Criminal liability. System and types of punishments

The essence of punishment

The types of punishments of criminal law and their characteristics are described in Article 44 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The essence and purpose of punishment is retribution for violation of criminal law and damage caused to victims.

However, the goal is not to humiliate and embitter the perpetrator. On the contrary, one of the main postulates and expected results of such punishment is the correction of the offender and the prevention of repeated offenses on his part.

Special features of criminal punishment that distinguish it from other types of liability:

• Applies only after proof of guilt in court;
• Only the court and no one else can impose such a punishment;
• Punishment occurs only after the commission of a criminal offense;
• It is individual in nature and applies only to a specific person guilty of a crime;
• Expressed in the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
• Its purpose is determined by a strict procedure;
• It is coercive in nature.

The key points in imposing criminal punishment are the presumption of innocence and the uniformity of punishment for all people.

At the same time, at the time of determining the punishment, the principles of an individual and differentiated approach to its choice, as well as the principle of justice, are taken into account. It consists in the requirements of punishment compliance:

• Public danger of crime;
• The identity of the culprit;
• Proportionality to the crime.

Criminal penalties are used when other, milder measures are ineffective. It should not cause a person suffering, but should direct him on the path of correction.

The importance of the punishment system

The significance of the system and types of punishment is global not only in theory, but also in practice. The division of punishments into types and the existence of the system is the embodiment of the principle of legality, in which the work of the court is clearly regulated. After all, when assigning punishment, a judge cannot go beyond the law, he cannot invent his own punishments, and he cannot combine two main punishments.

The principle of justice is already evident here. The judge analyzes the system of punishments and, based on the case materials and the degree of public danger of the perpetrator, prescribes an individual punishment that will affect a specific person.

In addition, the punishment system allows the legislator to track which type of punishment is the most common and which does not meet the needs of the modern world. This necessitates constant updating and improvement of the law.

Classification of criminal penalties

Due to the variety of offenses in modern society, there are also many types of criminal punishment for them, namely 13. Each article of the Criminal Code contains several different types of punishment. This is done so that the judge can choose the optimal one depending on the specific circumstances of the crime, the danger of the offender and the harm he caused.

Main types of punishments under the Criminal Code:

• Mandatory work;
• Correctional work;
• Restrictions on military service;
• Forced labor;
• Restriction of freedom;
• Arrest;
• Placement in a disciplinary military unit;
• Deprivation of liberty;
• Life imprisonment;
• The death penalty.

Conditional imprisonment may also be applied.

Additional types of punishment:

• Deprivation of ranks;
• Deprivation of awards;
• Deprivation of class rank.

Mixed types of punishments:

• Fine;
• Prohibition on holding certain positions.

They can prescribe both as primary and additional ones.

All punishments can be divided according to different criteria:

• Nature of impact: moral and psychological, restricting rights, depriving freedom, depriving life, influencing selfish motives;
• Relationship with correctional impact: related and unrelated;
• Degree of application: universal (general) and special;
• Duration of exposure: urgent and without a specific period.
• Additional, mentioned in separate articles and which the court may establish at its discretion.

Criminal liability. System and types of punishments

Criminal liability is a type of legal liability as a person’s obligation to answer (to endure hardships provided for by law) for a crime committed.

This is the most stringent type of legal liability.

Criminal liability differs from other types of legal liability in that it is imposed:

- only for persons who have committed a crime;

- only by a court and only by a verdict that has entered into legal force;

- in a special procedural manner;

- only for an individual (wears a personal identification card)

racter).

The grounds for applying criminal liability are:

1) commission by a person of a socially dangerous act containing all the elements of a crime (factual basis);

2) the presence of criminal law norms that determine the content of the committed act and establish punishment for it (legal basis). Criminal liability arises from the moment a crime is committed, is implemented from the moment a person is brought to justice, and terminates with an act of amnesty, pardon, with the removal or expungement of a criminal record.

The content of criminal liability is by no means limited to punishment. Moreover, punishment and the specific condition that follows it - a criminal record - are optional elements of criminal liability. Open condemnation of the criminal act and its subject by the court is mandatory. Punishment

is
a measure of state coercion provided for by criminal law in the form of deprivation or restriction of rights and freedoms, imposed by a court verdict and applied to a person who has committed a crime.
Punishment, applied to force the criminal not to encroach on state-protected social relations, implements the repressive function of the state. Punishment is imposed on behalf of the state, and not on behalf of the victim, by special state bodies (courts) and expresses a negative legal and moral assessment of the subject’s act. Punishment causes certain deprivations (physical, moral, property). This is punishment as an integral property of punishment. The application of punishment entails a criminal record.

Punishment differs significantly from other measures of state coercion:

a) the basis for imposing the punishment is a crime;

b) punishment - the most severe measure of state coercion, entailing a criminal record;

c) the system of punishments established by the Criminal Code is extensive and varied;

d) punishments are established by the highest state bodies and are applied only by the courts;

e) punishments are imposed by a guilty verdict of the court in its entirety and are announced publicly and publicly.

The purposes of punishment are criminal law

believes:

1) restoration of social justice;

2) correction of the convicted person;

3) preventing the commission of new crimes both by convicted persons (private prevention) and by other persons (general prevention).

Punishment, i.e. restriction and deprivation of a criminal of any benefits, rights and freedoms, serves as a means of achieving the goals of punishment, but is not one of them.

Punishment system

-
this is an exhaustive list of types of punishment established by criminal law, arranged in a certain order depending on their severity, which can be imposed by a court on a person found guilty of committing a crime.
The types of punishments are:

a) fine - a monetary penalty imposed within the limits provided for by the Criminal Code: either in the amount of 25 to 1000 minimum wages, or in the amount of salary or other income for a period of two weeks to

one year;

b) deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of one year to 5 years (as the main punishment) or from 6 months to 3 years (as an additional punishment);

c) deprivation of a special, military or honorary title, class rank and state awards for committing a grave or especially grave crime;

d) compulsory work - the execution by a convicted person, in his free time from his main work or study, of free socially useful work, the type of which is determined by local government bodies, for a period of 60 to 240 hours, but not more than four hours a day;

e) corrective labor from 2 months to 2 years at the place of work of the convicted person with withholding from 5% to 20% of earnings to the state;

f) restriction on military service, assigned to convicted military personnel performing military service under a contract, for a period of 3 months to 2 years;

g) confiscation of property - forced gratuitous seizure into state ownership of all or part of the property that is the property of the convicted person;

h) restriction of freedom - keeping a convicted person in a special institution without isolation from society under conditions of supervision over him for a period of one to 5 years;

i) arrest - keeping a convicted person in conditions of strict isolation from society for a period of one to 6 months (the introduction of this type of punishment was postponed);

j) detention in a disciplinary unit, assigned to a military personnel, for a period of 3 months to 2 years, k) imprisonment for a certain period - isolation of the convicted person from society by sending him to a settlement colony or placement in a correctional colony of general, strict or special regime, or to prison for a term of 6 months to 20 years,

l) life imprisonment, imposed as an alternative to the death penalty, when the court finds it possible not to apply the death penalty;

n) death penalty (after Russia signed Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in 1997, a decree of the President of the Russian Federation imposed a moratorium on the execution of this type of punishment; in 1998, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation decided that it was inadmissible to impose courts of verdicts imposing the death penalty on the convicted person, without the participation of a jury).

All punishments listed in the General Part of the Criminal Code are divided into basic and additional. The main punishments that can be imposed by the court as independent and cannot be added as additional to others include compulsory and correctional labor, restrictions on military service, restriction of freedom, arrest, detention in a disciplinary military unit, imprisonment for a certain term or for life and the death penalty. Additional punishments, which include deprivation of a special, military or honorary title, class rank and state awards, as well as confiscation of property, cannot be applied independently, but are assigned only in combination with any main punishment. A fine and deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities are applied as both primary and additional types of punishment.

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes certain restrictions in the application of a number of punishments to certain categories of persons. Thus, minors may be sentenced to a fine, deprivation of the right to engage in certain activities, compulsory and correctional labor, arrest (from 16 years of age) and imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years. Arrest and restriction of freedom cannot be imposed on pregnant women and women with children under eight years of age. Life imprisonment is not imposed on women, as well as men who have reached 65 years of age at the time of sentencing.

When assigning punishment, the court is guided by the following general principles:

1. Punishment is imposed within the limits determined by the article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code, which establishes responsibility for the commission of this crime. A more severe type of punishment from among those provided for by the criminal law for a crime committed is assigned only if a less severe type of punishment cannot achieve the goals. The court does not have the right to go beyond the upper limits of punishment specified in the sanction, but in exceptional cases it may impose a more lenient type of punishment (for example, for the active assistance of one of the accomplices in the offense in solving a group crime).

2. The court must take into account the nature and degree of public danger of the crime and the identity of the perpetrator (this is determined by the object of the attack, the amount of harm caused, the form of guilt, the nature of complicity, etc.).

3. It is necessary to take into account circumstances mitigating and aggravating the punishment.

4. The court must take into account how the imposed punishment will affect the correction of the convicted person and the living conditions of his family.

Criminal liability is a type of legal liability as a person’s obligation to answer (to endure hardships provided for by law) for a crime committed.

This is the most stringent type of legal liability.

Criminal liability differs from other types of legal liability in that it is imposed:

- only for persons who have committed a crime;

- only by a court and only by a verdict that has entered into legal force;

- in a special procedural manner;

- only for an individual (wears a personal identification card)

racter).

The grounds for applying criminal liability are:

1) commission by a person of a socially dangerous act containing all the elements of a crime (factual basis);

2) the presence of criminal law norms that determine the content of the committed act and establish punishment for it (legal basis). Criminal liability arises from the moment a crime is committed, is implemented from the moment a person is brought to justice, and terminates with an act of amnesty, pardon, with the removal or expungement of a criminal record.

The content of criminal liability is by no means limited to punishment. Moreover, punishment and the specific condition that follows it - a criminal record - are optional elements of criminal liability. Open condemnation of the criminal act and its subject by the court is mandatory. Punishment

is
a measure of state coercion provided for by criminal law in the form of deprivation or restriction of rights and freedoms, imposed by a court verdict and applied to a person who has committed a crime.
Punishment, applied to force the criminal not to encroach on state-protected social relations, implements the repressive function of the state. Punishment is imposed on behalf of the state, and not on behalf of the victim, by special state bodies (courts) and expresses a negative legal and moral assessment of the subject’s act. Punishment causes certain deprivations (physical, moral, property). This is punishment as an integral property of punishment. The application of punishment entails a criminal record.

Punishment differs significantly from other measures of state coercion:

a) the basis for imposing the punishment is a crime;

b) punishment - the most severe measure of state coercion, entailing a criminal record;

c) the system of punishments established by the Criminal Code is extensive and varied;

d) punishments are established by the highest state bodies and are applied only by the courts;

e) punishments are imposed by a guilty verdict of the court in its entirety and are announced publicly and publicly.

The purposes of punishment are criminal law

believes:

1) restoration of social justice;

2) correction of the convicted person;

3) preventing the commission of new crimes both by convicted persons (private prevention) and by other persons (general prevention).

Punishment, i.e. restriction and deprivation of a criminal of any benefits, rights and freedoms, serves as a means of achieving the goals of punishment, but is not one of them.

Punishment system

-
this is an exhaustive list of types of punishment established by criminal law, arranged in a certain order depending on their severity, which can be imposed by a court on a person found guilty of committing a crime.
The types of punishments are:

a) fine - a monetary penalty imposed within the limits provided for by the Criminal Code: either in the amount of 25 to 1000 minimum wages, or in the amount of salary or other income for a period of two weeks to

one year;

b) deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of one year to 5 years (as the main punishment) or from 6 months to 3 years (as an additional punishment);

c) deprivation of a special, military or honorary title, class rank and state awards for committing a grave or especially grave crime;

d) compulsory work - the execution by a convicted person, in his free time from his main work or study, of free socially useful work, the type of which is determined by local government bodies, for a period of 60 to 240 hours, but not more than four hours a day;

e) corrective labor from 2 months to 2 years at the place of work of the convicted person with withholding from 5% to 20% of earnings to the state;

f) restriction on military service, assigned to convicted military personnel performing military service under a contract, for a period of 3 months to 2 years;

g) confiscation of property - forced gratuitous seizure into state ownership of all or part of the property that is the property of the convicted person;

h) restriction of freedom - keeping a convicted person in a special institution without isolation from society under conditions of supervision over him for a period of one to 5 years;

i) arrest - keeping a convicted person in conditions of strict isolation from society for a period of one to 6 months (the introduction of this type of punishment was postponed);

j) detention in a disciplinary unit, assigned to a military personnel, for a period of 3 months to 2 years, k) imprisonment for a certain period - isolation of the convicted person from society by sending him to a settlement colony or placement in a correctional colony of general, strict or special regime, or to prison for a term of 6 months to 20 years,

l) life imprisonment, imposed as an alternative to the death penalty, when the court finds it possible not to apply the death penalty;

n) death penalty (after Russia signed Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in 1997, a decree of the President of the Russian Federation imposed a moratorium on the execution of this type of punishment; in 1998, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation decided that it was inadmissible to impose courts of verdicts imposing the death penalty on the convicted person, without the participation of a jury).

All punishments listed in the General Part of the Criminal Code are divided into basic and additional. The main punishments that can be imposed by the court as independent and cannot be added as additional to others include compulsory and correctional labor, restrictions on military service, restriction of freedom, arrest, detention in a disciplinary military unit, imprisonment for a certain term or for life and the death penalty. Additional punishments, which include deprivation of a special, military or honorary title, class rank and state awards, as well as confiscation of property, cannot be applied independently, but are assigned only in combination with any main punishment. A fine and deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities are applied as both primary and additional types of punishment.

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes certain restrictions in the application of a number of punishments to certain categories of persons. Thus, minors may be sentenced to a fine, deprivation of the right to engage in certain activities, compulsory and correctional labor, arrest (from 16 years of age) and imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years. Arrest and restriction of freedom cannot be imposed on pregnant women and women with children under eight years of age. Life imprisonment is not imposed on women, as well as men who have reached 65 years of age at the time of sentencing.

When assigning punishment, the court is guided by the following general principles:

1. Punishment is imposed within the limits determined by the article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code, which establishes responsibility for the commission of this crime. A more severe type of punishment from among those provided for by the criminal law for a crime committed is assigned only if a less severe type of punishment cannot achieve the goals. The court does not have the right to go beyond the upper limits of punishment specified in the sanction, but in exceptional cases it may impose a more lenient type of punishment (for example, for the active assistance of one of the accomplices in the offense in solving a group crime).

2. The court must take into account the nature and degree of public danger of the crime and the identity of the perpetrator (this is determined by the object of the attack, the amount of harm caused, the form of guilt, the nature of complicity, etc.).

3. It is necessary to take into account circumstances mitigating and aggravating the punishment.

4. The court must take into account how the imposed punishment will affect the correction of the convicted person and the living conditions of his family.

Criminal punishment fine

The court may order a certain amount to be paid to the state as punishment for breaking the law. The amount of the fine is determined by the specific article of the Criminal Code that the offender violated. For some crimes, fines can be quite large, up to five million rubles.

An alternative punishment comparable to a fine is also possible - confiscation of wages for a certain period (up to five years). This option may be assigned when there is doubt that the offender will be able to pay the imposed fine.

Fine as an additional punishment

In accordance with Article 46 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a fine is a monetary penalty imposed within the limits provided for by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. We have already completed a thesis

Art.
313 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for more details. A fine, which is an additional type of punishment, can be imposed only in cases provided for by the relevant articles of the Criminal Code. On this topic, we have already completed course work
on criminal law in more detail.

Finished works on a similar topic

Course work Additional penalties in criminal law 490 ₽ Essay Additional penalties in criminal law 230 ₽ Test work Additional penalties in criminal law 240 ₽

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The minimum fine that can be imposed on a minor cannot be lower than 1000 (one thousand) rubles or the amount of wages or other income of a convicted minor for a period of less than 2 (two) weeks (Part 2 of Article 88 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

A fine imposed on a minor may be collected by a court decision from his parents or other legal representatives if they have their consent. This decision may be made by the court at the request of parents or other legal representatives from the moment the sentence enters into legal force in the manner provided for in Art. 397 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.

In any case, the court is obliged to verify the voluntariness of this consent, as well as the solvency of the parents or other legal representatives, and also take into account the consequences that occur if the court decision to collect a fine is not fulfilled.

If parents or other legal representatives of a convicted minor commit actions to evade payment of a fine, then its collection is carried out using a writ of execution, which is transferred to the bailiff who decides the issue of collecting the fine through enforcement proceedings.

The amount of the fine is established taking into account the severity of the crime and the financial condition of the convicted person and his family, taking into account the possibility of the convicted person receiving wages or other means of income.

Criminal punishment deprivation of rights

This type of criminal punishment applies, first of all, to people who held some socially important positions. For example, police officers, lawyers, judges, doctors, officials.

Deprivation of the right to occupy these positions and engage in these activities is applied both as a primary and as an additional punishment. Most often this is due to cases of abuse of power or violation of duties associated with this position. The period of such deprivation of rights is determined in the range from 1 to 5 years.

The concept of additional punishments

Definition 1
Additional punishment is an auxiliary coercive measure of a state nature, which is imposed by a court verdict, and is combined with the main type of punishment for a person who has been found guilty of committing a crime, which represents a restriction or deprivation of rights, material benefits and moral influence on the convicted person.

Additional punishments are not imposed by the court independently, they must join the main punishment, thereby increasing the scope of restrictions on the rights in which the convicted person is limited. Punishments play a supporting role in identifying the scope of criminal legal liability.

Additional punishments are included in the list of punishments as auxiliary to achieve certain goals of punishment, which are assigned taking into account the specifics of the crimes committed and data that characterize the identity of the perpetrator, either by direct indication of the law or by the discretion of the court in order to strengthen and specify a single general measure of punishment and intended for division criminal liability and punishment through selective influence on separate and other aspects of the legal status of the convicted person in comparison with the main punishment.

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The most important level is formed by the functions of dividing and highlighting the individuality of criminal liability and punishment, implemented through restorative correctional, special preventive and general preventive functions.

Similar functions are:

1. increasing the punitive influence of general punishment;
2. mitigation of the main punishment by imposing a reduced term or amount, taking into account the addition of an additional punishment;
3. compensation for material damage;
4. compensation for moral damage, etc.

Criminal punishment - compulsory work

The offender must perform this type of work in his free time from his main activities (study or work). At the same time, compulsory work is performed for the benefit of society. Compulsory work can be assigned for up to 480 hours, but not more than 4 hours a day.

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Criminal punishment - correctional labor

Such work, unlike compulsory work, is often assigned to the unemployed. In this case, the court decides where to send them to perform correctional labor and for how long. Part of their wages is transferred to the state income. The exact amount of deductions will be determined by the court. It can vary from 5 to 20 percent of salary. The term of correctional labor is 2-24 months.

In some cases, the unserved part of the work may be replaced by arrest, imprisonment or restriction of liberty. The ratio of these penalties is calculated as follows:

• A day of restriction of freedom is equal to a day of correctional labor;
• Two days of work are equal to a day of arrest;
• A day of imprisonment is equal to three days of correctional labor.

Authorities executing criminal penalties

The Penal Code of the Russian Federation contains not only the consolidation of all types of educational regulations, but also the definition of executive authorities whose competence is their implementation.

Types of institutions of bodies executing criminal penalties include:

• criminal-executive inspection;
• correctional institutions;
• disciplinary military units;
• correctional centers;
• arrest houses;
• courts.

Bailiffs deal with fines directly.

Deprivation of the right to engage in certain activities is established by the court, and control over the implementation of this ban is exercised by the criminal-executive inspection , the disciplinary military unit, as well as the administration of those organizations in which the convicted person worked/is going to work.

Deprivation of a title, rank or awards is carried out by the court or official who assigned it , as well as by the Internal Affairs (internal affairs) bodies.

If, along with a special title, certain benefits were extended to its holder, the relevant organizations providing them are notified of the fact of deprivation.

Compulsory and correctional labor is the prerogative of the criminal correctional inspection .

Restrictions on military service are within the competence of the immediate command of the unit in which the convicted person serves.

Restriction of freedom is carried out by correctional centers, and detention in a disciplinary military unit, accordingly, is carried out by their leadership. The arrest of civilians is carried out by arrest houses , and military personnel - by the leadership of guardhouses or other garrison departments .

Deprivation of liberty falls within the competence of correctional institutions based on the severity of the crime.

These can be settlements, educational colonies and other colonies of different types of regime (for life imprisonment - especially strict), prisons.

This also includes pre-trial detention centers. Officially, they are not included in the group of correctional institutions, but due to the fact that they serve as a place for closed detention of persons under investigation, they can conditionally be classified as such.

In theory, the death penalty should be carried out by special institutions of the penal system.

Criminal punishment - restriction of freedom

Unlike imprisonment, restriction implies that the offender remains at large, but under the control of law enforcement agencies. He must report to the police station according to the established schedule. Also he:

• Cannot leave the city without permission from the regulatory authority;
• Cannot change place of residence without the consent of the inspector;
• Cannot visit a number of places determined by the supervising inspector;
• Cannot leave the house at certain times of the day.

As the main punishment, restriction of freedom can be imposed for a period from 2 months to 4 years. As an additional one – from six months to two years.

Criminal punishment - forced labor

This type of punishment is applied only in cases of minor crimes and crimes of medium gravity. Moreover, it is a substitute for imprisonment, but not more than five years. If the perpetrator has committed a crime for which the punishment involves a longer term of imprisonment, forced labor cannot be applied to him. They are also not used for pregnant women, women who have children under three years of age, disabled people and people over 50 years of age.

The possible period of forced labor is from 2 months to 5 years.

Commentary to Art. 43 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Punishment is not just a negative sanction of a criminal law norm, but the most important legal institution of a complex (intersectoral) nature. The institution of punishment is related to criminal, criminal procedural and criminal executive law. The functions of punishment are very diverse, and therefore, in theory, criminal punishment is considered in different aspects - as a legal institution, as a form of implementation of criminal liability, as a crime prevention factor, etc.

In Part 1 of Art. 43 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, punishment is defined as a measure of state coercion, imposed by a court verdict. Punishment is applied to a person found guilty of committing a crime and consists of deprivation or restriction of the rights and freedoms of this person as provided for in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Since the definition reflects the properties of the phenomenon being defined, it is possible to understand from it the main features of criminal punishment.

1. Punishment is a measure of state coercion. First of all, punishment is coercion; its administration and execution are carried out against the will of the convicted person. Punishment is always imposed on behalf of the state, the Russian Federation, i.e. is of a public nature and expresses official condemnation of the criminal and his actions. The appointment and execution of criminal punishment is the exclusive prerogative of authorized state bodies. All participants in legal relations are obliged to obey the decisions on punishment that have entered into legal force. The compulsory nature of the punishment also means the obligation of the convicted person to endure the deprivations and restrictions associated with serving the assigned sentence.

From other coercive measures applied, for example, for administrative offenses, criminal punishment differs quantitatively (includes more restrictions) and qualitatively (it is assigned only for committing crimes, and its appointment entails a legal consequence in the form of a criminal record).

2. Criminal punishment is a special measure of state coercion, imposed only by the court. In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 49 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, no one can be found guilty of committing a crime until his guilt is proven in the manner prescribed by law and established by a court verdict that has entered into legal force. According to Part 1 of Art. 118 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, justice in the Russian Federation is carried out only by the court. The court is the only government body that makes a conviction and imposes criminal punishment. Exemption from punishment is also carried out only by the court. An extrajudicial procedure for release from punishment is possible only by virtue of acts of amnesty or pardon.

3. Punishment is personal (individual) in nature. In accordance with the principle of guilt (Article 5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), liability arises only for a guilty act. Punishment can only be applied to the person found guilty of the crime and to no one else. Modern criminal law does not know collective responsibility and punishment.

This is also true for cases of involvement in a crime - the acquisition or sale of property known to be obtained by criminal means that was not promised in advance (Article 175 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and the concealment of especially serious crimes that was not promised in advance (Article 316 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). These acts are not causally related to the crime committed and are not a type of complicity, i.e. do not form complicity, and responsibility for them arises because they themselves contain signs of an independent crime. Their social danger lies in the fact that they complicate the activities of law enforcement agencies in finding, exposing and punishing persons guilty of committing a crime. For example, if Ivanov hides his friend Petrov, who committed a murder, in the basement, then he is responsible not for the murder committed by Petrov, but for his (precisely his!) actions in hiding the criminal.

But the personal nature of punishment does not mean that it cannot cause suffering (harm) and not affect persons not involved in the crime, for example, family members of the convicted person.

4. Punishment consists of deprivation or restriction of the rights and freedoms of the guilty person. The content of the punishment is to deprive the subject of any material or spiritual benefits provided for by the criminal law or limit them, which causes him suffering. This could be freedom, property, honor, etc. Different types of punishment differ precisely in their content. As a result of conviction, the criminal may lose many other benefits (family, respect of others, etc.), but they are not included in the content of the punishment, since the need for their deprivation is not specified in the law. The famous Russian lawyer N.S. drew attention to this. Tagantsev: “It is necessary to separate from punishment the moral torment and remorse experienced by the criminal, even if they were so strong that in order to stop them he hastened to surrender to the hands of justice and suffer his guilt. It is further necessary to highlight the changes caused by the crime in the attitude towards the perpetrator of his family, acquaintances, society, the loss of love, respect, trust, and, moreover, even when such a loss is expressed in an external, tangible form: a father’s curse will not be a punishment in the legal sense, although it was accompanied by the drawing up of a spiritual will by an angry father, depriving the guilty son of his inheritance; it will not be a punishment to give up a home, not to give a hand, to lose an election, etc., as long as all these deprivations do not constitute a legal limitation of the individual and his rights.”

———————————

Tagantsev N.S. Russian criminal law: Lectures. The general part. T. 2. M., 1994. P. 6.

Also not included in the content of punishment, for example, imprisonment, means of correction (socially useful work, training, educational work, etc.). After all, work, education, and sports are good in themselves.

The content of punishment appears in the legal form of legal restrictions - deprivation or restriction of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen. These restrictions can only be established by federal law. In Part 3 of Art. 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation exhaustively defines the grounds for establishing such restrictions: protecting the foundations of the constitutional system, morality, health, rights and legitimate interests of other persons, ensuring the defense of the country and the security of the state.

Sometimes a criminal record is also considered a sign of punishment. If a criminal record is a sign of punishment, then when there is no punishment, there should be no criminal record. But those who have been convicted are also persons to whom no punishment was applied (conditionally sentenced during the probationary period), and persons who are released from serving their sentence (early or after serving their sentence). In addition, a criminal record characterizes not the punishment as such, but the person to whom it is assigned. Therefore, it would be more correct to recognize a criminal record not as a sign of punishment, but as a legal consequence of its appointment, expressed in the special legal status of the person.

The goals of punishment are among the system-forming characteristics; they influence the construction and direction of many legal institutions (for example, imposition of punishment, exemption from serving a sentence) and the nature of the sanctions of criminal law norms. So, in Part 1 of Art. 60 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation prescribes: “A more severe type of punishment from among those provided for committing crimes is assigned only if a less severe type of punishment cannot ensure the achievement of the goals of punishment.” The goals of punishment are determined by the criminal policy of the state: by formulating goals, the legislator shows what desired end result the state seeks to achieve by applying criminal punishment for crimes committed. The question of goals is closely related to the problem of the effectiveness of criminal punishment, and criminal law in general.

From the principle of humanism (Part 2 of Article 7 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) it follows that punishment is not intended to cause physical or moral suffering. The state does not take revenge on criminals, punishment does not aim simply to punish the criminal, the effect of punishment is directed to the future. C. Beccaria wrote: “The purpose of punishment is not to torture and torment a person and not to make an already committed crime non-existent... The purpose of punishment is only to prevent the guilty person from again causing harm to society and to deter others from committing the same.”

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Beccaria C. On crimes and punishments. M., 1939. P. 373.

Punishment is not the purpose of punishment, but its essence, i.e. inherent (attributive) property. What does not have the property of punishment, what is not capable of causing suffering, cannot be punishment. In this case, we are not talking about the individual perception of punishment (different people can experience deprivation of the same benefit differently), but about the generally accepted idea of ​​it. As N.S. wrote Tagantsev, “deprivation or limitation of benefits and rights is suffering from the point of view of the general conditions of human life, the known average sensation of suffering, regardless of how the person being punished looks at it and feels it.” And only because punishment objectively has the property of causing suffering can the goal of preventing crimes be set before it. And since punishment in itself is punishment, there is no point in setting the goal of punishment before it.

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Tagantsev N.S. Russian criminal law: Lectures. The general part. T. 2. M., 1994. P. 92.

In Part 2 of Art. 43 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation legislates the purposes of punishment: “Punishment is applied to restore social justice, as well as to correct the convicted person and prevent the commission of new crimes.” Thus, punishment has three main goals:

— restoration of social justice;

- correction of the convicted person;

- preventing the commission of new crimes.

Violation of the law is at the same time a denial of the idea of ​​social justice. In this sense, a crime is an act that denies the fair structure of social life and disorganizes it. By imposing punishment on the guilty person, the court, on behalf of the state, takes measures to restore social justice. Restoring social justice also means compensation for damage in relation to both the individual victim and society as a whole. By exercising its right to punish a criminal and thereby restore the social justice violated by him, the state simultaneously supports the authority of the criminal law and fosters respect for it.

The restoration of social justice as a goal of punishment should not be reduced to the principle of justice (Article 6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), although they are, of course, interconnected: only fair punishment can contribute to the restoration of social justice. Paragraph 1 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of January 11, 2007 No. 2 “On the practice of imposing criminal punishment by the courts of the Russian Federation” states: “Draw the attention of the courts to the need to comply with the requirements of the law on a strictly individual approach to imposing punishment, bearing in mind, that fair punishment contributes to solving the problems and achieving the goals specified in Articles 2 and 43 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.” The principle of fairness of punishment does not characterize the social preventive function of the institution of punishment, but makes certain demands on the specifically imposed punishment - it must correspond to the nature and degree of social danger of the crime, the circumstances of its commission and the identity of the perpetrator. Here we are talking about justice towards the criminal. Both too severe and too lenient punishment will be unfair.

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Bulletin of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. 2007. N 4.

The goal of correcting a convicted person involves neutralizing the antisocial views and attitudes of the convicted person, developing in him a respectful attitude towards man, society, work, and the rules of human society. This goal is achieved by applying to the convicted person both punishment and other means of correction listed in Part 2 of Art. 9 of the Criminal Executive Code of the Russian Federation (PEC RF) (labor, education, vocational training, educational work and social influence). Since criminal law norms constitute the lowest, elementary level of the rules of human society, the goal of correction can be considered achieved if, after serving the sentence, the convict no longer commits crimes, regardless of the motives for law-abiding behavior - whether he realized the reproach of his behavior, repented of his crime, or is afraid again be punished.

The purpose of preventing the commission of new crimes, as a rule, is divided into two - special (private) prevention (prevention of crimes on the part of convicted persons) and general prevention (on the part of other persons).

The addressees of the purpose of the special warning are persons serving sentences (convicts). This goal is achieved by creating conditions that make it difficult or depriving the offender of the physical ability to commit new crimes (placement in a correctional facility; ban on holding certain positions), and establishing control over him by a specialized government agency. The commission of a crime by a convicted person while serving a sentence indicates that in relation to him the purpose of a private warning was not achieved.

The addressees of the purpose of a general warning are simply other persons, i.e. unconvicted. But, generally speaking, the real addressee of this goal is not all citizens, but only unstable ones, i.e. those who do not commit crimes only because of fear of punishment. Most people do not commit crimes due to internal convictions; for them, intimidation has no motivating meaning. And there are persons for whom the threat of punishment also does not have a motivating meaning, but for other reasons (for example, suicide bombers). The general preventive goal is achieved, firstly, by issuing a criminal law establishing responsibility for committing crimes (threat of punishment), and secondly, by applying punishment to specific individuals (as confirmation of the reality of the threat). The inevitability of responsibility has a greater preventive effect than the severity of punishment. The commission of a crime by another person other than a convicted person indicates that in relation to this person the general preventive goal was not achieved.

The purposes of punishment enshrined in the law must be independent and independent. This means that none of them is a means to achieve the other and that they can be achieved independently of one another, i.e. in the actual application of punishment, some goals can be achieved, but others cannot. For example, a citizen committed a crime, but neither while serving his sentence nor after serving it did he commit any more crimes. Consequently, one goal of punishment (general prevention) in relation to him was not achieved, but the specific preventive and corrective goals were achieved.

In addition, the goals of applying punishment must be realistic (practically achievable), i.e. be achieved through criminal legal means, and have objective (verifiable) performance indicators. Efficiency refers to the ability of a means to achieve its intended purpose. The degree of coincidence between the goal and the result is an indicator of the effectiveness of the chosen means. The problem of means to achieve the goals of punishment and their effectiveness is very complex and insufficiently developed in theory.

The goals of punishment are characterized by different mechanisms of influence: general prevention is the mental impact of the threat of punishment; private warning - physical and mental impact of the conditions of serving the sentence; correction - the mental impact of a served sentence. They have different performance indicators: for general prevention - the level of primary crime; for private prevention - the crime rate among persons serving sentences; for correction - the level of recidivism.

But, as already mentioned, the threat of punishment does not have a motivating value for all citizens. Therefore, the level of primary crime as an indicator of the effectiveness of the general prevention goal is rather conditional. An equally conventional indicator for the purpose of correction is the level of recidivism. As data from criminological studies show, the main reasons for recidivism are shortcomings in the work and living conditions of those released from punishment, and the unsatisfactory work of institutions and bodies executing punishment in correcting convicts is not among the main ones.

It should be noted that the possibility of achieving goals also depends on the nature of the punishment. For example, the death penalty is not intended to be reformative. And before life imprisonment, since the law provides for the possibility of parole for a convicted person from serving his sentence (Part 5 of Article 79 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), the goal of correction is set.