Journal section JURISPRUDENCE
Theory of Fair Punishment (between Kant and the utilitarians)
The article explores the issues of punishment, justice. To this purpose the theory of
punishment as punishment according to the lex talion principle, proposed by I. Kant as
well as utilitarian theories of punishment opposed to it, are analyzed. The fundamental
advantages and disadvantages of both approaches are revealed. To illustrate and evaluate
them, as well as to justify the own views, the author analyzes the current Russian legislation
(not only criminal and penal enforcement, but also administrative, civil, labor), as well as legal monuments of different eras, draws parallels between criminal and other types of
legal responsibility. The views of some authors of the neo-Kantian direction are examined
and the author’s position is given, in particular, an understanding of justice as a principle
of equal interests of individuals is grounded; fair punishment as the most optimal means
aimed at restoring a fair rule of law; it is argued that only the commission of an unlawful
act by a sane person should serve as an indispensable basis for legal liability, while guilt,
harm and causation are its relative conditions; substantiates the potential unlimited legal
facts affecting the justice of the sentence and the relativity of the principle of inevitability
of punishment.
Keywords: justice; punishment; fair punishment; legal liability; I. Kant; utilitarianism; talion; purpose of punishment; sanity; inevitability of punishment
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Researcher of the Udmurt Branch of the Institute of Philosophy and Law of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, PhD. in Law.
, e-mail nickolai_91@inbox.ru
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influence of the principle of justice on the evolution of the doctrine of causality in tort liability]. Advokat – Lawyer, 2012, no.
7, pp. 5–15. (In Russ.).
2. Bogdanov D. E. Triedinaya sushchnost’ spravedlivosti v sfere deliktnoj otvetstvennosti [The Triune Essence of Tort Justice
Justice]. ZHurnal rossijskogo prava – Journal of Russian Law, 2013, no. 7, pp. 49–62. (In Russ.).
3. Grocij G. O prave vojny i mira [On the law of war and peace]. Moscow, 1994. 868 p. (In Russ.).
4. Kant I. Osnovy metafiziki nravstvennosti. Kritika prakticheskogo razuma. Metafizika nravov [Fundamentals of the
metaphysics of morality. Criticism of practical reason. Metaphysics of Morals]. St. Petersburg, 2007. 528 p. (In Russ.).
5. Kel’zen G. CHistoe uchenie o prave, spravedlivost’ i estestvennoe pravo [Pure doctrine of law, justice and natural law].
St. Petersburg, 2015. 542 p. (In Russ.).
6. List F. Zadachi ugolovnoj politiki. Prestuplenie kak social’no-patologicheskoe yavlenie [The objectives of criminal policy.
Crime as a socio-pathological phenomenon]. Moscow, 2004. 110 p. (In Russ.).
7. Nazarenko G. V. Pravovaya i kriminologicheskaya znachimost’ ugolovno-relevantnyh psihicheskih sostoyanij [Legal and
criminological significance of criminally relevant mental conditions]. Orel, 2002. 200 p. (In Russ.).
8. Radbruh G. Vvedenie v nauku prava [Introduction to the Science of Law]. Moscow, 1915. 160 p. (In Russ.).
9. Radbruh G. Filosofiya prava [Philosophy of Law]. Moscow, 2004. 238 p. (In Russ.).
10. Sergievskij N. D. Russkoe ugolovnoe pravo. Posobie k lekciyam. CHast’ obshchaya [Russian criminal law. The manual
for lectures. Part common]. St. Petersburg, 1900. 364 p. (In Russ.).
11. Sliozberg G. B. Vozdayanie, vozmezdie [Retribution]. Enciklopedicheskij slovar’ Brokgauza i Efrona [Brockhaus and
Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary]. St. Petersburg, 1892, vol. VIa, pp. 867–868. (In Russ.).
12. Sudenko V. E. Spravedlivost’ i nakazanie po I. Kantu [Justice and punishment according to I. Kant]. Vestnik associacii
vuzov turizma i servisa – Bulletin of the Association of Tourism and Service Universities, 2010, no. 3, pp. 42–48. (In Russ.).
13. Syma C. Istoricheskie zapiski. T. VII [Historical notes. Vol. VII]. Moscow, 1996. 464 p. (In Russ.).
14. SHamsudinov I. U. Teorii nakazaniya v doktrine ugolovnogo prava i diskussiya o ego celyah; al’ternativy ugolovnomu
nakazaniyu [Theories of punishment in the doctrine of criminal law and discussion of its objectives; alternatives to criminal
punishment]. Molodoj uchenyj – Young scientist, 2016, no. 13, pp. 604–607. (In Russ.).
15. Dewey H. W., Kleimola A. M. Russian Collective Consciousness: The Kievan Roots. The Slavonic and East European
Review, 1984, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 180–191. (In Eng.).
16. Höffe O. Kategorische Rechtsprinzipien. Ein Kontrapunkt der Moderne. Frankfurt am Main, 1993. 431 s. (In Germ).
