Evaluative concept of minor significance of an action in criminal law: problems of law enforcement and prospects for improvement

This article is devoted to the consideration of the provisions of Part 2 of Article 14 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which regulate the insignificance of the act and act as a circumstance excluding criminal liability. The author concludes that the absence of clearly formulated criteria for determining the insignificance of an act under criminal law creates difficulties for law enforcement officers. This is based on a comparison of the emerging judicial practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and courts of cassation of general jurisdiction on the application of the institution of insignificance. An option for solving the problem of understanding and interpreting the insignificance of an act as an evaluative concept is the adoption of a corresponding resolution by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, and proposals are also made to improve the institution of the insignificance of an act in both criminal and criminal procedural law.