Khachatryan, A. K. Application of the Rules about Relief from Criminal Responsibility for Crime Committed in the Sphere of Economic Activity: Problems and Prospects

Abstract: The article discusses the issues related to the application of the rules about relief from criminal responsibility set by Part 2 of Article 761 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Based on the established rules of the relief from criminal responsibility, the author analyzes grounds and conditions for application of these rules as well as problems that may arise as a result thereto. In particular, the author analyzes the questions about the list of crimes Part 2 of Article 761 of the Criminal Code of the RF is applicable to as well as the compensation of damage as a condition for relief from criminal responsibility. The author studies the reasons why Part 2 of Article 761 of the Criminal Code of the RF sometimes cannot be applied to particular practical causes including punishment for economic crime. The article is based on the technical method of analyzing the practice of the application of rules about relief from criminal responsibility set forth by Part 2 of Article 761 of the Criminal Code of the RF. The author also uses the statistical method for evaluating the effi ciency of the application of these rules. According to the author, the latest version of Article 761 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation fails to be effi cient which is caused by such factors as a super high measure of damages, one’s inability to contest this measure of damage before the court, low effi ciency of work performed by law enforcement agencies leading to frequent expirations of the statute of limitations, relatively soft sanctions of the criminal law which makes it more advantageous for a convict to undergo punishment rather than compensate the damage. Taking all these circumstances and factors into account, the author offers amendments to the existing criminal law to make these rules actually effective.

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