Damage or Destruction of a Thing: the Basic Composition
Article 187 of the Criminal Code regulates the damage or destruction of another's thing. The basic composition is completed where the act caused significant damage — it is this feature that separates the crime from an ordinary civil dispute. An act charged under the first part is punished by a fine, community service for a term of one hundred to one hundred and eighty hours, corrective labour for a term of up to one year, home arrest for a term of six months to two years, or imprisonment for a term of one to five years. Each punishment is a separate alternative, and their frameworks are defined in the norm itself.
The feature of significant damage is the central prop of the prosecution: it requires independent assessment, and the failure to establish it undermines the whole charge. For the defence it is precisely this gate that gives the case its realistic opportunity — if the damage is not significant, no crime exists under this article at all.