Optimal Sanction of the Criminal Law Norm: Stating the Problem

  Introduction: the article is devoted to the problem of designing a sanction of the criminal law norm. The author shows imperfection of the current system of sanctions and proposes a concept of optimal sanctions, combining requirements of criminological validity, fairness, effectiveness and consistency. Purpose: to optimize scientific ideas about the criteria for designing a sanction to find an optimal sanction. Methods: historical, empirical, interpretation; theoretical methods of formal and dialectical logic; private scientific methods, such as legaldogmatic and interpretation of legal norms. Results: the author comes to the conclusion about the content and criteria of the requirements of criminological validity, fairness, effectiveness and consistency. Their interdependence is shown. At the same time, criminological validity is understood as the sanction focus on preventing and reducing crime as a phenomenon; the sanction fairness requirement presupposes that it corresponds to the public danger of the crime. The sanction effectiveness requirement means a sufficient degree of conformity of the result obtained and the goals set before the sanction. General prevention of crime commission, as well as contribution to punishment goals achievement are considered as goals. The sanction consistency requirement means the need for consistency of sanctions with each other, both within the framework of one article and in general within the boundaries of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Keywords: sanction of the criminal law norm; optimal sanction; designing a criminal law sanction; mechanism to design a sanction; criminological validity of a sanction; fairness of the criminal law sanction; sanction effectiveness; sanction consistency requirement.