They wanted to give the Russians the right to exceed the permissible self-defense in case of a threat to life, as well as in order to protect relatives and friends from attacks by persons illegally entering a house or apartment. It is reported “News” with reference to the explanatory note of the authors of the initiative.
The deputies of the State Duma sent the draft law “On Amendments to Article 37 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation” for review to the government and the Supreme Court. The document proposes to give citizens the right to protect their lives by all means, as well as the lives of relatives in the event of an attack.
We believe that the formula “My home is my fortress” should be enshrined in criminal law. It is unacceptable that a person who defended himself from an intruder, using weapons or other means to protect his family, suddenly find himself in the dock
In the explanatory note, the authors of the document recalled that the right to inviolability of the home is the most important constitutional human right. Representatives of the parties “United Russia” and “New People” promised to carefully study the bill as soon as it is submitted to the State Duma.
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Expert opinion
The head of the charitable organization “Law and Order”, Lieutenant Colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Oleg Ivannikov, believes that it is really very difficult for a person to determine the line of self-defense. However, in order to change the legislation, good reasons are needed, which he does not yet see.
On the contrary, Vyacheslav Vaneev, the head of the all-Russian public organization “Right to Arms”, believes that the bill should be adopted.
Now, under the law, the victim bears more responsibility than the attacker, although he experiences much more stress protecting his life, health, honor and dignity. We have long proposed to introduce the concept of “My home is my fortress” into the legislation. It just implies: if an attack is committed inside an apartment, cottage, car, then the victim is relieved of all responsibility for exceeding self-defense
Vyacheslav Vaneevhead of the all-Russian public organization “Right to arms”Political technologist Dmitry Fetisov believes that the document will be resonant and much discussed, but so far its fate cannot be predicted. In his opinion, the bill will have both supporters and opponents.
What is legal now?
According to current legislation, it is forbidden to cause significant harm to the health of thieves who have climbed into an apartment or entered a site if this exceeds the limits of necessary self-defense. As Alexandra Kharin, a lawyer at the Pen & Paper Bar Association, notes, even the presence of a weapon in a thief will not always guarantee the legality of actions.
For causing death by negligence (Article 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) can face up to two years in prison. For causing grievous bodily harm (Article 118 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), up to 6 months of arrest are required, the lawyer recalled.
The only unambiguously non-punishable way of self-defense during an attack is flight. According to Yevgeny Korchago, a member of the Moscow Chamber of Lawyers, this is the only way the injured party will definitely not fall under the article.
In practice, unfortunately, defending people themselves often become defendants in cases if the attackers receive bodily injuries or when the case ends in death for them. Our law enforcement practice in this regard is rather complicated, it needs to be changed in order to give people a real opportunity to defend themselves. Without this, the situation here will not improve.
Evgeny Korchagomember of the Moscow Chamber of Advocates Self-defense specialist Maxim Shramkov named another means of protection – pepper spray, the risk of injury from which is minimal. The main method of self-defense considers the anticipation of the attack itself. He also advised not to rush to intercede on the street for strangers.
From the public, there are two options: a shocker and a pepper spray. The latter has the most stopping power, it is the cheapest and at the same time there is the least possibility of causing bodily harm, that is, the least chance that you will be attracted for it.
Maxim Shramkovself defense specialistShramkov noted that in the conditions of the current law enforcement practice, the only way to guarantee not to incur problems is to pass by. The maximum is to call the police, because in Russian civil society it is she who should solve such problems.
The line between self-defense and a criminal offense is in the minds of judges. Despite the fact that the law allows us to defend ourselves by any available means, the accusers will immediately pay attention to a million subtleties: whether there was a real threat to life, whether it was possible to get out of the situation in a different way, whether you did everything for this. But at the moment when you are threatened, when you need to defend yourself, it’s a little less than that, and you shouldn’t even think about it. You only need to think about how to save your own life and health
Maxim Shramkovself defense specialistRelated materials:
Arms circulation
According to some experts, the counterargument to the new self-defense bill will be the fact that it will be a step towards the free sale of weapons in Russia. However, in recent years, the circulation of weapons in the country has been tightened.
From June 29, amendments to Law No. 150-FZ “On Weapons” will come into force, according to which weapons in Russia will be recognized as a source of increased danger. In particular, the minimum age for owning a number of weapons will be raised from 18 to 21 years. This category of Russians will not be allowed to purchase civilian firearms of limited destruction, hunting and firearms, smooth-bore long-barreled self-defense weapons.
In addition, the law introduces additional grounds for refusing to issue licenses for the purchase of weapons. In particular, Russians with two or more canceled convictions will not be able to get them.
In addition, the State Duma is now also considering a bill according to which everyone who wants to get firearms will have to be checked by the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Deputy Alexander Khinshtein specified that the purpose of this check would be to identify persons involved in organized crime. It will be carried out within the framework of the legislation on operational-search activity. The legality of the refusal was proposed to be challenged in court or the prosecutor’s office.
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