Threat of murder or serious harm to health: problems of law enforcement and ways to overcome them

Abstract

Within the framework of this article, the most common crime against a person is considered - the threat of murder or causing serious harm to health. In the course of studying law enforcement practice, a number of problems arise both in the framework of the implementation of the criminal law norm provided for in Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and in the individualization of criminal legal impact on a person who has made a threat to kill or cause serious harm to health. In this regard, the subject of this study will be: the criminal law norm contained in Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation; materials of judicial and investigative practice related to the implementation of the criminal law norm provided for in Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation; works on the theory of criminal law, which investigated controversial issues of criminal law and criminological characteristics of the threat of murder or causing serious harm to health; the ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, statistical data and data from its own sociological research. In this article, general scientific and private scientific methods of cognition were used: system-structural, reduction, deductive method, method of interpretation, formal legal method The novelty of the research lies in the formulation of the author's concepts of "mental health" and "social health" of a particular person who is harmed as a result of making a threat of murder or causing serious harm to health. In order to eliminate contradictions arising in the qualification of a threat of murder or serious harm to health committed using mass media, information and telecommunication networks, including the Internet, the author has developed a classification of the threat of murder or serious harm to health according to a quantitative criterion and the concept of "grounds to fear the threat". For a uniform understanding by citizens and the correct enforcement of the purpose of making a threat to kill or cause serious harm to health, the author's concept of "intimidation" is formulated. The author gives recommendations on more effective application of aggravating and mitigating circumstances for committing a threat of murder or causing serious harm to health.