By the new RA Criminal Code, which entered into force on July 1, 2022, although the stages of the crime are the same (preparation of a crime, attempt to commit a crime and completed crime), their concepts have been changed, in particular, the preparation of not very grave and medium gravity crimes is considered now a crime.
The concept of preparation is stated in Article 43 of the Law as follows: “Preparation of a crime is the acquisition of tools or means, adaptation of tools or means or, as well as wilful creation of other condition for committal of a wilful crime, if a person cannot proceed with the execution of the objective side of the crime included in the intent, due to circumstances beyond his/her control.
If the acquisition of tools or means, adaptation of tools or means or, as well as wilful creation of other condition for committal of a wilful crime contains features of another completed crime, then the act is qualified as an aggregate of crimes.”
The new Criminal Code mentions not about completing the crime due to circumstances beyond the control of the person, but about the fact that the offender is not able to proceed with the objective aspect of the crime.
The concept and types of an attempt to commit a crime are defined in Article 44 of the Law. In accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article: “Attempt at a crime is the action (inaction) committed through wilfulness immediately aimed at the committal of crime and contains features of the crime provided for in the Special Part of this Code, but the crime included in the intention of the person is not carried out due to circumstances beyond of his/her control due to the absence of any characteristic of the given crime.”
In the concept of attempt to commit a crime, unlike the previous Code, the emphasis is placed on the fact that the important thing in an attempt at a crime is not that the crime does not end, but that the crime included in the intention of the person is not carried out due to circumstances independent of his/her control.
The concept of completed crime has also been changed. In accordance with Article 42 of the Code: “A wilful crime shall be considered completed, if it contains all the features of the crime included in the intention of the offender.” The new Criminal Code emphasizes the intent of the offender in this concept. In other words, a completed crime is present when all the features of the crime included in the offender’s intent are present in the act.