What is begging and what article does a person face for this activity?

Legal advice > Administrative law > What is begging and what article a person faces for this activity

Nowadays, most of the disputes between lawyers are regarding begging, whether to leave it “outlawed” or to supplement the legislative act, including new subparagraphs, in order to bring to justice a larger percentage of different types of beggars. The State Duma boldly discusses this issue and supports the point of view of the USSR, where begging in any form was prohibited. Let's look at the topic of the article for begging in more detail.

The concept and causes of begging and vagrancy

Begging is one of the parasitic lifestyles

Begging is when people we don’t know come up on the street and very persistently offer to give us some of their money in order to save them from some troubles in life, where they urgently need funds, but they don’t have enough for some reason. This is a parasitic form of life, where a person does not make any effort to get what he wants, and he does not benefit society.

People can commit such acts due to their own selfishness and unwillingness to do anything. There are professional beggars and entire organizations that teach this. People receive huge amounts of money, which cannot be received by an ordinary person who regularly attends the official place of work every day. There are rarely those who really need help and this is the only way out, but it is extremely difficult to distinguish those in need from scammers.

Prevention and protection of children

If we look at the experience of other countries, it makes sense to introduce more serious financial penalties for begging. A sober look at the profitability of this form of business will make you forget about pity for people with an outstretched hand. Here are just a few facts about begging in the capital:

• the highest profits are for disabled people and other similar “images”: those of the beggars who look especially pitiful can beg about 50 thousand per day of work;
• They are ready to buy children for use as beggars from dysfunctional parents for round sums, which only confirms the profitability of the business.

As for the involvement of minors, this is dangerous not only because the child is taught a parasitic lifestyle from an early age. If we talk about the babies with whom women beg for money, they don’t live long at all.

Most often, such children are hooked on drugs or “sedated” in other unhealthy ways so that they sleep quietly while “mom” works for the public.

That is why the police have fairly broad powers that allow them to remove children from socially disadvantaged environments. Having seen a minor on the street begging for money, law enforcement officers can detain him, find his parents and inform them about what happened.

When it is impossible to contact the family or it turns out that it is dysfunctional, the child is transferred to a temporary detention center.

If the authorities do not contact the parents, then the next step for the minor is an orphanage. The same thing is ahead for a child if his parents fail to cope with their upbringing responsibilities.

The maximum period of stay of a minor in a temporary detention center is 30 days.

Each of us knows cases when strangers on the street very persistently offer to provide some service, ask to buy something or give a sum of money on non-refundable terms. As you might guess, in this case we are talking about begging.

Without considering this phenomenon as a full-fledged crime, one cannot deny its illegal nature. At its core, begging is a parasitic form of life activity.

Without bringing anything positive to society, participants in this phenomenon most often generate harmful and negative events. They can manifest themselves in undermining social balance, disrupting public order, and, even worse, in encroaching on the rights of other citizens.

At the moment, responsibility for actions regarded as begging has not been fully developed. In the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation[643] one can see only Art.

20.1, according to which “Petty hooliganism, that is, a violation of public order “...”, accompanied by offensive harassment of citizens “...”, entails an administrative fine in the amount of five hundred to one thousand rubles or administrative arrest for up to fifteen days.” However, this article does not fully disclose begging as a form of violation of public order and does not reflect its content.

Expert opinion

Kostenko Tamara Pavlovna

Lawyer with 10 years of experience. Author of numerous articles, teacher of Law

But what if the fact of such an unlawful action is obvious, but there are no sanctions? Is it really necessary to consider all such violations through the prism of Art. 20.1. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation?

The above position does not seem correct, since at the level of local legislation this issue was resolved a long time ago and more successfully than at the federal level. For example, a striking example in this matter is Art.

This is important to know: Improving living conditions: how to get on the waiting list, what documents are needed, procedure and application

3.8 “Harassment of citizens in public places” of the Moscow Law of November 21, 2007

No. 45 “Code of the City of Moscow on Administrative Offences”, the disposition of which defines: “Pestering citizens in public places, that is, a violation of public order, expressed in intrusive actions of a citizen carried out against other citizens against their will, for the purpose of buying and selling , exchange or acquisition of things in any other way, as well as for the purpose of fortune telling, begging, providing services of a sexual nature or imposing other services in public places.” In this case, all the main types and forms of begging are revealed and its characteristics are identified.

This concept most fully reveals the essence of this action as illegal, and therefore violating the protected rights and legitimate interests of citizens.

With regard to this article, only one question remains: the responsibility is too small - a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine on citizens in the amount of one hundred to five hundred rubles. In our opinion, punishment should be punishment, even administrative.

Considering the fact that the majority of “beggars” are, as a rule, stateless persons of the Russian Federation (or, in general, people illegally staying in the territory of our country), it would be more reasonable and effective to replace this sanction with the punishment provided for in Art. 3.10 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, namely, administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation.

If this person is a citizen of the Russian Federation, then the provisions of the now defunct Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 23, 1951 “On measures to combat antisocial, parasitic elements” should be applied to him - that is, “direction to a special settlement in remote areas of Russia with mandatory involvement in labor activities of persons engaged in begging, evading socially useful work and leading a parasitic lifestyle, as well as vagabonds who do not have a specific occupation and place of residence.”

The next example of normative regulation of social relations related to the phenomenon of begging is Art. 41 “Pestering citizens in public places for the purpose of begging or fortune-telling” Law of the Sverdlovsk Region No. 52-OZ of June 14, 2005

In this case, the formulation is constructed more succinctly, but in general, it conveys all the essential characteristics of the specified action.

Based on the above, as well as due to the public danger of the illegal actions under consideration, it is proposed to introduce into Chapter 20 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation the following norm: Part 1: “Begging - that is, pestering citizens in public places leading to a violation of public order, expressed in intrusive actions of a citizen carried out in relation to other citizens against their will, for the purpose of buying and selling, exchanging, acquiring things in another way, as well as for the purpose of fortune-telling, demands or requests for the gratuitous transfer of money, the provision of sexual services or the imposition of other services in public places - entails:

a) Citizens of the Russian Federation are expelled from their place of residence and sent to a special settlement in remote areas of Russia with mandatory involvement in labor activities (in the event that labor legislation is not applied to these persons due to age, disability and other reasons - referral to labor commissions at the place of residence or place of stay;

b) For foreign citizens, stateless persons - administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation.”

Part 2: “If this act was carried out in particularly dangerous places (section of the road, highway, other objects), -

Borrowing such a norm helps improve legislation and eliminate gaps in the law. It is also worth noting that in relation to the above article, a rich practice of application has developed, which gives reason to believe that the legal norm has been successfully implemented and used in the system of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, since many procedural issues have already been studied and options for solving them have been proposed.

And in conclusion. This question was, is and will be relevant, since begging as a parasitic form of life is rich soil for the further development of criminal thoughts. A big deed begins with a small one.[644] Therefore, it is better to nip this phenomenon in the bud than to fight its more aggressive forms later.

Nowadays, most of the disputes between lawyers are regarding begging, whether to leave it “outlawed” or to supplement the legislative act, including new subparagraphs, in order to bring to justice a larger percentage of different types of beggars. The State Duma boldly discusses this issue and supports the point of view of the USSR, where begging in any form was prohibited.

Let's look at the topic of the article for begging in more detail.

What is the liability for begging?

In our country, begging is not punishable by law. For example, if an adult stands on the street and begs. But this does not apply to those cases when a small child is involved in begging for profit. Here you won’t be able to get away with a fine; the punishment will be more severe.

Begging as part of an administrative offense

In this case, an example should be given to Moscow Law No. 45 Art. 3.8 “Harassment of citizens in public places.” It defines that harassing people in public places is equivalent to a violation of public order. All forms of begging are also defined, so this law can be taken as a basis when drawn up for the entire country.

In this case, in the law for the city of Moscow, the concept most fully reveals the essence of this action as illegal. But it does not provide for serious penalties.

Article of the Criminal Code

To beg or not is the choice of each person

In the RSFSR there was an article of the Criminal Code 209 “For parasitism”, currently it does not exist, a citizen of the Russian Federation does not face any article for a parasitic lifestyle. But at the same time, if a person uses minors for personal gain, this is indicated in Article 151 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation; for such activities, work is provided for up to 480 hours, correctional labor for up to a year or up to two years, arrest for up to 6 months or imprisonment for up to 4 years. The measure of restraint is chosen by the court, depending on the severity and composition of the act.

Is it legal to beg on the Internet?

Since progress does not stand still, so-called beggars have appeared on the Internet. Most often, they collect money on social networks such as VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and Instagram. The following types of begging can most often be found on the Internet:

1. People beg for money to start their own business. So, for recording an album, opening a tailoring salon, launching your own photo studio, and so on. Most often, these are young people who simply want to achieve something in life or, like everyone else, are looking for easy money.
2. The second option is numerous collections for sick children, relatives and themselves. There are often sad stories of how someone was robbed and left without a livelihood. Contact's news feed is literally replete with similar messages.

What about them, can they be held accountable in any way? The answer will be very ambiguous and directly depends on what exactly such a person is doing.

So, if a person uses false information in his activities, that is, uses fictitious names, surnames of acquaintances or third parties, invents non-existent diseases - all this becomes the basis for prosecution under Article 159 of the Criminal Code “Fraud”.

Read also: ​​Reform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2021

However, there is one small but significant catch. If such activities are carried out on a voluntary basis, and all the money is donations, then there can be no talk of any punishment. In other words, people themselves are to blame for falling for the deception.

So it turns out that all such actions are not punished in any way and may not even be monitored.

Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Fraud”

Begging

Begging is asking strangers for money or other tangible and intangible assets. For most “beggars,” begging is the main source of income. The problem of begging is often accompanied by vagrancy.

Today, this problem is a large-scale “business”, led by various criminal groups. People are often forced into begging and begging. Often, criminal structures attract minor teenagers or homeless people for such business.

Begging and vagrancy

The described phenomenon as a social phenomenon existed in all eras. So, for example, at the beginning of the tribal state of the Slavs, begging was done by people who had lost their place in the tribe, that is, subjects whom their own people pushed out of their ranks (for theft, cowardice shown in battle).

Subsequently, with the formation of states, the development of trade, the emergence of artisans, and the formation of the family institution, layers of the population arise that remain outside society (for example, cripples who do not have a family, frail old people who have no shelter). However, even in those days, people did not always become beggars due to the influence of negative circumstances. They begged because it was more profitable for them. It is easier for such people to beg than to earn a scrap of bread with their own labor.

Since then, practically nothing has changed: some are pushed into the paths of begging by need, others by laziness and idleness. Only the forms of manifestation of this phenomenon have changed; they have become more diverse. Today, more common forms of the described phenomenon are: begging in the subway, transport, shops, train stations, Internet portals, begging with children.

This way of life is gaining more and more popularity in modern society, because there is no punishment for begging or parasitism.

It is believed that begging and vagrancy have a common origin. In addition, the followers of this “movement” are bound by a reluctance to change their own worldview, way of life, and principles. They are satisfied with such an existence.

Vagrancy is the way of being of an individual who exists in poverty, wanders to different places, and does not have a stable legal income or permanent job.

In different countries, the attitude of the law to the described phenomenon varied depending on the era. Previously, in some states people were criminally liable for begging and vagrancy.

In addition, the definitions of this concept from a legal point of view differed, as well as the signs according to which an individual could be classified as a community of vagabonds.

Today, in a number of member states of the former commonwealth, there is only criminal punishment for involving minors in begging or vagrancy. However, it does not apply if the described act was committed by the parent of a teenager due to difficult life circumstances provoked by the loss of a source of income or place of residence.

Speaker of the Medical-Psychological