Features of the evolution of the institution of necessary defense in the Soviet and Russian criminal laws

The article is devoted to consideration of the features of the evolution of the institute of necessary defense in the Soviet and Russian criminal laws. The authors analyze and compare the contents of the articles regulating the right to the necessary defense in the criminal codes of the Soviet period and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. On the basis of the study, the authors concluded that the changes concerning the legislative consolidation of the right to necessary defense during the period under the study are reasonable and practically significant, creating additional legal guarantees for the protection of citizens who used the right of defense. However, it seems expedient and necessary to further legislatively improve the norm on necessary defense, in particular, in the direction of minimizing the number of assessment categories used in evaluating the legitimacy of defensive actions.