Criminal association as form of complicity in crime

Criminal association (criminal organization) is the most dangerous kind of complicity with beforehand agreement. Danger of this kindof complicity is conditioned not only by the quantitative feature but also by (to a great extent) the character of the crimes committed bycriminal association. Results of social studies and court practice researches show that nowadays the goals of criminal associations aredrug business, crimes against property and persons. During a long period of time a criminal association (criminal organization) wasdefined in the Russian criminal law as a cohered organized group (organization) created to commit serious crimes; or a union of organizedgroups created with the same goals. Analysing this form of complicity in crime researches noted its double nature. It means that bythe law we can call a criminal association (criminal organization) both (a) a cohered organized group (organization) created to commitserious crimes and (b) a union of organized groups created to commit serious crimes. The main characteristics of a criminal association(criminal organization) were the following: group of persons, beforehand organized group, cohered group, group created tocommit serious crimes. Authors noticed that a criminal association had many qualities common with an organized group. At the sametime a criminal association also had many differences with it (e.g. criminal association should be cohered and aimed at committing seriouscrimes). In the researchers opinion cohesion was an evaluating term. So it was important to single out the basic characteristics ofthis term. Approaches of defining these characteristics existing in the Criminal Law are analysed in the article. On November 3, 2009changes were made in Part 4 Art. 35 of the Russian Criminal Code. Since this date a criminal association is determining as an organized,structured group or a union of organized groups that operate under one leader; members of these groups are consolidated for joint committingof one or several serious crimes, for direct or indirect financial or another profit. All these legal characteristics of a criminal associationare analysed in the article. The author questions the expediency of some characteristics.

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