Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the latest edition:
Article 60 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. General principles of sentencing
1. A person found guilty of committing a crime is given a fair punishment within the limits provided for by the relevant article of the Special Part of this Code, and taking into account the provisions of the General Part of this Code. A more severe type of punishment from among those provided for the crime committed is assigned only if a less severe type of punishment cannot ensure the achievement of the goals of the punishment.
2. A more severe punishment than provided for by the relevant articles of the Special Part of this Code for the crime committed may be imposed for the totality of crimes and for the totality of sentences in accordance with Articles 69 and this Code. The grounds for imposing a less severe punishment than provided for by the relevant article of the Special Part of this Code for a crime committed are determined by Article 64 of this Code.
3. When assigning punishment, the nature and degree of public danger of the crime and the personality of the perpetrator, including circumstances mitigating and aggravating the punishment, as well as the impact of the imposed punishment on the correction of the convicted person and on the living conditions of his family, are taken into account.
Return to the table of contents of the document: Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the latest edition
Comments on Article 60 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
The punishment imposed on the guilty person must be fair . In accordance with criminal law, fairness of punishment means its compliance with the nature and degree of social danger of the crime, the circumstances of its commission and the identity of the perpetrator (Article 6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In order for the court to assign a fair punishment to each guilty person, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for general principles for their appointment, i.e. rules that the court must follow when deciding on punishment for a crime.
The general provisions for imposing punishment are enshrined in Art. 60 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “General principles of sentencing.”
These principles are a guarantee of fair and appropriate punishment. They promote compliance with the requirements of the law when choosing an individual punishment for a specific person for a specific crime.
The general principles of sentencing are the fundamental rules (requirements) formulated in criminal law that the court must follow when imposing punishment. It is assigned:
- within the limits provided for by the relevant article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- taking into account the provisions of the General Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- taking into account the nature and degree of public danger of the crime, the identity of the perpetrator, etc.
Commentary to Art. 60 Criminal Code
1. The general principles of sentencing are the fundamental rules (requirements) formulated in the criminal law that the court must follow when imposing a penalty. It is assigned:
- within the limits provided for by the relevant article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code. The court assigns to the guilty only such punishment as is directly indicated in the sanction of the relevant norm of the Special Part of the Criminal Code. If the sanction is with alternatively specified types of punishment, then the court should choose a specific type and determine its duration (size). When imposing a punishment, one cannot go beyond the lower and upper limits of the punishment, with the exception of special cases provided for in Art. 64, 69 and 70 of the Criminal Code;
- taking into account the provisions of the General Part of the Criminal Code. This requirement to a certain extent specifies the above rule. It is due to the fact that in some cases, in order to correctly assign punishment within the framework of the sanction of the norm of the Special Part of the Criminal Code, it is necessary to refer to the relevant provisions of the General Part of the Criminal Code, which determine the features of each type of punishment, starting from the minimum and maximum term (size) and ending with it content.
If there are alternative types of punishment, the court must first consider the possibility of assigning a more lenient type of punishment from among those provided. A more stringent form is applied only if a less severe form cannot achieve the goals of punishment (clause 27 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 22, 2015 No. 58 “On the practice of imposing criminal punishment by the courts of the Russian Federation”). At the same time, the punishment should not be excessively lenient, since then it will give rise to a feeling of permissiveness in the guilty person, and should not be unjustifiably harsh, so as not to embitter the convicted person.
In the event that a convicted person, by virtue of the provisions established by law, cannot be assigned any of the types of punishment provided for in the relevant article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code (for example, compulsory labor - by virtue of Part 4 of Article 49 of the Criminal Code, corrective labor - by virtue of Part 5 Article 50 of the Criminal Code, forced labor and arrest - due to their non-application at present, imprisonment - by virtue of Part 1 of Article 56 of the Criminal Code), he should be given a more lenient punishment than provided for by the sanction of the relevant norm. Link to Art. 64 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is not required in this case;
— taking into account the nature and degree of public danger of the crime (clause 27 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 22, 2015 N 58 “On the practice of imposing criminal punishment by the courts of the Russian Federation”); the identity of the culprit; circumstances mitigating and aggravating punishment; the impact of the imposed punishment on the correction of the convicted person and on the living conditions of his family (this takes into account the financial situation of the family, whether the defendant is the sole breadwinner, how many family members are dependent on him, as well as the nature of the relationship of the defendant with his family members).
2. The process of imposing punishment involves taking into account all the rules of the general principles of imposing punishment in the aggregate.
The court imposes a punishment taking into account the provisions of the General Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
This requirement to a certain extent specifies the above rule. It is due to the fact that in some cases, in order to correctly assign punishment within the sanction of the norm of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to refer to the relevant provisions of the General Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which determine the features of each type of punishment, starting from the minimum and maximum term (size) and ending with its content.
1) The court is obliged to consider the possibility of imposing a more lenient punishment
As a general rule, if the sanction of the criminal law, along with deprivation of liberty, provides for other types of punishment, the court’s decision to impose imprisonment must necessarily be motivated in the sentence. For these purposes, the law provides for a wide choice of alternative punishments to imprisonment and other criminal law measures.
Paragraph 27 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 22, 2015 N 58 “On the practice of imposing criminal punishment by the courts of the Russian Federation” contains the following explanations:
A more severe type of punishment from among those provided for the crime committed is assigned only if a less severe type of punishment cannot ensure the achievement of the goals of the punishment.
In the event that a convicted person, by virtue of the provisions established by law, cannot be assigned any of the types of punishment provided for by the relevant article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for example, compulsory labor - by virtue of Part 4 of Article 49 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, corrective labor - by virtue of Part 5 of Article 50 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, arrest - due to its non-application at the present time, deprivation of liberty - by virtue of Part 1 of Article 56 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), he should be given any more lenient punishment than provided for by the sanction of the relevant article. A reference to Article 64 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is not required in this case.
2) The court is obliged to take into account the provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that limit the application of the most severe punishment
The court must take into account the provisions of the General Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which establish restrictions (Articles 62, - 66 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) in the application of the most severe punishment (its type, duration, amount) provided for by the sanctions of the articles under which the acts are qualified. So, for example, part 2 of Art. 66 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes a provision according to which the term or amount of punishment for an attempted crime cannot exceed three quarters of the maximum term or amount of the most severe type of punishment provided for by the corresponding article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for the completed crime. If the jury makes a leniency verdict, the death penalty and life imprisonment (Part 1 of Article 65 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), etc. are not applied.
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for several types of mandatory mitigation of criminal punishment by the court:
- minors (Article 88 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
- in the presence of mitigating circumstances provided for in paragraph “and” (or) “k” of Part 1 of Art. 61 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- within the framework of a pre-trial cooperation agreement (parts 2 and 4 of Article 62 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
- when considering a criminal case in a special manner provided for in Chapter. 40 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation;
- in the presence of exceptional circumstances allowing the imposition of a more lenient punishment than provided for this crime (Article 64 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
- in case of a jury verdict on leniency (Article 65 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
- for an unfinished crime (Article 66 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
3) The court, when assigning punishment, has the right to go beyond the maximum limits of the sanction of the article
When assigning punishment, it is possible to go beyond the maximum limits established for each type of punishment. For example, according to Art. 56 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the maximum term of imprisonment is twenty years, and in accordance with Part 4 of this article, imprisonment imposed for a totality of crimes can be twenty-five years, and for a totality of sentences - thirty years.
4) The court may apply a punishment not included in the sanction of the article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
Taking into account the provisions of the General Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation also presupposes the possibility, when imposing a punishment, to apply not only the punishments provided for by the sanction of the article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but also punishments not included in the sanction .
Thus, punishment in the form of deprivation of a special, military or honorary title, class rank and state awards (Article 48 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is not included in any sanction of the articles of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but it can be applied for committing a grave or especially grave crime, taking into account the identity of the culprit. Punishment in the form of deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities (Article 47 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) may be imposed as an additional type of punishment in cases where it is not provided for in the relevant article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, if, taking into account the nature and degree of public danger of the crime committed crime and the identity of the perpetrator, the court finds it impossible to retain his right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities.
5) The court, when assigning punishment, does not take into account aggravating circumstances
Taking into account the provisions of the General Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation also consists in the need to ignore aggravating circumstances in cases established by law. So, in accordance with Part 4 of Art. 65 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, when assigning a sentence to a person found guilty of committing a crime by a jury verdict, but deserving leniency, aggravating circumstances are not taken into account.
6) The court increases the terms or amount of punishment for a crime based on the totality of crimes and the totality of sentences
Taking into account the provisions of the General Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation when assigning punishment lies in the possibility of going beyond the sanction of the corresponding article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, increasing the terms or amount of punishment within the framework of the law. Such possibilities are strictly limited. A more severe punishment than provided for by the relevant articles of the Special Part of this Code for the crime committed can be assigned only for the totality of crimes and for the totality of sentences in accordance with Art. Art. 69 and 70 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. These are those cases when punishment is imposed not for one, but for the commission of several crimes, which should also be reflected in the amount of punishment.
Within the sanction of the article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a relatively more severe punishment can also be imposed in case of recidivism of crimes (Part 3 of Article 68 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
General principles of sentencing
Under the general principles of sentencing
refers to the initial rules for sentencing established by criminal law (Article 60 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), which the court must adhere to when imposing punishment for any crime committed.
There are three general principles of sentencing:
1. legality;
2. justice;
3. individualization.
Legality
as a general beginning of sentencing means that the punishment is imposed in accordance with the rules established by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and is specified in the following two requirements.
1. Punishment is imposed within the limits provided for by the relevant article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. When imposing punishment, the court is bound by those types of punishments and those amounts (terms) of such types of punishments that are specified in the sanction of the article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation under which the person was found guilty.
If the sanction of the article is single (that is, it contains one main type of punishment - for example, Part 1 of Article 105, Part 4 of Article 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), then the court assigns the main type of punishment specified in it and determines its amount ( term). If the sanction of the article is alternative (for example, part 2 of article 105, part 1 of article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), then the court chooses one of the main types of punishment specified in the sanction and determines its amount (term). In a cumulative sanction, i.e. which provides for the possibility of imposing both the main and additional punishment (for example, Part 3 of Article 158, Part 4 of Article 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), the court, having chosen the main type of punishment, in addition to which an additional type of punishment is provided, has the right or is obliged (which depends on the nature of the cumulative sanction, i.e., on whether it provides for the imposition of an additional type of punishment as a right or as an obligation of the court) to impose an additional type of punishment within the limits provided for by the sanction. The court has the right to impose an additional type of punishment not provided for in the sanction of the article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation only in cases provided for in Part 3 of Art. 47 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Art. 48 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
2. Punishment is imposed taking into account the provisions of the General Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The norms of the General Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that limit the discretion of the court in imposing punishment include:
a) the provisions of Part 1 of Art. 12 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (establishing a limitation on the punishability of acts committed abroad, corresponding to the limits of the law of a foreign state);
b) the provisions of Ch. 9 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, limiting the application of specific types of punishment to certain categories of persons depending on gender, age, health, marital and official status;
c) the provisions of Art. 62, 64-66, 68-70 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (special rules for sentencing);
d) the provisions of Part 4 of Art. 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes the impossibility of imposing the death penalty or life imprisonment as punishment for a crime committed if the court does not apply the statute of limitations;
e) e) provisions of Ch. 14 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, limiting the application of specific types of punishment to minors.
Justice
the imposed punishment involves taking into account when assigning punishment:
· the nature and degree of public danger of the crime;
· circumstances related to the committed act, mitigating and aggravating the punishment.
When imposing a punishment, the court must assess the nature and degree of public danger of the crime, the mitigating and aggravating circumstances related to the committed act, and on this basis choose the type and amount (term) of punishment that, in the court’s opinion, will be fair, i.e. not too soft, but not too harsh either - from the point of view of public ideas about good and evil deeds.
Individualization of punishment
means that when assigning punishment the following should be taken into account:
1. the identity of the culprit;
2. the impact of the imposed punishment on the correction of the convicted person and on the living conditions of his family;
3. mitigating and aggravating circumstances related to the personality of the perpetrator.
When individualizing punishment, the court must evaluate all of the listed factors and, in accordance with them, choose a type and amount (term) of punishment that, in the court’s opinion, will be fair - that is, not too mild, but not too harsh - from the point of view of public perceptions about a good and an evil person.
The court and the provisions of Art. are guided by the individualization of punishment. 67 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on imposing punishment on an accomplice for a crime committed in complicity, requiring in this case to take into account the nature and extent of his actual participation in the commission of the crime, the significance of this participation in achieving the goal of the crime and its impact on the nature and extent of the damage caused or possible harm. According to Part 2 of Art. 67 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, mitigating or aggravating circumstances related to the personality of one of the accomplices (i.e., circumstances of a strictly personal nature, indicated, for example, in paragraphs “a”-“d”, part 1 of article 61 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph “a” part 1 of article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) are taken into account when assigning punishment only to this accomplice. A particular guideline in determining a fair and individualized punishment is enshrined in Part 1 of Art. 60 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation stipulates that “a more severe type of punishment from among those provided for the crime committed is imposed only if a less severe type of punishment cannot ensure the achievement of the goals of punishment.” This instruction is focused on alternative sanctions in the articles of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and requires, when determining the main type of punishment, to move from a less severe type to a more severe one, correlating the punitive impact of certain types with their suitability for imposing a fair and individualized punishment. In this case, the court is not obliged to motivate the non-appointment of a more severe type of punishment compared to the chosen one, but is obliged to motivate only the non-appointment of a less severe type of punishment compared to the chosen one.
