Some aspects of determining the helpless state of the victim in the qualification of rape

The article discusses the problematic aspects of the qualification of rape under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which are explained by an abstract understanding of the helpless state of the victims, due to the lack of a clear definition in the law of “helpless state”. This problem allowed us to formulate the purpose of the study - on the basis of identifying and studying the types of helplessness of victims, to analyze and expand the definition of the helpless state of the victim, as well as on the basis of an analysis of the existing practice of committed crimes, using the helpless state of the victim, to make proposals for resolving controversial issues of qualification. Based on the analysis, the author notes that the legislator is on the side of unprotected victims, namely children who, due to age, are in a helpless state. Helplessness due to age is explained by the lack of experience and knowledge regarding the onset of possible negative consequences, which largely explains that they cannot fully understand the nature and significance of the actions performed with them. At the same time, the author examines the difficulties of qualifying the rape of minors and minors, using their helpless state, by a person who reached the age of fourteen at the time of the commission of the crime, but did not reach the age of eighteen (as part of the note to Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In this study, the author, based on the analysis of the note to Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, notes the emergence of new problems in the qualification of rape, including the risk of violation of the principle of subjective imputation of guilt. The author makes recommendations on amendments to the current legislation in terms of conducting a comprehensive examination of the victim and the accused in order to prevent violations of the principle of justice of punishment and achieve the main goal – correction of the convicted person and prevention of new crimes. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of applying and using the conclusions, suggestions and recommendations formulated in it in lawmaking activities to improve criminal legislation; in law enforcement activities, including investigative and judicial practice; using the conclusions and provisions of the article in the educational process in the discipline of criminal law, as part of the study of the topic “Crimes against sexual integrity and sexual freedom personalities”.

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