On February 25, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation overturned the verdict and terminated the criminal case against Polad Navruzov, convicted of illegally cutting birch trees. The court recognized the absence of corpus delicti due to the insignificance of the act, since the damage was only 2.2 thousand rubles. exceeded the amount provided for by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
Lawyer of the MCA “Law Firm “Levant and Partners”” Alexander Nenaidenko commented on the decision of the Supreme Court:
“Firstly, the Supreme Court noted that the lower courts did not clarify all the circumstances relevant to the verdict. Thus, neither the age of the tree nor the presence or absence of DCP of forest plantations was established. That is, the sentence is not justified in this part. In addition, given the apparently loss of physical evidence (the cut down tree), the question of irreducible doubt arises, which must be resolved in favor of the defendant. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court itself did not develop the motivational part in this direction.
Secondly, the Supreme Court pointed out the need for a particularly thorough study of the issue of the presence or absence of a crime if the material damage from an unlawful act only slightly exceeds the amount provided for by the Criminal Code. In our case, we were talking about the relationship between Part 1 of Art. 260 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Art. 8.28 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. I believe that this warning of the Supreme Court is especially valuable for law enforcement practice, since often for crimes with a material component, the amount of damage is only slightly (300-500 rubles) greater than the amount sufficient for criminal prosecution.”
The Supreme Court’s decision emphasizes the importance of observing the principle of fairness and careful analysis of the circumstances of the case, especially in cases where the damages slightly exceed the limits established by law.
Source: Advokatskaya Gazeta