Tsurikov V.I. Economic approach towards the question of decriminalization of victimless crime

Abstract: The subject of this research is the excessiveness of the criminal law in modern Russia, as well as the problem of decriminalization of victimless crime. Based on the examples of several articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the author demonstrates a noticeable excessiveness in criminalization of certain types of behavior, and conditionality characteristic to the notion of “crime”. The main method of this research is the economic approach. Using the example of the illegal market of sex services, the article analyzes the correlation between the gains and costs justified by the existence of such ban for society as a whole, or specific social groups. It is highlighted that decriminalization of victimless crimes can be hindered due to the following factors: legislators, who are elected officials, can be dependent upon the senior (the most active) part of the electorate, which mainly supports traditional values; violators of the norms are not interested in legalizations of any actions, since the legalization will result in the growing level of competition, which in turn, leads to decrease of their income.

Keywords: