The role of the phrase "duties according to the position" within negligence (article 293, part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)

The article analyzes two theoretical approaches to defining the place of the phrase «duties according to the position» within negligence. According to the first of them, this word combination characterizes an alternative act - non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of duties according to the position. According to the second, it characterizes the element - «due to dishonest or negligent attitude ...». The author notes that both approaches are flawed. The first blurs the boundaries of negligence by including deliberate acts and acts that are not due to the official powers of the subject, thereby creating problems of distinctions from related crimes contrary to the current practice. The second does not correspond to the legal definition of the disposition. Based on the analysis of judicial practice, with the aim of its stabilization and exclusion of ambiguous interpretation of the norm, the author proposes to replace in Part 1 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation the phrase «duties according to the position» to the phrase «toward duties according to the position». As a result of such a change, the element «due to dishonest or negligent attitude towards duties according to the position» will characterize the attitude of an official who commits negligence and who is not an employee