Notes as a method of legislative technique and their importance for regulation of the institution of conviction record

Abstract

The subject of this research is the criminal law provisions on notes as a component of legislative technique and their importance for achieving such goals. The author explores the existing approaches towards the definition of the concept and essence of notes, as well as their classification. Special attention is given to the only note from the General Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – note to Article 73, which pertains to the institution of conviction record. The goal of this work is to determine the essence and importance of the note for the development of criminal law norms dedicated to the institution of conviction record. The methodological framework of this research is comprised on the general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, comparison), formal-legal and systematic methods, as well as the relevant case law. As a result, the author formulates the definition of the concept of notes, indicates its correlation with the criminal law norm, lists the basic types of notes used in criminal law, and describes their role. The analysis of the provisions of the Article 73 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the notes to the Article 73 revealed the new problems in legislative regulation of suspended sentence and conviction records, which prompted the author to explore these issues and offer solutions. Clarification is given to the definition of “convicts” provided in the Paragraphs “a” and “a.1” of the Part 1 of the Article 73 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Substantiation is given to the role of convict record as a separate circumstance that prevents imposition of suspended sentence. The author indicates the fact of various interpretation of the concept of “crimes against sexual integrity of minors” mentioned in the note to the Article 73 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and in the construct of the qualifying element for a number of offences of the Article 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as well as substantiates inexpediency of unification of this definition. The scientific novelty consists in proposing the new wording for the purposes of the Article 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which the author believes should be enshrined in the new note to the Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.