Criminal and legal policy on the death penalty in Ukraine: a historical and legal review of the XX-XXI centuries

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of the study is to reveal the historical background, legal consolidation of the existence and abolition of the type of death penalty in Ukraine. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, systematicity and objectivity. Methods. The interdisciplinary nature of the study led to the use of a range of general scientific, philosophical and special historical methods, among which, it is appropriate to distinguish the following: historical, comparative, document analysis and others. Results. The scientific novelty of the study is due to the challenges facing Ukraine today, on the basis of which the need to restore the death penalty in Ukraine is being discussed. It is the historical and legal analysis of events and decisions of the XX-XXI centuries that allows us to look at this issue from a different angle, as a phenomenon not inherent in Ukraine as a European state. At the same time, it is expedient to determine the preconditions for the dominance in Ukrainian society of the belief in the effectiveness of the application of the maximum penalty. This is explained to us primarily by the low level of legal culture and stereotypes established in the Soviet period that the law is primarily a punishment. Scientific novelty. Conclusions. It is established that for the territory of the modern Ukrainian state, the death penalty was not an inherent phenomenon. All attempts to introduce this type of punishment are related to the fact that the territory of Ukraine is under the rule of other states. In the case of independence, this type of punishment was abolished as soon as possible, as Ukraine has always sought European standards of humanity and treatment of convicts, and the existence of the death penalty does not allow to achieve the goal of punishment and avoid miscarriage of justice. The main recommendations according to the results of the study are the formation of a holistic concept of humanization of criminal policy and spreading the understanding among the population that in itself, even the most severe type of punishment can not significantly affect the level and dynamics of crime.