Abuse of authority - These are unlawful actions by an official or employee of a security company that run counter to his rights and obligations. Committing them, this person must clearly understand that for such acts he will have to bear responsibility under Art. 203 of the Criminal Code.
Essence of the question
Each official or any employee of a private security company should understand that the rights that he is vested with for performing his duties are strictly limited. If one of them decides to act at his discretion, regardless of the established framework, then his actions will be considered a violation and qualified under Art. 203 of the Criminal Code as a clear excess of the authority granted.
Employees should be guided solely by job descriptions, and employees of PSCs should be guided by a license, which indicates the main tasks of their activities. But in order for their actions to fall under Art. 203 of the Criminal Code, they must be committed with a threat or directly with the use of violence. In this case, the actions of such employees constitute a danger to others, which means that they harm the interests and rights of citizens of this society. All this casts doubt on the legitimacy of their actions and requires an appropriate response from law enforcement agencies.
Fair punishment
The law always punishes those who seek to break it. If a person who is vested with special powers for the performance of official duties at some point decides to exceed them, then such actions cannot be ignored. Otherwise, permissiveness can lead to more serious offenses. To prevent this from happening, in Art. 203 of the Criminal Code for actions of this nature, in accordance with paragraph 1, the penalty is:
- restrictions on freedom for a period not exceeding three years;
- arrest up to 6 months;
- imprisonment for a term of not more than five years, with which a citizen may be deprived of the right to occupy a certain position or engage in any specific activity for a period of up to three years.
Paragraph 2 of this article refers to the same actions that, as a result, entailed more serious consequences. For this, the offender is punished by imprisonment for a longer period (up to 7 years) with the simultaneous deprivation of the right to up to three years to engage in certain activities or work in a specific position.
In each case, the court makes an individual decision based on the characteristics of the case and the gravity of the misconduct.
Private Investigation Features
A private detective is a person who also has certain powers granted to him in accordance with a license to conduct detective activities.
Usually, on a contractual basis, he performs work related to the search for missing people or property, as well as collecting information for participants in civil and criminal cases. In the process of conducting an investigation, he has to carry out his work using external surveillance, telephone wiretapping, video recording, surveillance and other methods. He must do all this within the framework of the law, without violating the constitutional rights of citizens. If, in any situation, a private detective violates the established norms and rules of investigation, then article 203 of the Criminal Code of Russia may be fully applied to him. This is especially true of the conditions and procedure for the use by employees of such firms in their work of special means, as well as firearms and cold steel. Most often, abuse of authority is connected precisely with this.
The main signs of an offense
In order to properly understand a specific situation, it is necessary to clearly understand all the signs that correspond to a violation under Art. 203 of the Criminal Code. The corpus delicti in this case will be formal, and the object is the normal activity of detective or private security services. In addition, there is an additional object - this is the health of a citizen.
Actions directed in his direction, and constitute the essence of this misconduct. The objective side of the offense is the excess of legal authority. Moreover, such an action must have a mandatory attribute regarding the method of committing a crime. Such an unlawful act must necessarily be associated with violence or its threat. It can be expressed in beatings, torture, as well as causing harm to health of varying severity. The subjective side of such a crime, as a rule, is expressed in direct intent. That is, the offender understands the illegality of his actions and carries out them consciously. In this case, the subject is the employee himself, who, according to the rules, must be a person who has reached the age of 16, and the confirmation of his authority will be an official certificate issued to him by the head of the company.
Clarification needed
The law does not tolerate approximation. Therefore, the court, in making the decision, must be sure of the fairness of the charges and the veracity of the evidence collected, confirming the legality of applying Art. 203 of the Criminal Code. Comments on it help to deal with the case, given the legal framework in the form of the law of Russia No. 2487-1 of March 11, 1992. It relates to the main aspects of the security and detective activities of private companies that perform relevant work on the basis of agreements concluded with legal entities and individuals.
These comments detail all types of consequences, indicating the relevant articles of the Criminal Code that have arisen from the unlawful acts of negligent employees who, in their work, do not consider it necessary to comply with the law. In addition, the comments focus on issues aggregate crime and fair punishment rules.
