Criminally-legal countermeasures to crimes in the sphere of housing and communal services: problems of theory and practice

Due to a lack of consensus in both theory and judicial practice, issues of criminal responsibility for crimes in the sphere of housing and communal services cause an increased interest. Housing and communal services is a field of our daily life, our constant concerns and issues that require urgent solutions. Many people are aware of the work of house management companies and homeowners' associations and the crimes committed in this area. It is necessary to understand the nuances of the crimes to improve the entire system of housing, as well as provide efficient activities of law enforcement officers. Investigations of judicial practice of criminal cases of housing and communal services allow to conclude that the actions of perpetrators are considered as fraud (article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code), misappropriation and embezzlement (article 160 of the Russian Criminal Code), theft (art. 158 of the Russian Criminal Code), abuse of power (article 201 of the Russian Criminal Code), abuse of official powers (article 285 of the Russian Criminal Code), misappropriation of budgetary funds (article 285.1 of the Russian Criminal Code), taking bribes (article 290 of the Russian Criminal Code) and others. The authors pay special attention to the problems arising from the decision of a question on attraction of individuals using their official position, criminal responsibility, which in consequence hinders the application of criminal law.