In the article, based on the current criminal legislation and explanations of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the problem of the broad interpretation of art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, providing for responsibility for exceeding official authority. The reasons for the erroneous qualification are seen both in the misconception about the content of the signs of abuse of office, and in the desire to hide the problems of establishing individual factual circumstances at the expense of universal qualifications. The authors of the article comment on the typical problems of legal assessment of officials’ encroachments and offer clear criteria for delineating the abuse of authority from other crimes.