The Weapon and Means of Committing a Crime: the Concept and the Relation

Tools and means play integral roles in the commission of a crime. However, their concepts and criteria for differentiation have not yet been clearly delineated by science. The author analyzes the most significant views of scientists on the concept of tools and means in the commission of crimes. He provides criteria for distinguishing them from each other: by functional purpose, the degree (nature) of their impact on the object of the crime, and the form of external expression. He further considers the features inherent in both tools and means: how they “facilitate” the implementation of the criminal goal; refer to optional features of the objective aspects of the crime; how their use significantly increases the degree of public danger of the act and completely depends on the consciousness and will of the subject; and how they justify the author's position on the concepts of criminal law under study. It is concluded that the exact interpretation of the concepts of “tools and means of committing a crime,” the definition of their