Criminal liability for theft: law, liability and features

Changes to the provisions of the legislation on criminal and administrative offenses are made quite often, and this creates confusion for people to understand the threshold of theft, which is dangerous to cross, because responsibility for this can even be criminal. Consequently, many people want to know how much theft brings criminal liability. Let's try to figure this out. And although the legislation (article 158 of the Criminal Code) clearly defines the types of punishments for perpetrators of theft, some points remain unclear.

General position

Theft is a serious offense for which you will have to answer before the law. If property was stolen, but this crime was committed secretly, then this is called theft. It is the invisibility of illegally obtaining someone else’s goods that is the sign that qualifies this violation. Moreover, it can be committed both in the presence of the owner of the property, and in its absence. However, the most important condition for theft is the stealth of theft.

The article of the Criminal Code contains the following features that qualify the crime as theft:

1. Theft is free.
2. The action is unlawful and damages the owner of the property.
3. Theft is self-serving.

It must be remembered that under Article 158 of the Criminal Code, theft is necessarily committed with direct intent. If the offender knows for sure that his actions harm the victim, then criminal theft is possible. Otherwise, his actions cannot be so regarded.

Object and subject of crime

The property that the criminal illegally seizes is the object of the crime, the criminal is the subject. Under the law, a teenager who has reached the age of 14 years can be recognized as a subject. Also, the examination should recognize him sane. Note that sanity is assessed at the time the crime was committed, and not after.

There are certain restrictions that apply to objects of crime. The fact is that not every thing can be subject to theft. For example, property withdrawn from circulation is not theft. Also, completely different articles deal with the theft of drugs, weapons, radioactive substances, etc. In this case, the crime will be different.

A responsibility

Let's look at possible punishments for theft, including in the context of criminal liability. The legislation details the signs of theft, because the liability measure depends on the composition and characteristics of the offense. And it is completely logical that the severity of the violation will be different.

Note that the law provides for a certain threshold that distinguishes between crime and offense.

A criminal offense is the theft of property, the value of which is more than 1000 rubles. If the offender stole property valued below 1000 rubles, then this is considered an administrative offense, for which punishment is provided for under the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. So, if you did not know from what amount of theft criminal liability is possible, then you just need to remember the figure of 1000 rubles. The seizure of other people's property worth 1001 rubles will already be regarded as a criminal offense.

The role of the court

A considerable responsibility rests with the judge, because he must determine the measure of punishment and understand the features of the case. During the proceedings, various circumstances are clarified, evidence is examined.Mitigating or, conversely, aggravating circumstances may also be identified. The judge's task is to verify the facts and make a decision on sentencing. A criminal by decision of the court may go to jail or be fined. Moreover, a fine is possible even with criminal liability.

Types of this crime

As we have already found out, the criminal liability for theft occurs when theft of property in the amount of 1000 rubles or more. Moreover, the crime itself can be regarded in different ways:

1. Preliminary conspiracy. This means that the offense is not carried out spontaneously, it is carefully prepared. This excludes the state of affect. It is about the fact that a person or group of persons pre-determines the conditions for committing a crime, discuss their plans and process, benefits. They agree on the details in advance and then complete the plan.
2. Theft with aggravating circumstance - penetration into the room. If the offender enters the home and steals something, then he will be held criminally liable first of all for illegal entry into the home.
3. Theft organized by a group of people.
4. Theft in large and especially large sizes.

We note that legal proceedings are a complex process, and the judge needs to understand causal relationships. For example, if two people steal someone else's property, then at first glance it seems that the crime is committed by a group of people by conspiracy. However, it is quite difficult to prove the fact of the conspiracy, because if two commit a robbery, this does not mean that they agreed on this in advance. If this is not proved, then the crime of each participant will be qualified separately, because technically everyone committed his crime, simply in one place and at the same time.

Severity

The amount of damage is a key factor in criminalizing. The theft of amounts in excess of 1,000 rubles is already a reason for imposing a serious punishment. However, the court considers other types:

1. Theft on an especially large scale - the theft is considered in court in which the robber was able to steal property worth more than a million rubles.
2. Large-scale theft - the seizure of property that can be valued at 250 thousand rubles or more (up to one million).
3. Significant material damage - theft of property worth more than 2.5 thousand rubles.

Note that since 2015 criminal liability for theft occurs when theft of property worth one thousand rubles. That is, you can freely steal a phone in a store worth 999 rubles, which will entail only administrative liability (fine), nothing more.

What about the money?

Note that the criminal liability for the theft of money has a higher threshold. 1000 rubles is the border only for the theft of property valued at this amount. But this does not apply to cash.

The head of the anti-corruption committee has proposed the abolition of criminal liability for theft of small amounts. That is, if you steal 2-3 thousand rubles, you can get off with just a fine. But the theft of amounts over 5,000 rubles will entail criminal liability.

Administrative liability for the theft of amounts up to 5,000 rubles can be assigned only for the first time. If the violator is repeatedly detained for such an offense, then criminal liability awaits him.

Conclusion

Now you know how much theft criminal liability begins. However, it is worth noting that legal proceedings are a rather complicated process, therefore it cannot be said that the theft of property in the amount of 1000 rubles will necessarily lead to criminal liability. At the same time, the theft of an object worth 500 rubles may well be criminally punishable if it was committed with aggravating circumstances. It all depends on the specific case and the conditions under which the crime was committed.