Comparative Analysis of the Criminal Legislation on a Completed

and an Inchoate Crime

Maxim Gennadievich Zhilkin

and Evgeny Swarovski

Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Moscow Regional Branch of the Moscow University of the Ministry of

Internal Affairs of Russia named after V.Ya. Kikotya, Moscow, Russia

Attorney at Law California's this Bar 242882, Los Angeles, USA

Keywords: Criminal law, operational investigation, comparative analysis, completed crime, inchoate crime, stages of

crime, attempt, preparation.

Abstract: The purpose of the article is to identify the positive legislative experience of the foreign countries in the

formation of constructs of a completed and an inchoate crime in a domestic criminal legislation. And in the

furtherance of this goal, analysis of the provisions of the criminal legislation of a number of European

countries, Australia, the USA, some CIS countries in terms of regulating liability for a completed and inchoate

crime has been performed. During the research, the comparative legal method was used as the main one, as

well as other methods of logical and structural analysis. As a result of the comparative analysis, the main

differences in the normative regulation of a completed and inchoate crime in Russian and foreign criminal

legislation have been highlighted, conclusions have been drawn about the existence of provisions that can be

implemented, taking into account the Russian legal specifics in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

In a point of fact, it is proposed to indicate the full realization of the intent of the person committing the crime

in the concept of a completed crime, to introduce a differentiated approach in determining the moment of the

end of formally and materially defined crime, as well as the possibility of excluding the stage of attempt

(preparation) for certain types of crimes, differentiate the measure of responsibility depending on the type of

attempted crime - completed or inchoate, to consolidate the requirement to reduce the lower threshold of

sanctions for an inchoate crime depending on its category, to introduce qualification rules for determining the

stage of a crime in case of an actual error.

1 INTRODUCTION

A completed and inchoate crime in domestic criminal

law is considered as a stage of criminal activity, and

in criminal legislation it is defined in the General Part

of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

(hereinafter - the Criminal Code of the Russian

Federation) in Article 29 "Completed and inchoate

crime". We find a similar approach, albeit with a

certain specificity, in the criminal laws of foreign

states. The legal significance of identifying signs of a

completed or inchoate crime in an act is incredibly

large, since it allows differentiating and

individualizing criminal liability, determining its

measure, and in certain cases distinguishing between

criminal and non-criminal acts.

Immediacy of the problem is emphasized by the

attention to this institution on the part of the Supreme

Court. It is difficult to find a Resolution of the Plenum

of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation for

Criminal Cases (hereinafter - PPVS), which would

not consider the issues of recognizing completed this

or that type of crime. At the same time, the time-

varying nature of the legal positions of the Supreme

Court of the Russian Federation indicates different

approaches both in doctrine and in practice regarding

the determination of the moment when crimes end.

For example, PPVS RF dated June 30, 2015 No.

30 "On Amending the Resolution of the Plenum of

the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated

June 15, 2006 No. 14" In Judicial Practice in Cases of

Crimes Associated with Narcotic Drugs,

Psychotropic, Potent and Poisonous Substances»

enhanced the initial version of the resolution with the

clause 13.1 on the recognition of narcotic drugs,

psychotropic substances, etc. as finished sale in case

of their withdrawal from illegal circulation during

operational investigation, regardless of their actual

receipt by the acquirer.

102

Zhilkin, M. and Swarovski, E.

Comparative Analysis of the Criminal Legislation on a Completed and an Inchoate Crime.

DOI: 10.5220/0010629700003152

In Proceedings of the VII International Scientiﬁc-Practical Conference “Criminal Law and Operative Search Activities: Problems of Legislation, Science and Practice” (CLOSA 2021), pages

102-108

ISBN: 978-989-758-532-6; ISSN: 2184-9854

Court rulings has not had clear guidelines before

such clarifications were accepted and, as a rule, in

such cases the act was qualified as an inchoate crime.

It should be noted at the same time that the

constant need for clarification of judicial practice on

the recognition of crimes as completed is largely due

to the imperfection of the current legislation in this

part.

Questions arise here about: an obvious conflict in

the provisions of Art. 8 of the Criminal Code of the

Russian Federation and Art. 29, 30, 66 of the

Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and the

related problem of imperfection of the very concept

of a completed crime; the absence of rules for

determining the elements of completed crimes

formally and materially defined; differentiation of

types of completed and incompleted attempts;

perishability of inchoate crimes; the absence of rules

for determining the stage of a crime in case of an error

in fact, etc. At the same time, the reform of the current

criminal legislation, manifested in the regular

introduction of indiscriminate and contradictory

changes in the Criminal Code of the Russian

Federation [1, p. 479] did not affect this institution in

any way, which hardly reflects the real need for

solving the problems identified in science and

practice.

Issues of completed and inchoate crime were

considered by researchers in Ph.D. theses prepared

and defended by applicants in the period from 2001

to 2005. These are the works of A. I. Sitnikova

"Inchoate crime and its types" 2001, M. V. Grin

"Inchoate crime" 2003, M. P. Redin "Crimes

according to the degree of their completion in Russian

law: concept, system of crimes, responsibility, the

concept of improving legislation " 2005, K.T.

Tedeeva "Stages of the commission of a crime and the

construction of it parts" 2005, S.F. Nigmadyanova

"Stages of the commission of a crime in the criminal

law of Russia (1917-1926)" 2007. At the same time,

the only monographic study, the result of which was

the formed concept of a completed crime, for now

remains a dissertation for the degree of candidate of

legal sciences S. A. Ivanchina "Completed crime:

law, theory, practice" defended in 2012, in which the

author, in addition to theoretical constructions,

managed to develop rules for the criminal-legal

assessment of cases of partial realization of intent,

formulate recommendations for determining the

termination moment of individual crimes, present

recommendations regarding the assessment of crimes

as completed. Thus, at the dissertation level, the

considering topic was studied nine years ago, and

before that (more than fifteen years ago), only a few

works were devoted to its individual aspects. At the

same time, elements of comparative analysis are

present only in the works of M. V. Grin, A. I.

Sitnikova, S. A. Ivanchina, but we consider them

insufficient and do not answer the questions posed by

us above. Based on the aforesaid we believe that a

comparative legal analysis of Russian and foreign

criminal legislation on a completed and inchoated

crime, taking into account rapidly changing social

relations, changes in criminal legislation,

improvement of judicial investigative practice and the

formation, in this regard, of modern legal positions, is

in demand and relevant to this today.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS.

The comparative method, (from the Latin.

Сomparativus - comparative), is one of the methods

of scientific knowledge of the world. This method is

used in various fields of knowledge, for example, it is

especially effective in literary studies, comparative

historical linguistics, philosophy. Also, comparative

analysis is actively used in jurisprudence, when

comparing the legislation of foreign countries, in

order to identify a positive legislative experience in

the formation of certain legal constructs of the

domestic legal system.

In criminal law science, this method is also widely

used. Almost all significant studies on criminal law

have in their structure the provisions of comparative

criminal law [2, 3]. That is quite understandable.

Criminal law of Czarist-era was formed under the

meaningful influence of French and German criminal

law, and its improvement in the Soviet period, in turn,

had an indelible impact on the development of

criminal legislation in the Union republics and

friendly countries of the socialist camp.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Today, when designing new criminal laws, the

domestic legislator is increasingly looking towards

foreign law, not avoiding direct borrowing of certain

norms from the criminal codes of other countries.

For example, the novelties of 2012 related to the

introduction of special types of fraud into the

Criminal Code of the Russian Federation by Federal

Law No. 207-FZ of November 29, 2012 "On

Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian

Federation and Certain Legislative Acts of the

Russian Federation" (Art. Art. 159.1, 159.2, 159.3,

Comparative Analysis of the Criminal Legislation on a Completed and an Inchoate Crime

103

159.4, 159.5, 159.6 of the Criminal Code of the

Russian Federation), according to experts, have a

great degree of similarity with the provisions of

section twenty-two "Fraud and criminal abuse of

trust" in the Criminal Code of Germany [4].

With respect to our research, it is of interest how

the provisions on completed and inchoate crimes are

regulated in the criminal laws of foreign countries,

and whether there are prerequisites for borrowing the

positive experience of foreign lawmaking into

Russian criminal law. For the relative representation

of the comparative analysis, we will choose as a

subject of study the criminal legislation of a number

of European countries, countries that once had a very

similar criminal law system with us (CIS countries),

and also consider the provisions of the general system

of law on the example of the criminal legislation of

Australia and the United States.

It appears that the difference between the criminal

legislation of Germany and Russia is that the concept

of a completed crime is not contained in it, but only

such concepts that are close to us as attempt and

refusal are defined. In particular, Chapter Two of

Section 2 of the Criminal Code of the Federal

Republic of Germany is called "Attempt" and

contains three paragraphs. So in paragraph 22 it says:

"The one who, according to his idea of the act,

immediately proceeds to implement the composition

of the act, attempts to commit a punishable act" [5, p.

131].

As seen, the material element of the inchoate

crime is indicated - the subjective idea of the person

about the act, and the formal element is the beginning

of the implementation of the criminal act. Thus, the

German definition of an attempt only from the formal

point of view corresponds to our concept of this stage

of the commission of a crime.

It should be noted that the reference of the

consumption of the act is contained only in paragraph

2, which defines the provisions on the duration of the

criminal law [5, p. 115]. Paragraph 23, defines the

punishment for attempted crimes without exception,

and for misdemeanors only in cases established by

law. At the same time, an attempt is punished less

severely than it is provided by law, namely: life

imprisonment is replaced by imprisonment for a term

of at least three years; the punishment in the form of

imprisonment cannot exceed three quarters of the

maximum stipulated period (the same rule applies to

a fine); the increased minimum term of imprisonment

is reduced, that is, its lower limit can be up to a

maximum of two years, six or three months or less,

depending on the maximum term established in the

sanctions of the article of the Criminal Code of the

Federal Republic of Germany [5, p. 149]. In case of

an actual error in the object or means of committing a

crime, the court may completely refuse punishment

[5, p. 131]. Paragraph 24 defines the conditions for

not punishing a person for refusing to complete the

crime, which are generally similar to ours.

Thus, in terms of punishment for attempted crime,

the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of

Germany and the Criminal Code of the Russian

Federation have significant similarities in terms of

formally defined maximum time periods for

punishment in the form of imprisonment and the

amount of a fine (three quarters) and refusal to use life

imprisonment. Meanwhile, there are some

differences: the requirement to reduce the lower limit

of punishment and the possibility of exemption from

punishment in the case of error in fact.

Austrian legislation establishes criminal liability

for attempted act, in the First Section of the General

Part of the Criminal Code "General Regulations" [6,

p. 51]. Like the Criminal Code of the Federal

Republic of Germany, Austrian criminal law does not

give the concept of a completed crime, although it

does mention it in paragraph 15. Herewith, an attempt

is defined as "the embodiment by the performer of his

decision to commit an act, or to persuade another

person to commit it by means of an action preceding

its direct execution." Thus, according to the Criminal

Code of Austria, an attempt is only actions that are

committed before the executor implements his

decision to commit a crime. Here we do not see a

reference to the elements of crime, but, as in the

German criminal law, in the definition of an inchoate

crime, there is a subjective element designated as the

determination to commit a crime.

The punishability of an attempt is described in

paragraphs 33 and 41 of the Fourth section of the

General Part of the Criminal Code of Austria

"Imposition of Punishment" [6, p. 76; 82-84],

indicating that this is a particularly mitigating

circumstance (clause 13, paragraph 1), which,

together with other mitigating circumstances, if they

prevail over aggravating circumstances, may affect

the non-application of a sentence of life imprisonment

and a significant reduction lower thresholds for

sentences of imprisonment. Here we see a weak

formalization of the punishability of an inchoate

crime, which for the most is left to the mercy of the

court.

The Criminal Code of Norway in Chapter 4 of

Part 1 of the General Provisions, which is called

"Attempt", contains three rules on the concept of an

attempt, voluntary refusal and the punishability of an

attempt. Paragraph 41 of the Criminal Code of

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Norway establishes that an attempt is present when

there is no completed crime, but an action was taken,

in which the beginning of the crime was assumed [7,

p. 76]. It also says that an attempt on minor crimes,

which are placed in Part 3 of the Norwegian criminal

law (including other crimes consisting omission of

action, committed inadvertently) is not punishable [7,

p. 77]. In other cases, the punishment is mitigated,

may be imposed below the lower limit, or replaced

with a milder form. As it seen, in Norway this point

is not strictly formalized. On the other hand, the court

may also apply the maximum penalty if the attempt

had the consequences that were presumed guilty

(paragraph 43). That is, the Norwegian legislator,

unlike, for example, the Russian one, recognizes the

possibility to apply the most severe punishment in the

event of the actual realization of the guilty's intent in

a legal inchoate crime.

In the General Provisions on Offenses (Book I) of

the Criminal Code of Belgium, an independent

Chapter IV "Attempted crime or misdemeanor" is

also highlighted [8, p. 63-64]. In general, the norms

establishing responsibility for these inchoate acts are

similar to the previously described norms of the

criminal laws of Germany and Austria. However, in

opposition to them, but in a construct similar to

Russian legislation, it is determined that an attempt is

interrupted or does not achieve an effect, only due to

circumstances beyond the control of the guilty party.

It is considered by the court as a mitigating

circumstance and formally determined (in years,

months) the size of the reduction or mitigation of

punishment is established [8, p. 72-75]. It is

noteworthy that both the upper and lower limits of

punishment are subject to reduction.

The criminal legislation of the Republic of San

Marino, the oldest democracy in Europe, contains six

norms located in Chapter II "Completed crime, an

attempt to commit a crime and a failed crime" of

Section Three of the Book of the first Special Part

(Articles 24 - 29 of the Criminal Code) [9, p. ... 45–

47] in one way or another related to the institution in

question. In contrast to the above criminal laws, the

Criminal Code of the Republic of San Marino

provides a definition of a completed crime, which is

considered as “when the fact of damage or creation of

danger, provided for in the Law as a consequence of

a completed or failed act of behavior of the performer,

is established” (first paragraph of Art. 24). The forms

of an unfinished crime are divided into “an attempt to

commit an intentional crime” (Article 26) and “a

failed intentional crime” (Article 27), which

correspond to an inchoate and completed attempt. It

is interesting that in case of a failed attempt, the

punishment is reduced from one to two steps, and in

case of a failed crime, it can be reduced only by one

step. Article 28 establishes a norm on voluntary

refusal and active repentance, which differs from our

understanding of this institution, since its

implementation is an obstacle to the occurrence of a

crime event, that is, active repentance, as well as

voluntary refusal, are possible only at the stage of an

inchoate crime. However, such behavior, although it

excludes the application of punishment to a person,

leaves it possible for the judge to apply a security

measure to him. This provision is somewhat similar

to our constructions of special types of active

repentance according to the norms of the Special Part

of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: "A

person ... is exempt from criminal liability ... if the

actions of this person do not contain a different

elements of crime." In Art. 29 of the Criminal Code

of the Republic of San Marino states that if the object

of the crime is absent, then punishability is excluded,

if “the actions committed do not contain any other

type of crime” [9, p. 45–47].

The Criminal Code of France contains two

general norms on an inchoate criminal offense, which

indicate that the perpetrator of a criminal act may be

a person who commits a crime or attempts to commit

it (Articles 121-4), and “the attempt itself takes place

when clearly expressed by the beginning of its

execution, it was interrupted, or its consequences did

not come only due to circumstances beyond the

control of the will of its executor” (Art. 121-4) [10, p.

48]. Book One “General Provisions” does not contain

any other provisions concerning the grounds or

peculiarities of criminal liability and punishment for

a completed and inchoate crime. At the same time,

the Sections of Books on certain types of misconduct

contain norms that determine the punishability of an

attempt on misdemeanors. For example, Article 222-

40 establishes that attempted misconduct under

articles 222-36 to 222-39 (Division IV of Chapter II

of Book II on the Illicit Drug Trade) is punishable by

the same offence. The same provisions are contained

in other articles (Article 223-31, 224-8, 255-11, etc.).

However, in many types of misconduct, such norms

are absent, which indicates the impossibility of

bringing to responsibility for unfinished activities.

This confirms the authors' opinion that, as in the

Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany,

French criminal legislation establishes the

punishability of attempted murder in all cases, and in

misconduct only when it is expressly stated in the law

[11, p. 108-116]. However, in many types of

misconduct, such norms are absent, which indicates

the impossibility of bringing to responsibility for

Comparative Analysis of the Criminal Legislation on a Completed and an Inchoate Crime

105

unfinished activities. This confirms the authors'

opinion that, as in the Criminal Code of the Federal

Republic of Germany, French criminal legislation

establishes the punishability of attempted act in all

cases, and in misconduct only when it is expressly

stated in the law [11, p. 108-116]. On the basis of

these provisions, some authors conclude that the

indication that attempts are punishable by the same

punishments “predetermines a different legal

assessment of the act of the guilty person and the

imposition of punishment on the basis of Art. 222–31

of the Criminal Code of France” [12, p. 23-26].

Meanwhile, we found no prescriptions for mitigating

punishment for attempted crime or misdemeanor.

Australian criminal legislation in the rule on

attempt (Art. 11.1 of the Australian Criminal Code)

defines that “a person who tries to commit a crime is

guilty of a criminal attempt on this crime and is

subject to punishment as if this unfinished crime had

been committed” [13, p. ... 77-79]. At the same time,

it is clarified that the attempt is more than just

preparation, but the separation of these stages is a

matter of fact and is not formalized in the law. In

addition, the Australian Criminal Code specifically

stipulates that all the rules of qualification

establishing guilt, peculiarities of responsibility and

punishment for a completed crime also apply to

attempted criminal act. At the same time, attempted

complicity with a common criminal goal, conspiracy

to commit a crime and conspiracy to commit deceit

are not criminalized [13, p. 77-79].

There are no general provisions on a completed or

inchoate crime in US federal law, however, there are

special rules on liability for attempted specific types

of crimes. For example, Section 113, Section 18,

Attempted Murder or Manslaughter, establishes that

any person for attempted murder is liable to

imprisonment for no more than twenty years or a fine

[14]. For an attempt to commit manslaughter, be

imprisoned for no more than seven years, or fined

[15]. At the same time, the United States provides for

liability for conspiracy to commit crimes against the

state. ... § 371 "Conspiracy to commit a crime or

deception of the United States": "If two or more

persons conspire, either to commit any crime against

the United States, or to defraud the United States or

its agency in any way and for any purpose, and one or

several such persons commit any action to achieve the

goal of the conspiracy, each should be fined under

this law or imprisoned for a period of not more than

five years, or both” [ 15]. As you can see, such a crime

is similar to the preparation by conspiracy to commit

a grave or especially grave crime punishable under

the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

It should be noted that in 1962, the US Model

Criminal Code was created, which contains Article

5.01 “Attempted Crime”. In particular, it says that an

inchoate crime (initial crime, preliminary crime) is a

crime of preparing or seeking to commit another

crime. The most common example of an initial

offense is “attempt”. It is defined as follows:

"Conduct is considered criminal without actually

causing harm, provided that the harm that could occur

is what the law is trying to prevent." An attempt to

commit a crime occurs when the criminal intends to

commit a crime and takes a significant step towards

completing the crime, but for reasons not intended by

the criminal, the final crime does not occur as a result.

An attempt to commit a specific crime is a crime that

is generally considered to be of the same or lesser

gravity as an attempt on a specific crime. An

attempted act is a kind of inchoate crime, a crime that

has not yet been fully developed. An attempted crime

consists of two elements: intent and some behavior

aimed at completing the crime.

State criminal law generally follows the legal

construct of the Model Code. So, for example, in Part

1. "On Crimes and Punishments" of the California

Penal Code (Part 1 enacted in 1872) the following

provisions are established:

“Every person who tries to commit a crime but

fails, is prevented or delayed in committing it, shall

be punished, unless the law provides for punishment

for such attempts, namely:

(a) If the attempted crime is punishable by

imprisonment in a state prison or imprisonment under

section 1170 subdivision (h), the perpetrator of the

attempted crime shall be punished by imprisonment

in a state prison or a county prison, respectively, by

half the term of imprisonment established upon

conviction of an attempted crime. However, if the

attempted crime is willful, willful, and willful

homicide as defined in section 189, the person

responsible for the attempt will be punished with life

imprisonment in a state prison with parole. If the

attempt is any other crime for which the maximum

penalty is life imprisonment or death, the person

guilty of the attempt shall be punished by

imprisonment in a state prison for five, seven, or nine

years. The additional time limit provided for in this

section for attempted murder, willful or premeditated

shall not apply, unless the fact that the attempted

murder was intentional, willful and premeditated has

not been charged in the indictment and found or found

to be truthful by the judge. actually.

(b) If attempted crime is punishable by

imprisonment in a county prison, the person guilty of

the attempted murder shall be punished by

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imprisonment in the county prison for a term not

exceeding half the term of imprisonment provided for

the conviction of the crime. attempt.

the offender found guilty of the attempt shall be

punished with a fine not exceeding half of the largest

fine that may be imposed if convicted of an attempted

crime. " [16].

A feature of the formation of the criminal

legislation of the CIS countries is their focus on the

Russian legal system. In this regard, the criminal laws

of the aforementioned CIS countries are generally

similar in content to the norms of the Criminal Code

on inchoate crimes.

Thus, in the Criminal Code of the Republic of

Armenia, Article 33 “Completed and inchoate

Crimes” literally reproduces both the title and the

content of Part 1 of Art. 29 of the Criminal Code [17].

The Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan

in Article 25 "Completed Criminal Offense" also

contains a rule similar to the Criminal Code of the

Russian Federation:

"A criminal offense shall be deemed completed if

the act committed by a person contains all the signs

of an offense set by the Special Part of this Code",

with the only exception that indicates not of a crime,

but of a criminal offense, since according to the

Criminal Code of Kazakhstan "criminal offenses,

depending on the degree of public danger and

punishability, they are subdivided into crimes and

criminal offenses” (part 1 of article 10) [18].

At the same time, even in the context of a general

correlation of the norms of the criminal law on

completed and inchoate crimes in the Russian

criminal law and the criminal legislation of the CIS

countries, it should be noted that, for example, the

Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus has its own

approach to this issue. So, in part 2 of article 11 "The

concept of a crime" it is determined that "a crime is

recognized as completed from the moment the act

was committed", and in part 3 of the same article it is

specified: "A crime associated with the ensuing of the

consequences specified in articles of the Special Part

of this Code is recognized completed with the factual

ensuing of these consequences” [19]. Thus, the

Belarusian legislator has divided the provisions on the

completed crime, depending on whether the

consequences of the crime are or are not a mandatory

or optional sign of a crime. At the same time, the term

“elements of the crime” does not apply but it is used

in the criminal laws of Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan,

and also Ukraine, where the provisions on the

completed crime are similar to those in the listed

countries [20].

4 CONCLUSIONS

Summarizing the conducted comparative analysis, it

is necessary to highlight the main differences in the

normative regulation of a completed and inchoate

crime, in Russian and foreign criminal legislation:

1) the criminal legislation of the CIS countries and

Ukraine is generally similar and provides for a

norm on a completed crime, with the only

exception that the Criminal Code of Belarus

differentiates the ending of a crime depending

on the material or formal structure of its

composition;

2) in the legislation of European countries, the

concept of a completed crime is mainly not

applied (with the exception of the Republic of

San Marino), but the types of an inchoate crime

are defined. Herewith the preparation stage is

not pointed out at all;

3) responsibility for attempted crime is provided

for in all countries, but the special aspects of

punishment for its commission are not

established everywhere;

4) some laws provide clear parameters for

reducing the punishment for an inchoate crime

(Germany, Belgium, San Marino), and in

others - the assessment of the degree of

punishment is given to judges (Austria,

Norway, France). The closest thing to Russian

law is set the punishment for attempted crime

in the FRG - no more than three-quarters of the

maximum term or amount of punishment;

5) in the Criminal Code of the Republic of San

Marino, an uncompleted attempt and a failed

crime are moved apart with a differentiated

measure of responsibility, as different types of

attempted crime, that is, the stages of a

completed and incompleted attempt are

separated with a different measure of

responsibility for their commission;

6) in a number of laws, responsibility for an

attempted crime may coincide with the

punishment for a completed crime (Norway,

Australia);

7) in all criminal laws of Europe, in one form or

another, the rules of qualification in case of

error in fact (in the object, means,

consequences) are described;

8) US federal criminal law does not provide for

general rules on completed and inchoate

crimes, but at the same time contains special

rules on liability for attempted specific crimes.

At the same time, in the United States, in

contrast to European countries, preliminary

Comparative Analysis of the Criminal Legislation on a Completed and an Inchoate Crime

107

criminal activity is criminalized, namely,

conspiracy to commit a crime.

9) the criminal law of individual states of the

United States contains general rules on liability

for an inchoate crime, with an indication of a

reduction in the penalty for attempted crime by

half the term or the amount of the maximum

penalty provided for a specific crime.

However, these rules do not apply to attempted

murder, which is punishable by life in prison,

but with the possibility of parole.

Summarizing the talk it should be noted the

positive aspects revealed during the comparative

analysis of legislation on completed and inchoate

crimes, which can be implemented, taking into

account the Russian legal specifics in the Criminal

Code of the Russian Federation:

 indicate in the concept of a completed crime the

fully realized intent of the person committing

the crime;

 to provide for a differentiated approach in

determining the moment of completion of

formally and materially defined crimes, as well

as the possibility of excluding the stage of

attempt (preparation) for certain types of

crimes (for example, for infringement on life

special types of victims - Articles 277, 295, 217

of the Criminal Code of the Russian

Federation);

 differentiate responsibility depending on the

type of attempted crime - completed or

inchoated;

 to consolidate the requirement to reduce the

lower threshold of the sanction for an inchoate

crime, depending on its category;

 introduce qualification rules for determining

the stage of a crime in case of an error in fact.

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