Problems of interpretation and enforcement of the provisions of Article 181 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

This article presents a study on the illegal circulation of precious metal items bearing counterfeit assay marks. The relevance of this research topic is due to the thriving shadow jewelry market in the Russian Federation, which accounted for approximately 50% of the legal jewelry market in 2024. Furthermore, over the past ten years, the definition of a "state assay mark" has changed at the legislative level, and significant amendments have been made to the Federal Law «On Precious Metals and Precious Stones» necessitating adjustments to Article 181 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The public danger of counterfeit assay marks lies in the illegal extraction of material gain to the detriment of the well-being of others or society as a whole, a decrease in trust in jewelry products, a decline in activity in the precious metals market, discrediting government agencies, and other negative consequences. The following methods were used as the methodological basis for the study: analysis, synthesis, deduction, generalization, and the formal legal method. To effectively combat the "gray" market for precious metal products, the following shortcomings of Article 181 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation must be addressed: the inaccuracy of the wording of the subject of the crime in Article 181 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation; the lack of criminal liability for the storage and transportation of precious metal products with knowingly counterfeit assay marks. Given that the legislator defined the state assay mark as a mark of an established form, which is affixed by the federal executive body exercising state control and supervision functions to precious metal products and certifies their fineness (and not the hallmarking device), it is necessary to establish in Article 181 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation precious metal products with knowingly counterfeit assay marks as the subject of the crime related to the illegal circulation of precious metal products.