The debate about the death penalty and its prospects in modern Russia

The author attempts to argue the need to refuse such punishment as the death penalty in Russia. The arguments made by the proponents of the death penalty in Russian criminal law are critically assessed. Additional reasons confirm that the death penalty should be excluded from the criminal punishment system. Recent relevant publications are analyzed. The emphasis is placed on the fact that more and more people support the abolition of the death penalty, notwithstanding the divergent views on this issue at least in the theory of criminal law. The author concludes that the death penalty is unacceptable in today’s capitalist democratic society. In the absence of the death penalty, life imprisonment will be the most severe punishment in the criminal punishment system, which to a greater extent will meet the needs of Russian society and ensure the implementation of all the purposes of punishment.