Responsibility for the use of slave labor (article 127.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)

The article examines problematic aspects of the application of the rule on criminal liability for the use of slave labor. It is emphasized that, according to current legislation, the use of slave labor as a crime means exclusively the use of human labor in the position of a slave; the use of slave labor presupposes the establishment and ensuring the permanence of the victim’s slave status. The need to prevent these crimes using the norms and mechanisms of the criminal legal order, which act as a central link in the comprehensive provision of the rights of the victim, is outlined. It is noted that when committing the crime in question, the perpetrators use the labor of persons who are in a difficult life situation and do not have a permanent source of income, contrary to their will and desire, with the exercise in relation to these persons of the powers inherent in the right of ownership. Conclusions are drawn about the relationship between such acts as kidnapping, human trafficking and the use of slave labor, which act as links in one chain of homotraffic, as one of the most dangerous types of the criminal market for goods and services. It is indicated that these criminal attacks are characterized by the use of violence (physical and mental), as well as the use of a deliberately helpless or dependent state, which generally raises the issue of their victimological prevention.