the murder. The crime occurred as follows. The accused in a state of intoxication provoked a conflict with a passerby, inflicted several stab wounds on him, resulting in the death of the latter. The lawyer asked in the cassation appeal to consider the crime as “murder in a fight”. However, witnesses claimed that when the accused took out a knife, the man tried to contain the onslaught, push the attacker away, and asked to remove the knife. But the killer, despite this, stabbed several times.
The court concluded that the victim sought to avoid conflict, and therefore, there could be no question of any murder in the fray. The appeal was dismissed. The crime was considered as murder from hooligan motives. And in this case, under aggravating circumstances, the accused may face life imprisonment.
Killing out of jealousy
The difficulty in solving such cases is that jealousy gives rise to anger and a desire for revenge. Premeditated homicide is usually considered according to the first part of article 105. But if the crime was committed in a state of extreme emotional disturbance caused by the cynical behavior of the victim, the accused can be sentenced to a milder sentence. In this case, the case is considered on the basis of Article 107 of the Criminal Code (murder in a state of passion). And for such a crime, a person faces no more than three years in prison.
Art. 105 and Art. 107
In the consideration of the case, some circumstances are significant that, in the opinion of a person who is far from criminal practice, may seem insignificant. So, in 2014, an incident occurred in one of the entertainment facilities in Moscow that led to the death of one of its participants. One of the visitors inflicted more than ten stab wounds on the victim, which caused him to die on the spot before the ambulance arrived.
At trial, the accused claimed that his sudden aggression was caused by the insult that the victim inflicted on him. As a result of extreme emotional excitement, he allegedly took out his knife and struck. But later a witness was discovered who claimed that after a small quarrel the accused went out into the street, walked a few meters to his car, took out cold steel, and returned to the institution. And after all these actions he committed a crime. On the basis of testimony, the court sentenced under Art. 105 of the Criminal Code.
Revenge killing
The second part of article 105 deals with crimes having the following motives:
- hooligan motives;
- selfish motives;
- blood feud;
- desire to hide another crime;
- political, ideological, racial, national or religious considerations;
- desire to subsequently use the tissues or organs of the victim.
If we are talking about murder, the motive of which is ordinary domestic revenge, the crime is considered consonant with the first part of the article. Depending on the motives, the accused may be sentenced to imprisonment from six to fifteen years. The reason for revenge can be the misbehavior of one of the family members who use alcohol or drugs, constant and regular insults from the victim and a number of other circumstances.
If the reason for the murder was an insignificant misconduct, the case is considered a crime out of hooligan motives. The punishment for this act is much stricter, and therefore, in judicial practice, the motive for revenge is often used by lawyers and the accused in order to achieve a more favorable qualification for the murder.
There is also such a concept in the criminal vocabulary as "imaginary defense."It is quite difficult to establish the limit that a person can afford for self-defense. But in practice, in court, it plays an important role, which exactly motivated human actions: the desire to kill or save one’s life.
Killing in a generally dangerous way
Such crimes include violent deprivation of life, committed by arson, explosion, drowning. In any case, such a crime is qualified according to the second part of the 105th article. But if only one person became the victim of the accused, the punishment follows from paragraph “e,” that is, murder in a generally dangerous way. In the event that several people were injured, the consideration of the case also takes into account the circumstance indicated in paragraph “a” (murder of two or a group of persons).
Arbitrage practice
The term of imprisonment depends on many circumstances. The most decisive of these is the accused’s desire to facilitate the investigation and surrender. In March 2016, a case of intentional murder was considered in one of the courts of the Novgorod region. The crime was completely due to intoxication. Motive is a personal dislike. The accused and the victim spent time drinking alcohol, resulting in a conflict. A deliberate murder was committed. Moreover, the accused tried to hide the body, for the implementation of which he dismembered the corpse. However, a few days later the killer appeared in police and confessed to the crime.
The mitigating circumstances in this case were the repentance of the defendant, assistance in the investigation and the state of health. Aggravating - alcohol intoxication at the time of the murder and a general negative characteristic. The verdict of the court - nine years in a strict regime colony.
In criminal and judicial practice, homicide is one of the worst crimes to be punished. In a moral and spiritual sense, depriving a person of his life is an evil that cannot be justified by anything. Life is a great value. No one has the right to encroach on her, regardless of who she belongs to. This was also mentioned by the great humanist Dostoevsky in the novel Crime and Punishment.
