Juvenile crimes: criminal procedural context

The article examines the criminal procedural analysis of juvenile crimes in the context of criminal proceedings. This topic is of particular relevance, since even a violation of criminal law committed by a child should not deprive him of the right to treatment that promotes the development of a sense of dignity and significance, strengthening respect for human rights and freedoms, reintegration into society and the performance of a socially useful role. The authors analyzed changes in legislation related to the issue under consideration. The study examined historical experience, which shows that attempts to curb antisocial behavior of adolescents were made back in Soviet times both by implementing a humanistic concept of dividing the criminal responsibility of adults and children, complicating the mechanism of criminal prosecution of minors, and in certain periods through tightening criminal policy. The authors determined that the system of criminal law measures applied to juvenile offenders for educational purposes has an internal contradiction, which contributes to a decrease in the effectiveness of its practical implementation; placement in a special institution of higher education, which by its nature is deprivation of liberty of a minor and occupies an indefinite place in the system of measures of a criminal-legal nature, is used as an alternative to punishment imposed by a guilty verdict of the court. The legislation should regulate the procedure for canceling the decision to send to a special institution of higher education, define the rules for counting the time spent in this institution in the event of subsequent imposition of a sentence in the form of imprisonment; the procedure for placement in a special institution of higher education due to the commission of a crime should be regulated uniformly, both by a court verdict and in cases of refusal to initiate a criminal case or termination of a criminal case (criminal prosecution).