Some problems of applying a fine as a criminal punishment

In the article, the author draws attention to the fact that in recent years, a fine as a type of criminal punishment is used less often, while the problem of using punishments alternative to imprisonment remains relevant. The reasons for reducing the use of fine are, firstly, the courts' failure to take into account the property status of а convicted person, the possibility of paying them a fine, excessive amounts of fine, which leads to its low enforcement; secondly, shortcomings in the legislative regulation in cases of malicious evasion from paying a fine. After analyzing various points of view, the author makes recommendations for further improvement of the criminal law. In particular, there is a need to re-evaluate the “ladder” of punishments, as well as to unify the rules for replacing the fine assigned as а main punishment in case of malicious evasion.