Category of “Threat” in the Theory and Practice of Penal Law
Bakulin V.K. Category of “threat” in the theory and practice of penal law, Penitentiary Science, 2024, vol. 18, no. 4 (68), pp. 391–397. doi 10.46741/2686-9764.2024.68.4.006
The article analyzes the content of the interdisciplinary category of “threat”, which is an integral element of the methodology of criminal law sciences. Understanding the complexity of developing a definition of this evaluative concept, we believe that its lack will affect the effectiveness of law enforcement and law-making activities. Purpose: based on the study of norms of the Penal Code of the Russian Federation containing the term of “threat”, used in that interpretation, to develop proposals and recommendations for boosting effectiveness of penal legislation and practice of its application and to define the concept of “threat” in penal law. Methods: a set of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, induction, etc.), private scientific and special methods (formal legal, comparative legal, statistical). Results: the study of the legal category of “threat” in the field of the execution of criminal penalties makes it possible to roughly group threats into the following types: a) threat to life and health in connection with the illness of a close relative of the convicted person; b) threat against convicts from other convicts, staff and other persons; c) threats that are created directly by the convicted; d) threats during the introduction of a regime of special conditions. The objects of influence of threats and sources (subjects) of threats in the penal system are identified. It is noted that the category of “threat” manifests itself in such social reality as penitentiary crime. Conclusions: it is proposed to limit the law enforcement discretion in ensuring the right to personal safety of convicts held in a special regime correctional facility intended to serve a sentence of imprisonment. The author defines concepts of “threat” in penal law and “penitentiary crime”, as well as in the light of recent amendments made to Article 85 of the Penal Code of the Russian Federation describes concepts of “quarantine” and “real threat of an armed attack on a correctional facility” as new grounds for introducing a regime of special conditions in a correctional institution.
Keywords: Category of “threat”; penitentiary crime; objects of threats; subjects of threats; classification of types of threats
2. Kulikov E.A. Philosophical categories in legal science and legal categories: problems of theory and methodology. Yuridicheskie issledovaniya = Legal Research, 2017, no. 10, pp. 59–77. (In Russ.).
3. Bakulin V.K., Bakulina L.V., Khalilov R.N. Comparative European and International law and Russian Human Rights. Mauritius, 2021. 92 p.
4. Bochkarev V.V. Security of the penal system: objects, threats, means and subjects of its security. Vestnik Kuzbasskogo instituta = Bulletin of the Kuzbass Institute, 2020, no. 2 (43), pp. 21–30. (In Russ.).
5. Obzor o rabote s obrashcheniyami grazhdan v FSIN za I kvartal 2024 g. [Overview of the work with citizens’ appeals to the Federal Penitentiary Service for the first quarter of 2024]. Available at: https://fsin.gov.ru/structure/management/obzorobrashcheniy-grazhdan/ (accessed June 1, 2024).
6. Delo Il’esova D.A. ot 06.03.2022, Mordoviya, Tarbeevskii raionnyi sud [The case of Il’esov D.A. of March 6, 2022, Mordovia, Tarbeev District Court]. Available at: http://torbeevsky.mor.sudrf.ru/modules.php?name=press_dep&op=1&did=351 (accessed June 1, 2024).
7. Utkin V.A. Rationality of coercion as a principle to regulate execution of prison sentences. Penitentsiarnaya nauka = Penitentiary Science, 2022, vol. 16, no. 1(57), pp. 29–36. (In Russ.).
8. Useev R.Z. Malicious disobedience to the requirements of a correctional facility administration: problems of interpretation, liability and security in detention facilities. Ugolovnaya yustitsiya = Russian Journal of Criminal Law, 2019, no. 13, pp. 117–121. (In Russ.).
9. Krasheninnikov A.A. Ugroza v ugolovnom prave Rossii (problemy teorii i praktiki pravovogo regulirovaniya) [Threat in criminal law of Russia (problems of theory and practice of legal regulation)]. Ed. by Chuchaev A.I. Ul’yanovsk, 2002. 179 p.
10. Epaneshnikov V.S. Kommentarii k ugolovno-ispolnitel’nomu kodeksu Rossiiskoi Federatsii [Commentary on the Penal Code of the Russian Federation] Ed. by. Mikhlin A.S. Moscow, 2008. 336 p.
11. Kashuba Yu.A., Alekseev A.Yu. The legal nature of the special conditions regime. Ugolovno-ispolnitel’noe pravo = Penal Law, 2021, vol. 16 (1–4), no. 3, pp. 306–311. (In Russ.).
