The problem of the criminal law rule on petty bribery

Introduction: the introduction of amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation by Federal Law No. 324-FZ of 3 July 2016 caused a number of debatable issues in connection with the criminalization of petty bribery. Materials and Methods: empirical and theoretical methods of research, including observation, selection of facts, comparison, abstraction, scientific and analytical approaches were used. Results: the study made it possible to identify the main shortcomings of the criminal law on petty bribery. The problems of this rule are theoretical and practical. The first of them is the lack of differentiation of the criminal liability of the petty bribe-giver and bribe-taker, and also these persons in the commission of a crime upon qualifying circumstances. The practical problem of the norm of law is its classification as a crime of small gravity, investigated in the form of an inquiry, which does not allow to fully implement operational search measures to identify them. Discussion and Conclusions: the formulation of the main problems of the law on petty bribery allows us to work out the ways to improve criminal legislation.