Criminal law measures and criminal liability: scientific discussion and search for solutions

Yurii E Pudovochkin

doi:10.46741/2686-9764-2020-14-4-542-551

Abstract

The paper analyzes the content of scientific discourse on the relationship between criminal liability and criminal law measures and proves that the corresponding concepts are not subordinate and interchangeable. Criminal law measures are defined as legal means and normative structures established by law, which the state uses to respond to a crime. Criminal liability is defined as a real phenomenon, a special combination of criminal law measures implemented on the basis of a court sentence. The common feature of criminal liability and criminal law measures is that they can only be applied in case of commission of a crime. In this regard, measures imposed on persons who have committed a socially dangerous act before reaching the age of criminal liability or in a state of insanity should be excluded from the list of measures of a criminal legal nature. The difference between liability and criminal law measures is that liability requires official recognition of a person guilty of committing a crime, while criminal law measures can also be applied in the absence of a decision on guilt, when a person is exempt from criminal liability. Based on this, all criminal law measures are divided into two groups: a) measures applied outside the scope of liability, and b) measures that are part of liability. We give the nomenclature of each of them and identify promising opportunities for their expansion. In particular, the list of criminal law measures may be supplemented with community service, limited paid work, and administrative supervision. Keywords: criminal liability; measures of a criminal-legal nature; criminal punishment; conditional conviction; criminal record; administrative supervision; criminal-legal attitude.

Highlights

Recognizing criminal law measures as a legal means by which the state adjusts the legal status of an individual who has committed a crime within the framework of criminal law relations, we find it necessary to consider the most significant issue of the relationship between criminal law measures and criminal liability
Criminal liability is divided into punishment and other measures of criminal law impact that are not defined as punishment” [32, p. 96]
Articles 6 and 7 of RF CC state that criminal law measures are applied to an individual who has committed a crime, while Section 4 of RF CCstates that criminal law measures include compulsory medical measures that are prescribed, among other things, to persons whose state of insanity at the time of committing an act provided for by criminal law does not allow the act to be considered as a crime

Summary

Introduction

Recognizing criminal law measures as a legal means by which the state adjusts the legal status of an individual who has committed a crime within the framework of criminal law relations, we find it necessary to consider the most significant issue of the relationship between criminal law measures and criminal liability. S.Yu. Skobelin builds his concept on the same positions: he understands other criminal law measures as other forms of implementation of criminal liability, other than punishment, that can be applied to a person who has committed a crime.

Results

Conclusion