Evdokimov A. A. Death Penalty: Viewpoints of Russian Forensic Experts (Overview of the Criminal Legal Literature of the 19th Century)

Abstract

The article provides an overview of the standpoints of the Russian criminologists of the 19th century on one of the most complicated and critical problems of criminal law, namely opportunities and the admissibility of the application of death penalty as a form of criminal punishment. The debates on the admissibility and feasibility of death penalty have taken place as long as it exists as a form of punishment. Besides, not only lawyers have been debating on the issue; philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, theologians, publicists, specialists in other branches of science have been actively involved in this discussion as well. Throughout this time the polar positions have remained the same (rather, some authors have changed their point of view): some consider the existence of this kind of sentence possible (valid); others believe the death penalty is unjustifiable measure (moreover, doing more harm than good). The authors show the position of scientists having denied the usefulness of this criminal law measure. In particular, they present the standpoints of such well-known specialists as P.D. Kalmykov, V.D. Spasovich, A.F. Kistyakovskiy and N. D. Sergeevvsky. Particular attention is given to the works of the latter two authors, as they studied the problem specifically. A.F. Kistyakovskiy had studied the problem before N.D. Sergeevvskiy, so the latter analyzes and his arguments, considering that speaking out against the death penalty the scientist had proved to some extent unconvincing.