The main problem of the article is the need for proper solution of the issue of punishment in a criminal case, which is considered in two aspects - theoretical and practical. The theoretical aspect is aimed at establishing the nature of activity to determine the punishment, namely, whether it is a cognitive activity, and if so, whether it is limited to the knowledge of establishment of evidence. Adjoining to the common position of those authors who recognize the cognitive character of this activity, we defended the position that the establishment of evidence, despite its importance, does not exhaust the learning process in a criminal case. In particular, this is demonstrated in the context of the study of the personality of the accused on the basis of Art. 73 of the Criminal Procedural Code, as well as based on the possibility of the court and the investigating officer directly perceive the traits of the accused person. Subsequently, the above theoretical principles are used to solve the practical aspects of the problem which concerns extremely and permanently low quality of a sentence in terms of the disclosure of matters of the punishment. In support of this position, the author provides the viewpoints of the scientists, empirical data, including the results of the questioning of persons serving a real imprisonment sentence, the decisions of the High Courts. As a possible solution to the problem the author proposes, on the one hand, to review the validity of such stringent requirements of procedural form in matters of punishment, and on the other, the separation of the processes on rendering a decision concerning guilt and punishment by a court. To confirm the reasonableness of these approaches the experience of foreign countries (the United States), the pre-revolutionary national legislation, as well as the position of individual scientists are provided.