The Russian Criminal Code in plain English
What exactly has your relative been charged with?
Families abroad are usually given an article number and nothing else. Each page below explains one charge in plain English: what it covers, what it carries, what the prosecution has to prove and where the defence usually is.
Charges we handle
Find the article in the case papers
These are the charges most often brought against foreign nationals in Russia. Open the one that matches the number you were given.
Drug possession and trafficking
The charge that affects more foreign nationals in Russia than any other. The gap between possession and supply is the whole case.
Smuggling of narcotic substances
Charged at airports, land borders and postal centres. Often against people who did not know what they were carrying.
Fraud
The article most often used to turn a failed business deal into a criminal case. The defence usually lives in the word "intent".
Bribery
Including the roadside payment to an officer. Charged as giving a bribe, and it carries a prison sentence.
Forgery and use of forged documents
The most common charge against migrant workers. Often brought against people who paid an agency for what they believed were genuine papers.
Sexual offences
Decided on testimony and expert opinion, with almost nothing physical to test. The account is fixed in the first days — and it is fixed without you.
Theft, robbery and armed robbery
Three articles for taking the same thing. What separates them is whether anyone saw, and whether force was used — and that is where the years are.
Intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm
A fight that ended badly. The line between this article, murder, and lawful self-defence is drawn by intent — and it is drawn after the fact.
Border and migration offences
Charges that exist only because the accused is a foreign national. Often brought against the person who was exploited rather than the one who profited.
Murder
The gravest charge in the Criminal Code. Also the one where the classification is most often wrong.