Journal section JURISPRUDENCE
Regulation in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of a formal basis for categorizing crimes and the prospects for its improvement
The article deals with the question of the formal criterion for dividing crimes into
categories. The authors believe that the limits of punishability enshrined in the rule on the
categorization of crimes should be indicated more clearly. It is noted that the legislator
admits a logical miscalculation concerning the violation of the rule on the unity of the
basis for the division of members of the classification. In this connection the necessity of
isolating unwary grave crimes is substantiated. A proposal is made to adjust the sanctions
of a number of articles by narrowing their unreasonably wide range undermining the
meaning of the categorization of crimes. The idea of introducing «exceptional gravity of
crime» as well as standard sanctions in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is
subject to a critical assessment. However it is proposed to allocate a number of criminal
acts, for the commission of which no deprivation of liberty is envisaged, into a separate
category of crime. The authors define the rules for the consistent description of sentences.
Keywords: categories of crimes; public danger; punishment; form of guilt; intentional and reckless offense; sanction; imprisonment
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Head of the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology of the P.G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University, Dsc. in Law, Associate Professor.
, e-mail ivanchin@uniyar.ac.ru
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Graduate student of the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology of the P. G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University.
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and the differentiation of criminal responsibility]. Biblioteka kriminalista – Forensic library. 2014. Iss. 3. Pр. 30–32. (In Russ.).
16. Truhin A. M. Kategorizaciya prestuplenij i obratnaya sila ugolovnogo zakona [Categorization of crimes and retroactive
criminal law]. Ugolov. pravo – Criminal law. 2012. Iss. 5. Pр. 122–123. (In Russ.).
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zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=30421110 (accessed 30.05.2019). (In Russ.).
20. Ustinova T. D. Obshchestvennaya opasnost’ i ee vliyanie (uchet) pri konstruirovanii norm Obshchej chasti UK RF [The
public danger and its influence (accounting) in the design of the norms of the General Part of the Criminal Code of the
Russian Federation]. Lex Russica – Lex Russica. 2015. Iss. 3. Pр. 63–72. (In Russ.).
2. Valeev M. T. Tipovaya sankciya kak kriterij kategorizacii prestuplenij [Model sanction as a criterion for categorizing
crimes]. Vestn. Tomsk. gos. un-ta. Ser. : Pravo – Tomsk State University Bulletin. Series : Law. 2013. Iss. 2. Pр. 29–34. (In
Russ.).
3. Gauhman L. D. Nuzhen novyj UK RF [We need a new Criminal Code of the Russian Federation]. Zakonnost’ – Legality.
1996. Iss. 7. Pр. 22–26. (In Russ.).
4. Gustova E. V. Postroenie sankcij v ugolovnom prave Rossijskoj Federacii: teoreticheskij aspekt : dis. … kand. yurid. nauk
[Construction of sanctions in the criminal law of the Russian Federation: theoretical aspect : the diss. ... PhD. in Law].
Voronezh, 2015. 204 р. (In Russ.).
5. Ivanchin A. V. Zakonodatel’naya tekhnika i ee rol’ v rossijskom ugolovnom pravotvorchestve [Legislative technique and its
role in Russian criminal law-making]. Yaroslavl, 2011. 208 р. (In Russ.).
6. Ivanchin A. V., Pavlova L. O. K voprosu o kriteriyah kategorizacii prestuplenij po Ugolovnomu kodeksu RF [Notes on
the Criteria of Crimes Categorization as to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation]. Vestn. YAroslav. gos. un-ta im.
P. G. Demidova. Ser. : Gumanitar. nauki – Bulletin of P. G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University. Series : Humanitarian sciences.
2017. Iss. 1 (39). Pр. 45–49. (In Russ.).
7. Kadnikov N. G. Klassifikaciya prestuplenij po ugolovnomu pravu Rossii : avtoref. dis. … d-ra yurid. nauk [Classification of
crimes under the criminal law of Russia : the author’s abstract of the diss. ... Dsc. in Law]. Moscow, 2000. 53 р. (In Russ.).
8. Kozlov A. P. Ugolovno-pravovye sankcii (problemy postroeniya, klassifikacii i izmereniya) [Criminal sanctions (problems
of construction, classification and measurement)]. Krasnoyarsk, 1989. 176 p. (In Russ.).
9. Kuleva L. O. Ugolovnyj prostupok: v poiskah optimal’noj koncepcii. [Criminal misconduct: in search of an optimal
concept]. Vestn. Ros. pravovoj akad. – Bulletin of the Russian Law Academy. 2019. Iss. 1. Pp. 105–112. (In Russ.).
10. Lesnievski-Kostareva T. A. Differenciaciya ugolovnoj otvetstvennosti. Teoriya i zakonodatel’naya praktika [Differentiation
of criminal liability. Theory and legislative practice]. Moscow, 1998. 296 p. (In Russ.).
11. Meleshko N. P. Kriminologicheskie problemy stanovleniya pravovoj sistemy Rossii [Criminological problems of the
formation of the legal system of Russia]. Rostov-on-Don, 2000. 204 р. (In Russ.).
12. Model’nyj Ugolovnyj kodeks dlya gosudarstv – uchastnikov SNG : prinyat postanovleniem Mezhparlamentskoj Assamblei
gosudarstv – uchastnikov SNG ot 17.02.1996 [Model Criminal Code for the CIS member states : adopted by the Resolution
of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the CIS member States from 17.02.1996]. Access from the legal reference system
«ConsultantPlus». (In Russ.).
13. O vnesenii izmenenij i dopolnenij v Ugolovnyj kodeks Rossijskoj Federacii, Ugolovno-processual’nyj kodeks RSFSR,
Ugolovno-ispolnitel’nyj kodeks Rossijskoj Federacii i drugie zakonodatel’nye akty Rossijskoj Federacii : feder. zakon ot
09.03.2001 № 25-FZ [On Amendments and Additions to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the Criminal
Procedure Code of the RSFSR, the Criminal Executive Code of the Russian Federation and other legislative acts of the
Russian Federation : Federal Law from 09.03.2001 No. 25-FL]. Sobr. zakonodatel’stva Ros. Federacii – Collection of
legislation of the Russian Federation. 2001. Iss. 11. Art. 1002. (In Russ.).
14. Po delu o proverke konstitucionnosti punkta 1 chasti 3 stat’i 31 UPK RF v svyazi s zhaloboj grazhdanina V. A. Filimonova : postanovlenie Konstituc. Suda Ros. Federacii ot 20.05.014 № 16-P [In the case of verifying the constitutionality of clause 1 of part 3 of article 31 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation in connection with the complaint
of citizen V. A. Filimonov : Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation ftom 20.05.014 No. 16-P]. Sobr.
zakonodatel’stva Ros. Federacii – Collection of legislation of the Russian Federation. 2014. Iss. 22. Art. 2920. (In Russ.).
15. Rogova Е. V. Ugolovno-pravovaya politika Rossii i differenciaciya ugolovnoj otvetstvennosti [Russia’s criminal law policy
and the differentiation of criminal responsibility]. Biblioteka kriminalista – Forensic library. 2014. Iss. 3. Pр. 30–32. (In Russ.).
16. Truhin A. M. Kategorizaciya prestuplenij i obratnaya sila ugolovnogo zakona [Categorization of crimes and retroactive
criminal law]. Ugolov. pravo – Criminal law. 2012. Iss. 5. Pр. 122–123. (In Russ.).
17. Ugolovnyj kodeks Latvijskoj Respubliki [Criminal Code of the Republic of Latvia]. Available at: http://www.pravo.lv/
likumi/07_uz.html (accessed 30.05.2019). (In Russ.).
18. Ugolovnyj kodeks Litovskoj Respubliki [Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania]. Available at: http://www.pravo.
vuzlib.su/book_z794_page_8.html (accessed 30.05.2019). (In Russ.).
19. Ugolovnyj kodeks Respubliki Uzbekistan [Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan]. Available at: http://online.
zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=30421110 (accessed 30.05.2019). (In Russ.).
20. Ustinova T. D. Obshchestvennaya opasnost’ i ee vliyanie (uchet) pri konstruirovanii norm Obshchej chasti UK RF [The
public danger and its influence (accounting) in the design of the norms of the General Part of the Criminal Code of the
Russian Federation]. Lex Russica – Lex Russica. 2015. Iss. 3. Pр. 63–72. (In Russ.).
