The illegal influence on the results of contests and tenders as an offence against freedom of competition: errors of criminalization and legislative technology
Russian criminal legislation provides for a number of specific rules on crimes in the sphere of economic activity. The peculiarity of these encroachments lies in the fact that they represent various variants of violation of the freedom of competition of economic entities. One of such crimes is the provision of unlawful influence on the result of an official sports competition or a spectacular commercial tender provided for in Art. 184 of the Criminal Code of Russia. The legal analysis of the content of this law rule allows us to state that the type of encroachment it provides can not violate those economic relations that are officially declared as an object of criminal legal protection. Organization, holding and participating in an official sports competition or entertainment commercial tender is an activity regulated primarily by labor law standards. It is fundamentally different from the entrepreneurial activity, which excludes the possibility of receiving monetary compensation by an economic entity, regardless of the results achieved. In addition the disposition of Article 184 of the Russian Criminal Code contains a significant number of violations of the rules of legislative technology, as a result of which it is impossible to bring a person to criminal responsibility for the commission of appropriate actions. For these reasons it is wise to exclude Article 184 from the Criminal Code. This will make it possible to clarify the list of crimes types that truly violate relations in the field of protecting freedom of competition and to develop a set of measures aimed at their effective prevention. The exclusion of this rule will not create a gap in the criminal legislation. The unlawful influence on the results of various contests and tenders under certain conditions can be recognized as commercial bribery or mediation in its commission. Responsibility for these crimes is successfully implemented in accordance with Articles 204 and 204.1 of the Criminal Code of Russia.
Keywords: economic crime; freedom of competition; object of crime; economic entity; official sports competition; entertaining commercial tender; corruption crime.
mezhotraslevye i vnutriotraslevye rassoglasovanija [Combating crimes in the sphere of sports competitions and
entertainment commercial competitions: inter-industry and intra-industry mismatch]. Juridicheskaja nauka i praktika:
Vestnik Nizhegorodskoj akademii MVD Rossii – Legal science and practice: Bulletin of Nizhny Novgorod Academy of the
Ministry of internal Affairs of Russia. 2014. Iss. 2. Рр. 186–190. (In Russ.).
2. Volzhenkin B. V. Prestuplenija v sfere jekonomicheskoj dejatel’nosti po ugolovnomu pravu Rossii [Crimes in the sphere of
economic activity under the criminal law of Russia]. St. Petersburg, 2007. 765 р. (In Russ.).
3. Zhalinskij A. Je. Ugolovnoe pravo v ozhidanii peremen: teoretiko-instrumental’nyj analiz [Criminal law in anticipation of
changes: theoretical and instrumental analysis]. Moscow, 2008. 400 р. (In Russ.).
4. Klepickij I. A. Sistema hozjajstvennyh prestuplenij [The system of economic crimes]. Moscow, 2005. 572 р. (In Russ.).
5. Lapshin V. F. Pravila zakonodatel’noj tehniki i voprosy ih primenenija (na primere otdel’nyh norm gl. 22 UK) [Rules of
legislative techniques and their application (for example the separate norms of Chapter 22 of the criminal code)]. Rossijskij
juridicheskij zhurnal – Russian legal journal. 2010. Iss. 3. Рр. 181–185. (In Russ.).
6. O Strategii nacional’noj bezopasnosti Rossijskoj Federacii : ukaz Prezidenta Rossijskoj Federacii ot 31.12.2015
№ 683 [On the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation: Presidential Decree of 31.12.2015 № 683]. Sobr.
zakonodatel’stva Ros. Federacii – Collection of legislation of the Russian Federation. 2015. Iss. 1. Art. 212. (In Russ.).
7. O fizicheskoj kul’ture i sporte v Rossijskoj Federacii : feder. zakon ot 04.12.2007 № 329-FZ [On Physical Culture and
Sport in the Russian Federation acts : federal law from 04.12.2007 № 329-FL]. Sobr. zakonodatel’stva Ros. Federacii –
Collection of legislation of the Russian Federation. 2007. Iss. 50. Art. 6242. (In Russ.).
8. Ob osnovnyh napravlenijah gosudarstvennoj politiki po razvitiju konkurencii : ukaz Prezidenta Rossijskoj Federacii
ot 21.12.2017 № 618 [On the main directions of the state policy on the development of competition: the decree of the
President of the Russian Federation of 21.12.2017 № 618]. Sobr. zakonodatel’stva Ros. Federacii – Collection of legislation
of the Russian Federation. 2017. Iss. 52. Art. 8111. (In Russ.).
9. Serebruev I. V. Prestuplenija, posjagajushhie na dobrosovestnost’ konkurentnyh otnoshenij: genezis, sistema,
ugolovno-pravovaja harakteristika : dis. … kand. jurid. nauk [Crimes that infringe on the integrity of competitive relations:
Genesis, system, criminal law characteristics : author’s abstract of diss. … PhD. in law]. Yekaterinburg, 2016. 262 р.
(In Russ.).
10. Talan M. V. Prestuplenija v sfere jekonomicheskoj dejatel’nosti: voprosy teorii, zakonodatel’nogo regulirovanija i sudebnoj
praktiki : avtoref. dis. … d-ra jurid. nauk [Crimes in the sphere of economic activity: issues of theory, legal regulation and
court practice : author’s abstract of diss. … Dsc. in law]. Kazan, 2002. 43 р. (In Russ.).
11. Shubina I. B. Zrelishhe v kul’ture : dis. … kand. filosof. nauk [Spectacle in culture : author’s abstract of diss. … PhD. in
philosophy]. Rostov-on-Don, 2005. 146 р. (In Russ.).
