Gerasimova, D.A. Ideological aspects of formation and implementation of the criminal law policy in the legal positions of the Renaissance thinkers.

Abstract: The goal of this article is to provide detailed analysis of the term “humanization of the criminal policy”, which is often used when characterizing the law and system of government of the European states in XVIII century. The author of this article studies the ideological sources for the formation of the key directions of the criminal law policy based on the current scientifi c approaches to the theory of legal policy and on the analysis of the works of the enlighteners in the sphere of criminal law. The author considers that the ideas of the reforms in the sphere of criminal law system, which were expressed by the thinkers of the Enlightenment epoch, are still important in the current legal reality, while they once have formed the basis for the scientifi c theory of criminal policy. The interpretation of the views of Charles Montesquieu and Cesare Beccaria from the point of view of key methods of implementation of the criminal policy has certain scientifi c value, and it allows the author to draw a conclusion that the ideas of penalization, de-penalization and differentiation of legal responsibility together with the forms of their implementation in the state policies of the European states in XVIII century provide for the humanization of the criminal law policy.

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