DOI: 10.7256/2454-0706.2021.7.36074

Abstract: The subject of this research is the norms of antimonopoly legislation aimed at prevention and suppression of cartels, the norms of tax legislation that define the income and establish special tax regime for professional income, the norms of the Chapter 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the draft federal law on amendments to the Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and practical implementation of the Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The goal of this research is to examine the concept of income derived by the cartel; establish whether self-employed citizens can be the subject of an offence under this category, and clarify the criminal responsibility of the parties to the cartel agreement. The novelty consists in the fact that this article is first to examine the question of attributing the individuals conducting business activity under the special “Professional Income Tax” regime (self-employed citizens) to economic entities (i.e., parties to the cartel agreement). The effective legislation indicates that self-employed citizens do not belong to this group, as they are not state registered. A substantiation is made that a conscious neglect or an indifference to such socially dangerous consequence as income unfeasible: the cartel agreement is aimed at derivation of sizeable income. A consciously indifferent attitude is possible only towards such socially dangerous consequence as infliction of considerable damage. The field of application of acquired results is the activity of law enforcement agencies.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0668.2021.4.36121

Abstract: The subject of this research is the notes to the Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Article 14.32 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses; foreign antimonopoly legislation on exemption and mitigation of liability for cartels; decisions of the plenums of higher judicial instances of the Russian Federation regarding the grounds and procedure for exemption from liability for cartel agreements; draft of the federal law on introducing amendments to the Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and antimonopoly practice on cartels. The article aims to examine the grounds for exemption from criminal liability for cartel agreements, including in comparative-legal and interdisciplinary aspects. The novelty of this research consists in establishing extension of the grounds for exemption from liability in the Russian legislation to all cartel participants (unlike foreign legislation, according to which the cartel facilitator is not exempt from liability). This article is firs to provide interpretation to scantily studied questions of the procedure for realization of the conditions of exemption from criminal liability: the instance, when the cartel participant is still able to declare the restriction of competition to law enforcement agencies, and other measures of reparation of the inflicted damage. The author proposes a method for unification of the the grounds for exemption from liability stipulated by the Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Article 14.32 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses. The acquired results can be applied in the activity of law enforcement agencies.