The criminal hierarchy in Russia: features and characteristics.

Novozhilov Sergei Sergeevich Postgraduate Student, Department of Criminal Law, Moscow State Law University named after Kutafin O.E. 125993, Russia, Moscow, Sadovaya-Kudrinskaya str., 9 sbtantiterror@gmail.com Other publications by this author

The problem of organized crime is one of the most acute in modern Russia, its structural elements penetrate into all spheres of life, causing significant harm to the institutions of the individual, society and the state. Organized crime is a complex socio–political phenomenon that occurs at the junction of three segments: professional crime, the shadow economy and government corruption. Its characteristic features include stable criminal activity carried out by criminal organizations (organized groups and criminal communities) that have a hierarchical structure, material and financial base, as well as connections with state structures based on corruption mechanisms. All these factors put the task of combating organized crime among the most priority functions of the state, which makes the topic under study especially relevant today. The subject of the study is the criminal hierarchy of Russia, its features and characteristics. In the course of the conducted research, universal dialectical, logical, formal-legal, hermeneutic methods were used. The scientific novelty of the work is connected primarily with the author's attempt to assess the structural elements of the criminal hierarchical system operating in the Russian Federation, to determine the place of persons with status leadership in it, as well as to understand the definition of the main definitions having an evaluative character. 

Theoretical and applied and criminal law issues related to the presence of a criminal hierarchy in Russia are reflected in the works of P.V. Agapov, E.A. Antonyan, S.V. Bondarenko, A.V. Brilliantov, V.N. Kudryavtsev, S.V. Kondratyuk, A.N. Mondokhonov, P.A. Skoblikov, V.E. Eminov.

         At the same time, there are practically no comprehensive monographic studies devoted to the problems of the formation and functioning of the criminal hierarchy in Russia.

The concept of "hierarchy" was first introduced by the ancient Greek author Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and is mentioned in the works "On the Heavenly Hierarchy", "On the Church hierarchy"^[2] back in the V century AD and translated from Greek means "priestly hierarchy".

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the concept began to be used in natural and social sciences, including law. In this sense, hierarchy is understood as subordination of the lower degrees to the higher ones according to precisely defined gradations.

In the explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, "hierarchy" is defined as "the order of subordination of the lower to the higher; the arrangement from the lowest to the highest or from the highest to the lowest."^[3]

         From the point of view of the theory of criminal law, the semantics of the term "hierarchy" in relation to the criminal environment is represented by a set of management principles of persons who identify themselves as representatives of the professional criminal community, strictly adhering to the rules and traditions accepted in the criminal world^[4].

         P.V. Agapov, N.V. Salnikov, S.V. Kondratyuk, note that the principles of management in criminal structures represent a system of relations that have developed in the criminal world, determining the order of subordination of lower links to higher ones^[5]. It is difficult to disagree with this definition, since it is the principles of management based on subordination that build the entire system of stratification in criminal communities.

         P.A. Skoblikov believes that the hierarchy in the criminal environment cannot be two-tier, it assumes the presence of many (at least more than two) degrees, gradations, and can also be considered in at least three guises:

- hierarchy of the criminal world (criminal environment) of Russia as a whole;

-a hierarchy adopted or formed in a certain association of leaders, organizers, representatives of organized groups that operate in a certain part of the country;

-hierarchy of a specific criminal community, criminal organization^[6].

         At the same time, some scientists believe that the criminal environment operating in Russia forms a single hierarchy in the country, operating throughout its territory.

         In their works, F.A. Aliyev, A.N. Mondokhonov, I.V. Nikitenko, T.V. Yakusheva, use the concept of "criminal hierarchy as a whole", contrasting it with the criminal hierarchy in separate territories or in a separate criminal community^[7].

         This position does not seem to be entirely correct, since objective data from the analysis of the operational situation, investigative and judicial practice indicate that there is not and cannot be a single criminal world in Russia forming a single hierarchy.

         The fact is that the criminal communities (organizations) operating on the territory of Russia are not identical and not homogeneous, their spheres of criminal activity, their specialization and orientation, their subordination and the relationship of the leaders among themselves are different.

Part of criminal communities (organizations) Russia is ethnic, and the formation of these criminal structures is based on both religious principles and the principles of fraternity.

 For example, the "Chechen-Ingush" criminal community, "Azerbaijani", "Georgian", etc. Many leaders of ethnic criminal communities, including those operating in a certain territory, are not even familiar with each other.

The majority of members of criminal communities (criminal organizations) operating in Russia are in a state of permanent confrontation and struggle for spheres of criminal influence, including such a struggle among persons occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy.

         Based on the above, the position of P.A. Skoblikov seems to be more preferable and corresponding to the real state of affairs in the criminal environment.

In the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia dated June 10, 2010 No. 12 "On judicial practice of consideration of criminal cases on the organization of a criminal community or participation in it (her)", along with consideration of other issues, an attempt was made to clarify the content of the evaluative concept of "the highest position in the criminal hierarchy". In particular, paragraph 24 of the said resolution clarifies that when deciding on the subject of a crime, Part 4 of Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to establish his position in the criminal hierarchy.

         Analyzing this provision, P.A. Skoblikov rightly notes that in the document under consideration there are no consistent recommendations on what a criminal hierarchy is, how to establish it and how to determine the highest position in it^[1].This issue is debatable in the science of criminal law and criminology. When constructing the disposition of Article 2101 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the legislator used such definitions as "occupation of the highest position" and "criminal hierarchy". These categories do not have a legal explanation in the regulations, and the works of scientists mainly investigate not the "criminal hierarchy", but the so-called "prison hierarchy"^[8].

Meanwhile, "the places that a person occupies in the hierarchy of the criminal subculture and the hierarchy of the prison (penitentiary) subculture may not be identical.

A representative of the criminal world who was an active participant in it, getting into a penitentiary institution, can take a place in the hierarchy that does not correspond to his position in the criminal world on the outside."^[9]

This point of view is also shared by G.V. Perezhogina, who believes that "the definition of the criminal hierarchy goes beyond penitentiary institutions and is broader and includes more participants, connections and functions"^[10].

It seems appropriate to agree with the above provisions and recognize that the criminal hierarchy of Russia and the prison hierarchy are not the same thing.

The criminal hierarchy of Russia is a broader concept and includes the "prison hierarchy", which is its integral part (segment).

Analyzing these provisions, it is necessary to introduce the concept of "criminal hierarchy", designating it as a complex system of relations that have developed for a long time in the criminal environment, determining the order of subordination of the lower links of the criminal community (organization) to the higher, as well as the order of relationships of persons adhering to the traditions of the criminal environment.

         Let's give a brief description of each of the presented segments.

–Hierarchy of associations of leaders, organizers or representatives of organized criminal groups operating in a certain territory or a certain area of criminal trade.

         The specified association of the leaders of OPS and EOPS has the highest social danger, since by uniting, the leaders of these criminal structures are able to influence the operational situation of entire regions, carrying out general coordination of criminal activities of controlled criminal structures.

         According to scientists, the emerging negative situation is complicated by the strengthening of the positions of cross-border organized crime in the economy^[11].

This type of association of leaders of organized criminal communities (criminal organizations) is characteristic of large criminal associations, including cross-border crime. Its features are the extensive coverage of the spheres of criminal activity, the involvement of a large number of participants in it, the presence of an extensive multi-level structure.

         – Hierarchy of the criminal community and criminal organization.

         In Part 4 of Article 35 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the legislator fixed the main signs of a criminal community and a criminal organization, providing for two main forms – an association of organized groups operating under a single leadership, whose members joined together in order to jointly commit one or more serious, as well as especially serious crimes, or a structured organized group. These forms of criminal structures are the most common on the territory of Russia, from a criminological point of view, representing monoprime communities (organizations).

As an example, large groups operating in the 90s - "Orekhovskaya", "Shchelkovskaya", "Izmailovskaya", etc. can be cited.

         Most criminal formations in Russia are represented by similar structures. Their characteristic feature is the presence of a single management, as a rule, this is the leader, who alone makes various decisions concerning the organizational aspects of the activities of the criminal structure.

         It is proved that the management link of the criminal community (organization) consists of the status leaders of the criminal hierarchy and differs in relatively unchanged composition; the lower links (relative to the management link) are characterized by variable composition and variability ^[12].

– The prison (penitentiary) hierarchy is one of the key segments of the criminal hierarchy of Russia, since it is in it that persons of the category of "thief in law" and authorities of the criminal environment, "watchers", "posits" are initiated.

This segment is represented in all regions of Russia without exception, since persons of this category are constantly striving to expand the spheres of criminal influence and involve as many persons as possible in their activities, establishing a "thieves' course", influencing the regime of detention of prisoners, striving to increase the number of "black" penitentiary institutions in the system of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia.

Being a mirror image of society, the prison community is heterogeneous and stratified into the ruling class, the exploited class and the outcasts.

There are four main castes in the world of convicts and prisoners: thieves (black), men (gray), goats (red) and lowered (blue).

The first attempts at scientific analysis of the prison hierarchy and rules of behavior in the criminal environment were made in the late XIX - early XX century.

 Considerable merit in this belongs to domestic scientists: G.N. Breitman, V.M. Doroshevich, V.V. Krestovsky, V.I. Lebedev, N.S. Lobas, V.M. Popov.

In the 70-90 years, A.G. Bronnikov, B.F. Vodolazsky, V.F. Pirozhkov, N.A. Struchkov, A.N. Sukhov made a significant contribution to the development of this problem.

Depending on the criteria underlying the classification, differences are used that are not significant.

Thus, Yu.I. Blokhin based the classification on the criterion of the degree of identification with the criminal world.

The scientist identifies four informal categories of convicts: convicts who identify themselves with the criminal world ("thieves"); convicts who are neutral to the criminal world ("men"); convicts who are negatively related to the criminal world ("activists"); convicts rejected by the criminal world ("offended" and "omitted")^[13].

In addition, the classification can be based on the criterion of orientation in relation to the administration of the institution (groups of positive, neutral and negative orientation).

According to V.I. Mikhailov, the division of convicts into subcultural groups is due to the model of behavior that a person follows when he finds himself in prison (denial, neutrality, adaptation and depersonalization), and not other circumstances (the degree of identification with the criminal world, the orientation of groups)^[14].

A.N. Oleinik, describing the prison hierarchy, gives the following scheme^[15].

He identifies prison castes (suits) – groups of prisoners who occupy different positions in the informal hierarchy that develops in places of deprivation of liberty.

Giving brief explanations of the above scheme, it should be noted that A.N. Oleynik does not single out persons occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy into a separate category, obviously referring them to the category of "thieves", which, in fact, is not quite correct, since "thieves" are a general category into which they can there are several persons, these are both "positioners", and "watchers", and simply authoritative representatives of the criminal and criminal environment.

There is a movement in the prison hierarchy, both up and down, some categories of prisoners showing themselves, for example, "men", can move into the suit of "thieves" or increase their authority.

But they can also fall into a lower category, for example, "fuflyzhnikov" (having lost at cards and not paying off a card debt).

There is only one category from which there is no upward movement – these are the "offended" and "downtrodden", who, due to their status in the prison hierarchy, cannot rise and gain authority.

Persons occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy, including those who are the leaders of various influential organized criminal groups, once in prison, often do not correspond to the prison hierarchy operating in places of deprivation of liberty.

Thus, a person, being the leader of an organized criminal group, can occupy the lowest place in places of deprivation of liberty, without falling into the "criminal suit" at all.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the criminal hierarchy on the outside is not identical to the prison criminal hierarchy, a person who occupies a sufficiently high criminal status in the prison hierarchy, after being released and joining a criminal community (criminal organization), may not occupy a leading position there.

This is because the division into suits (categories) in the prison hierarchy (which is a subspecies of the criminal hierarchy) is based on other principles of formation.

Once in prison, a person must introduce himself who he is in life, what he does and what kind of lifestyle he leads. At the same time, persons who have committed violent crimes ("makrushniki") do not enjoy authority in places of deprivation of liberty, and those who have allowed the murder of leaders of the criminal environment, including "thieves in law", whom the criminal environment has "crowned" and endowed with appropriate powers, must bear "responsibility" for what they have done.

In addition, when persons occupying a more or less high position in criminal communities enter places of deprivation of liberty, these persons may be asked whether the person engaged in criminal activity deducted any funds to the prisoners, whether he "warmed" the zone from his criminal income, with whom of the criminal authorities he kept in touch, who can characterize and vouch for a person.

Moreover, the specified person (previously occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy), having got into the zone and independently chosen the status of a "thug", must justify his choice, otherwise he must answer for himself, or he will be debunked and fall into a lower category of the prison hierarchy.

The formation of criminal communities may be based on ethnic principles of formation, and religious, and sectoral, as well as mixed principles.

In addition, there are organized criminal formations specializing in the commission of economic crimes and operating under the guise of officially registered legal entities.  At the same time, economic security and physical security services can be created within the corporation, which legally receive weapons, but in fact are information-analytical and law enforcement units of the criminal community.^[16]

P.A. Skoblikov points out: "If the criminal world is defined as the totality of all organized criminal formations, situational criminal groups and lone criminals operating in the country, it is impossible to provide accurate data, but, apparently, their total number is several million people.

Most criminals and leaders of criminal formations have never contacted each other and do not even know about each other's existence"^[17].

Summing up, I would like to formulate my own opinion on this issue.

On the territory of Russia there is not and cannot be a single criminal hierarchy with a single control center, a strict system of subordination and subordination of the lower links of criminal communities (organizations) to the higher ones.

The analysis of the operational situation shows that various organized criminal communities (criminal organizations) operate in the Russian Federation, including those headed by persons with leadership status who carry out their activities within the so-called "thieves' community", which is the most structured segment of the criminal hierarchy.

In addition, the most developed and studied from a criminological point of view is the prison hierarchy, represented in almost all regions of Russia, which is also the most important segment of the criminal hierarchy, since it is in it that persons with status leadership are initiated.

At the same time, there are quite a lot of other criminal communities and criminal organizations consisting of former and current athletes, law enforcement officers, officials who do not adhere to the thieves' ideology at all, whose leaders have not been brought to criminal responsibility before.

In our opinion, only the totality of all these segments forms the so-called criminal hierarchy of Russia (the criminal world of Russia), which is not a single and integral structure, and the system of subordination is characteristic only for its individual elements.