The concept and signs of a judicial fine in Russian criminal law

Introduction: the article examines the judicial fine from the point of view of ambivalence (at the same time as one of the grounds for exemption from criminal liability and as another measure of a criminal-legal nature), which has its own characteristic. Materials and methods: The legal framework of this article was based on the provisions of: the Constitution of the Russian Federation, criminal and criminal procedural legislation of the Russian Federation, other federal laws governing the court penalty, decisions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, as well as dissertation studies and other scientific works that address this issue. General scientific methods (synthesis, analysis, induction, deduction, description, comparison) and special scientific methods (statistical, formal-legal, comparative-legal) were used in writing the article. The Results of the Study: allowed us to identify the signs inherent in a judicial fine and formulate the following definition of "judicial fine" - a legally defined monetary penalty imposed by a court on a suspect or accused (defendant) with their consent when releasing a person from criminal liability in cases where a person has committed a minor or moderate crime for the first time, compensated for damage or otherwise made amends the harm caused by the crime (Article 104.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Findings and Conclusions: The study confirmed the need for further study and analysis with a view to improving the imposition of a court fine. The legislative consolidation of the grounds for exemption from criminal liability with the imposition of a court fine demonstrates the "unloading" of the judicial system, reducing the burden on the service of execution of criminal sanctions, but also leads to a number of problems associated with the enforcement of the court fine as another measure of criminal-law nature.