Author

Toropkin S.A.

Title of article

Forfeiture of the right for pension for police officers: history and the present

Section

Section 11. Personnel, moral and psychological support of law enforcement agencies activities

Issue, year

1 (35) 2016

Abstract

Social welfare of law enforcement officers determines the effectiveness of their activities. Providing pensions is one of the basic social guarantees for police officers, so the possibility of forfeiture of pension is an important means of influencing their behavior. The legislator’s decision concerning the issue of forfeiture of pension is based on the traditional view about the nature of the pension as a reward for faithful service. The evolution of the legislation regulating the issues concerning the forfeiture of pensions of law enforcement officers is analyzed. Pre-revolutionary and the current Russian legislation are compared. The legal position of the RF Constitutional Court on this issue is considered. It’s concluded that, in comparison with the pre-revolutionary period, the list of cases when the employee of internal affairs bodies may be deprived of pension is substantially reduced in the current Russian legislation. This is still possible only in case of committing a grave or especially grave crime during the period of service, involving the deprivation of the officer’s special rank by court sentence. Police officers who have committed crimes, but were not deprived of special rank, or who have become criminals after their retirement cannot be deprived of their pension rights. Departure for permanent residence abroad, admission to service in a foreign country or becoming a monk cannot be the grounds for forfeiture of police pensions. Such approach of the legislator demonstrates a general trend in the evolution of ideas about retirement from the idea of pension as a reward to understanding it as the guaranteed right, the pensioner property.

Keywords

pension, providing pensions for police officers, forfeiture of pension, deprivation of special rank, evolution of pension provision.