Committing a socially dangerous act by a person, under the age of criminal responsibility: some aspects of criminal proceedings

The article contains an analysis of some features of the implementation of the norms on the initiation of criminal proceedings in the case of a socially dangerous act committed by a person who has not reached the age of criminal responsibility. The authors also draw attention to the peculiarity of the situation when the investigation of such an act is terminated due to the criminal-legal non-subjectivity of a minor, without granting the procedural status of a suspect or accused. The opinion of some legal scholars who propose to supplement Art. 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the relevant ground for refusing to initiate a criminal case or termination of a criminal case is the failure of a person to reach the age of criminal responsibility, is criticized. In addition, the article also examines the situation when the decision to refuse to initiate a criminal case as a result of a procedural check of a report of such an act entailed reasonable doubts about its legality. The authors note that the legislative regulation of criminal proceedings in this category does not ensure the establishment of the maximum possible legally and criminologically significant information about both the act itself and the person who committed it. They express an opinion on optimizing the application of the relevant legislation.