The criminalization of "droppering": Doctrinal and legislative-drafting issues in amending article 187 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Relevance. Amendments introduced by Federal Law of 24 June 2025 No. 176–FZ to Article 187 of the Russian Criminal Code target abuses involving electronic means of payment. Yet these novelties generate issues of legal certainty, norm competition, risks of objective liability, and controversial provisions on exemption from criminal liability, which makes their assessment timely for scholarship and practice.

The purpose ‒ to substantiate a doctrinally sound model of criminal-law regulation of operations with electronic means of payment by identifying drafting defects and inconsistencies with foundational principles of criminal law.

Objectives: to determine terminological and structural inconsistencies of Article 187 with the current legal framework and the architecture of the Special Part. To delineate the boundaries of interaction with adjacent offences (theft, fraud, unlawful banking activity) and with constitutional principles of culpability. To assess the expediency of the newly introduced special ground for exemption from liability applicable to “droppers.”

Methodology. Formal-legal, systemic and comparative methods; doctrinal analysis; interpretation in light of Constitutional Court positions; logical–structural reconstruction of offence elements and their conflict–of–laws patterns.

Results. The study reveals: terminological collisions between criminal and financial legislation; substitution of complicity by standalone offences, leading to fragmentation of liability; gaps in differentiation from related offences and a heightened risk of arbitrary qualification; the existence of a special exemption clause for minor offences duplicating the general rule of Article 75 of the Criminal Code.

Conclusion. Harmonisation of terminology with sectoral acts is recommended; abandonment of separate criminalisation for acts already covered by complicity; explicit requirements regarding mens rea; clarification criteria vis-àvis adjacent offences; and unification of exemption from liability provisions. These measures promote adherence to the culpability principle, legal certainty, and systemic coherence of criminal legislation.

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