Correlation of certain provisions of the criminal law with the principles of law

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the issue of introduction of absolutely definite sanctions in the law on criminal liability, the reasons and prerequisites which contributed to their emergence, and the correlation of such changes with the principles of law. The Law of Ukraine «On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine on Strengthening Liability for Crimes Against the Fundamentals of National Security of Ukraine in the Conditions of Martial Law» of March 3, 2022, amended the law on criminal liability and strengthened liability under Articles 111 and 113 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provide for liability for high treason and sabotage by applying absolutely certain sanctions. In the context of the issue raised, the authors also examine the current practice of law enforcement in the form of decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the European Court of Human Rights on similar issues through the prism of the principles of law. According to the provisions of the criminal law theory, a sanction is a part of a rule of law which contains instructions on the legal consequences of violation of a rule set forth in a disposition. The purpose of a sanction is to create certain unfavorable consequences for the offender or incentives for the subjects who comply with the governmental order. The types of sanctions include: by the degree of certainty: 1) absolutely certain – clearly define the type and extent of legal liability; 2) relatively certain – the limits of legal liability are determined from minimum to maximum or only to maximum. An absolutely definite sanction is a type of sanction in a criminal law provision that establishes a single type and amount of punishment. With the adoption of the new law on criminal liability in 2001, the legislator completely abandoned this type of sanction, which enabled courts to exercise discretion in passing sentences based on the results of each criminal proceeding. In the article, the authors reflect and substantiate the assertion that in the sanctions of the articles under consideration, alternatives to imposing punishment for the specified criminal offenses in the form of life imprisonment as the most severe punishment currently available in the law can only formally be considered an alternative to imposing a punishment of 15 years of imprisonment. A formal approach to the issue of sentencing a person who has committed a criminal offense not only makes it impossible to individualize responsibility, but also to demonstrate to society the principle of justice in sentencing.