Lawyers working with criminal cases in the business sphere have received an important guideline. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the presence of state participation in the capital of a commercial organization does not change its legal nature. This means that fraud against such companies should be qualified under special rules on entrepreneurial activity, rather than under the general norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
At first glance, it seems that nothing revolutionary has happened: Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation remains unchanged. But in fact, the court put an end to the controversial practice that for years gave investigators and courts a reason to increase liability in commercial disputes. If the victim was a public joint-stock company with state participation, charges were often brought under the general part of the article—for example, part 4, where the 'entry threshold' for especially large damage is only 1 million rubles, and preventive measures are much harsher.
The Constitutional Court indicated that such practice contradicts the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The presence of state participation in a company should not automatically mean the application of stricter norms. This emphasizes the principle of equality and the prohibition of expansive interpretation of criminal law. Now it will become much more difficult to qualify the actions of an entrepreneur solely on the basis that the company has a state share.
For business, this reduces the risk of criminal pressure in economic conflicts. Lawyers defending entrepreneurs can use this ruling as an argument when choosing the qualification. Ruling No. 43-P/2026 actually reminds us: disputes between business entities are not a reason to strengthen criminal liability. State participation does not make a company less 'commercial'.
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