The content and forms of implementation of criminal liability of legal entities in the Russian criminal legislation

This publication discusses the current problems caused by the expediency of fixing the institution of criminal liability of legal entities at the legislative level. Based on the analysis of the existing positions of theoretical scientists, as well as practicing lawyers, the author suggests a possible form of implementation of such a legislative solution, which will most effectively counter the modern criminal challenges and threats that our country is facing today. It is noted that such a legislative innovation in the implementation of the type of responsibility under consideration will fully comply with international standards and recommendations regarding legal entities, since today there is an increase in the number of advocates for the need to bring legal entities to criminal responsibility, taking into account the evidence of the existing legislative nuances in administrative legislation in this matter. Thus, the impossibility of comprehensive administrative proceedings by analogy with the investigation of criminal cases is obvious, since in this case it is an offense, which inevitably raises the question of the degree of public danger of the act, etc. It is generally accepted to classify administrative offenses as less dangerous compared to criminal acts. In addition, the detection of offenses committed by one or another legal entity usually occurs during the consideration of criminal cases in which the accused are individuals who acted in the interests of a certain legal entity, which suggests the importance of a unified investigation procedure. The conclusion is formulated that it is criminal law norms that are the most important state mechanism for protecting society as a whole and each individual in particular from criminal threats, which should include criminal encroachments by legal entities, which scientists are actively discussing today. In this regard, it seems that a significant number of criminal encroachments on the interests of the individual, society and the state, represented in modern criminal legislation, are real evidence of the potential scale of criminal threats. Unfortunately, we have to state that in the modern Russian criminal legal system, effective legal instruments for countering existing criminal threats from legal entities have not yet been fully developed, and therefore it is important to legally consolidate the possibility of bringing them to criminal responsibility in order to purposefully and effectively implement the declared provisions.