Crimes at Competition
Abstract
The accumulated antimonopoly and judicial practice in cases of cartels, recent changes in competition legislation (the so-called “fifth antimonopoly package” associated with the abolition of “cartel immunities” for bidding) and the latest decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (determination оf April 25, 2023 No. 757-O; resolution of April 25, 2023 No. 1027-O; resolution of April 19, 2023 No. 19-P; resolution of March 30, 2023 No. 12-P) allow us to sum up interim results and predict further development new practice of criminal law countering cartel agreements among bidders. Of no less scientific interest is the “other side of the coin”, which is judicial practice in cases of crimes committed by customer representatives at auctions, which is also undergoing significant changes associated with the emergence of new and additions to existing criminal law prohibitions in this area. The purpose of this study is to identify problems of qualifying crimes at auctions and to develop scientifically based proposals for their resolution. From this perspective, we consider the controversial issues of qualifying restrictions on competition (Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), abuse of official powers (Article 285 of the Criminal Code), abuse of official powers (Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), taking a bribe (Article 290 of the Criminal Code), abuse in the field of procurement goods, works, services to meet state or municipal needs (Article 200.4 of the Criminal Code), bribery of a contract service employee, contract manager, member of the procurement commission (Article 200.5 of the Criminal Code), as well as crimes against property committed in connection with procurement procedures (Articles 159 and 160 of the Criminal Code). As part of the study, using the formal legal method, the legislation on competition and regulated procurement, which underlies the criminal law prohibitions under consideration, was analyzed. Using the systemic-structural method, the elements of crimes at competition were studied. Methods of statistical analysis and interpretation of law were used to analyze judicial practice and develop rules for classifying these crimes.
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