On the object of the crime under Chapter 22 of the RF Criminal Code

The Russian legal literature through the period of validity of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of 1996 expressed opposite views on the object of crimes committed in the economic sphere under Chapter 22. Many researchers believed that the above-stated object was to be considered from a broad perspective. This position meant that the objects of crime in the sphere of economy should include public relations providing for economic activities understood as the set of all elements of social production, distribution, exchange, consumption of material and other benefits. The positive side of this position was the attempt of researchers to cover rather heterogeneous criminal acts from obstruction of legal business by officials to cash smuggling. However, this position was devoid of logic, since it is not clear why Chapter 22 of the Criminal Code establishes liability only for the acts that infringe on the set of all elements of social production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material and other benefits, as the liability for the commission of other crimes encroaching on the specified set is determined by other sections of the Criminal Code. These crimes also cause significant economic damage to citizens, organizations and the state. So, the above-stated position is devoid of both logic and consistency. The legal literature expressed strong views on the need to exclude some articles from Chapter 22 of the Criminal Code and transfer them to other chapters of the Criminal Code. In particular, Articles 169 - 170-1 were supposed to be transferred to the chapter about official misconduct, and Article 177 - to the chapter on the crimes against the administration of justice. Other legal acts can also be transferred from Chapter 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. As a result, the position concerning the scope of the object of crimes in the economic sphere becomes narrower. In this terms objects of such crimes include only business relations. The immediate object of the crimes described above is the relationship of competition for material, labor and intellectual factors of production.

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