The concept and essence of administrative prosecution

This article is devoted to a critical analysis of the concept and legal essence of administrative prosecution within the framework of the current legislation of the Russian Federation. Attention is drawn to the fact that administrative prosecution is one of the key functions of state coercion. It is established that the implementation of administrative prosecution is predetermined by the imposition of a punishment corresponding to the degree of public danger of the offense and the offender's guilt, taking into account the mandatory implementation of the principle of inevitability of punishment. In addition, the article emphasizes the need to solve a number of applied problems related to the proceedings on administrative offenses; the author's formulation of the term «administrative prosecution» is also given.