Protection of the economic interests of the state by criminal legal means (using the example of crimes against property)

The article is devoted to the criminal law protection of state property under the current criminal legislation of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1960. The criminal legislation of the RSFSR differentiated criminal liability for theft of various forms of property. At the same time, the criminal law protection of socialist property was stricter than the protection of personal property of citizens. The consolidation of equality of all forms of ownership in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation led to the fact that the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in 1996 responsibility for crimes against property, regardless of the form of ownership, was fixed in one chapter 21. However, in the work the author analyzes some norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which indicate that at present state property is protected less strictly than the property of citizens. In particular, such qualifying signs of theft, embezzlement and misappropriation, as well as various types of fraud as “causing significant damage to a citizen” are discussed. It is concluded that the existence of this qualifying feature violates the constitutional principle of equality of all forms of ownership. A similar conclusion is also drawn regarding such a qualifying sign of fraud as “deprivation of the right of a citizen to a dwelling”. The Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law “On Subsoil”, the Forest Code, as well as other normative acts enshrine the right of state ownership of subsoil, forest plantations, flora and fauna objects. It would seem that illegal extraction of minerals from the subsoil, illegal deforestation, illegal extraction of water resources, wildlife objects owned by the state should be qualified as theft and other crimes against property. In fact, the legislator himself regards these acts as environmental crimes, not crimes against property. Based on the study of legal acts, special literature and judicial practice, the author comes to the conclusion that there is insufficient protection of state property under the criminal legislation of the Russian Federation, which is especially intolerable in modern conditions.