The legal nature of a judicial fine and the prospects of large-scale decriminalization of criminal acts

Introduction: the paper highlights some problems concerning the inter-sectoral differentiation of responsibility and the responsibility in criminal law arising in connection with the introduction of a new ground for exemption from criminal responsibility into the domestic legislation (Article 762 of the Criminal Code). The goals and objectives are to determine the nature of a court fine and the immediate prospects of decriminalization of criminal acts punishable by the death penalty. Methods: the authors used the traditional methods of cognition of legal phenomena. Results: the author analyzed the viewpoints of the scientists, not perceiving the very idea of exemption from criminal responsibility with replacing it by another enforcement action and proposing to decriminalize the acts which can be punishable be a court fine. There are studied the possibilities of a total “cleansing” of the Criminal Code. Attention is drawn to the basis of the inter-sectoral differentiation of responsibility and its difference from the grounds of the differentiation of responsibility in criminal law. There are highlighted some of the shortcomings of the mentioned ideas relating to the definition of the legal nature of a new treatment of offenders. Scope of application: it is designed for use in the legislative and law enforcement practice, and research. There were drawn the conclusions about the impossibility of large-scale decriminalization of socially dangerous acts, in respect of which it is possible to use Article 762 of the Criminal Code, and the inappropriate exclusion from the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of a new kind of exemption from responsibility, and the need of its transformation in the exemption from criminal responsibility with its replacement by the administrative measures and referring to the ones of a court fine.