The criminal-legal nature of the reasonable risk: de lege lata

The article examines legal nature of the reasonable risk in the criminal aspect through the prism of circumstances that exclude the criminality of the act. It is noted that the study of the issue should be conducted together with the study of the legal nature of Chapter 8 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The authors point out there are various opinions based on the exclusion of one of the signs for a criminal act, indicating the ambiguity of socially useful circumstances regulated by the criminal law in the criminal law doctrine. Based on the study of these aspects, the authors draw the conclusion about the legal nature of the reasonable risk as a socially positive action that is not criminal under certain conditions.