Тhe institute of confiscation of property in Russian criminal law. Lessons of combating proceeds of crime in the assessment of the Supreme Сourt of the Russian Federation

Introduction. May and June 2018 saw intensi­fied discussions in Russia around the issue of confis­cation of property obtained by criminal means. These discussions arose after several initiatives of legisla­tors who advocated the strengthening of the role of this institution of criminal law in the legal practice in Russia and after the Supreme Court of the Rus­sian Federation summarized the experience of the use of confiscation in the practice of Russian courts and formulated some recommendations for the courts in the decision of the plenary session of June the 14th .  

Materials and methods. The article uses a number of research methods and techniques to ana­lyze the problem such as analysis that allows isolat­ing the trends in the development of the institution of confiscation; comparison which allows evaluating homogeneous processes at different stages of the in­stitute of confiscation of property acquired by crimi­nal means, and generalization which is necessary to summarize the results of the research.  

Research results. The use of the institution of confiscation of property obtained by criminal means in the legal practice of Russia has passed several stages. The modern stage began after the institution was restored in the criminal code of the Russian Fed­eration by the Federal law of July 27, 2006 № 153FZ and section VI of the Criminal Code was supple­mented by Chapter 15.1 “Confiscation of property”. This Chapter contains the legislative definition of the confiscation of property (article 104.1 of the Crimi­nal Code) and an indication of the subject of confis­cation, its types and conditions.  Based on the decisions of the plenums of the Su­preme Court of the Russian Federation the article analyzes the practice of this institution in the activi­ties of Russian courts. 12 years of experience in the application of Chapter 15.1 of the Criminal Code, showed that, despite the repeated explanations of the Supreme Court, which dealt with individual crimes, some of the controversial issues remained unre­solved. In this regard the Plenum of the Supreme Court introduced a number of proposals to improve the legal framework of this institution in the draft Resolution.  On June 14th , 2018 the next plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ad­opted a new detailed resolution on the practice of application of Chapter 15.1 of the Criminal Code and proposed detailed recommendations to improve the application of the institution of confiscation of property obtained by criminal means in the Russian Federation, which are considered and commented on in the article.  

Discussion and conclusion. Legal literature discussed the innovations in the Russian legislation related to the institution of confiscation of property obtained by criminal means caused in a very active mode. The views of the authors of articles on this is­sue can be divided into two parts with each havinga lot of supporters. According to the first of them the new place of confiscation of property among the mea­sures of criminal law is justified.  Supporters of the opposite point of view sup­port the exclusion confiscation of property from the system of measures of criminal law as they believe that the legal nature of the confiscation of property belongs to a form of criminal punishment. This is the opinion of the judges. Two-thirds of the judges believe that the confiscation of property should be considered as an additional form of punishment.

1. Annikova N.N., 2013. Pravovoe regulirovanie konfiskatsii imushhestva [Legal regulation of confiscation of property]. Territoriya nauki . № 2.

2. Deputaty predlozhili vernut’ konfiskatsiyu v Ugolovnyj kodeks [Deputies have suggested to return confiscation to the Criminal code]. URL: https://pravo.ru

3. Zabrat’ i ne vernut’: Plenum Verkhovnogo suda dal raz”yasneniya po konfiskatsii imushhestva [To take away and not to return: The plenum of the Supreme Court has made explanations on confiscation of property]. URL: https://pravo.ru

4. Konventsii Organizatsii Ob”edinennykh Natsij o bor’be protiv nezakonnogo oborota narkotikov, narkoticheskikh sredstv i psikhotropnykh veshhestv 1988 goda [Conventions of the United Nations on fight against drug trafficking, drugs and psychotropic substances of 1988]. URL: www.un.org

5. Konventsii Organizatsii Ob”edinennykh Natsij protiv korruptsii [Conventions of the United Nations against corruption]. URL: http://www.un.org

6. Konventsii Organizatsii Ob”edinennykh Natsij protiv transnatsional’noj Organizovannoj restupnosti [United Nations Conventions Against Transnational Organized Crime]//]. URL: www.un.org

7. Konventsiya Soveta Evropy ob otmyvanii, vyyavlenii, iz”yatii i konfiskatsii dokhodov ot prestupnoj deyatel’nosti [Convention of the Council of Europe on washing, identification, withdrawal and confiscation of income from criminal activity]. URL: http://docs.cntd.ru

8. Konfiskatsiya imushhestva [Confiscation of property]. URL: http://law.pp.ru

9. Confiscation of the Proceeds of IP Crime A modern tool for deterring counterfeiting and piracy. UNICRI and BASCAP. 2015.

10. Kuznetsova N., 2004. Mnenie uchenykh o reforme UK (ili qui prodest?) [Opinion of scientists on reform of СС(or qui prodest?]. Ugolovnoe pravo [Criminal law]. Moscow, № 1.

11. Postanovlenie Voenno-revolyutsionnogo komiteta 28 noyabrya 1917 goda [Resolution of Revolutionary-military committee on November 28, 1917]. URL: http://doc20vek.ru

12. Postanovlenie Plenuma Verkhovnogo Suda RF ot 14.06.2018 № 17 «O nekotorykh voprosakh, svyazannykh s primeneniem konfiskatsii imushhestva v ugolovnom sudoproizvodstve» [The resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation from 6/14/2018 No. 17 “About some questions connected with application of confiscation of property in criminal legal proceedings”]. Konsul’tantPlyus.

13. Manual on International Cooperation for the Purposes of Confiscation of Proceeds of Crime. URL: http://www.unodc.org

14. Millington, Trevor, 2007. Proceeds of crime : law and practice of restraint, confiscation, condemnation and forfeiture. By Trevor Millington, Mark Sutherland Williams. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.

15. Rossijskoe zakonodatel’stvo Х-ХХ vekov. V 9-ti tomakh. T. 1 [Russian legislation of the 10-20th centuries. In 9 volumes.]. Moscow, 1994.

16. Senatory predlozhili izmenit’ praktiku konfiskatsii imushhestva. [Senators have suggested to change practice of confiscation of property]. URL: https://pravo.ru

17. Ugolovnoe pravo. Obshhaya i Osobennaya chasti: Uchebnik [Criminal law. The general and Special speak rapidly: The textbook]. Pod red. Sverchkova V.V., Moscow, 2013.

18. Khachiyan V.N., 2008. Inye mery ugolovno-pravovogo kharaktera: voprosy zakonodatel’noj reglamentatsii [Other measures of criminal and legal character: questions of a legislative regulation]. Rossijskij sud’ya [Russian Judge]. № 9.

19. Yuridicheskij slovar’ onlajn. Konfiskatsiya imushhestva. Elektronnyj resurs [Legal dictionary online. Confiscation of property]. URL: http://www.bravica.ws

20. Weeratna, D.A.P, 2016. Confiscation/Forfeiture of property. D. A. P. Weeratna, Jayanie B. Weeratna, Vihara Weeratne [Colombo].

21. Berezko V.E., 2016. Liberal’nye mery i sil’naia vlast’ [Liberal Measures and Strong Power]. Gosudarstvennaia vlast’ i mestnoe samoupravlenie [State Power and Local Self-Government]. № 7.

22. Sardaryan G.T., 2016. Politicheskie problemy regionalizacii Italii [The Political Problems of Italy Regionalization]. Moscow.