Reserves of Alternative Ways to Resolve a Criminal Law Conflict

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The article raises the question of the problems of protecting the balance of freedom of the individual and the state by alternative means of resolving the criminal law conflict. The purpose of the work is to assess the reserve (potential) of alternative ways to resolve a criminal law conflict while protecting the balance of individual and state freedom. Research objectives: 1) identify criteria (indicators) indicating the achievement or non-achievement of the balance of individual and state freedom; 2) demonstrate the possibilities of alternative ways to resolve a criminal law conflict to protect the balance of individual and state freedom 3) assess the presence or absence of reserves in the use of alternative ways to resolve a criminal law conflict. The paper draws the following conclusions. Over-criminalization as a vector of modern Russian criminal policy violates the balance of interests of the individual and the state, which is not restored by the available alternative ways of resolving the criminal law conflict. At the level of law enforcement, the reason for this is the minimal use of the mechanism for recognizing an act as insignificant. The institution of exemption from criminal liability as one of the forms of its implementation is able to independently resolve social contradictions that have arisen as a result of violation of the criminal prohibition. Performing the restorative function of criminal law, the analyzed forms of differentiation of responsibility, applied when criminal punishment is inappropriate, provide a balance of protection of the interests of the individual and the state. This method of resolving a criminal law conflict has a reserve, it can potentially be applied to a much larger number of persons than it is used now. It is proposed to supplement some articles of the Special Part of the Criminal Code with notes with special grounds for exemption from criminal liability. When resolving a criminal law conflict, the State focuses on the use of the most repressive means of criminal law. The conviction of a person as a typical reaction of the state to the commission of a crime by him is not always considered appropriate, accordingly, the balance of individual and state freedom is not achieved and protected.