Age evaluation in juvenile crime prevention

Introduction: The article is devoted to the issue associated with the expansion of the approach to the early preventative influence onto the personality of the juvenile offender, for the purpose of determining the upper and the lower time limit for applying the corresponding measures; to the practicability of introducing the notions of the “initial” and “pre-criminal” phases of the personality deformation; to defining the moment of the personality criminal character fixation. The materials are studied of the discussion on the legislative lowering of the age of criminal discretion including historical precedents. Purpose: specifying the methodical definitions of the early preventative influence as an instrument in the system of crime prevention measures; studying the experience and evaluation of the discussion positions including historical precedents. Methods: methodological basis of the research are the specific criminology methods - the comparative, the historical and the system ones. Results: the issues are researched associated with defining the time of influence onto the juvenile offender, with specifying corresponding feature characteristics. The comparative analysis is made of the points of view on reforming the approach to defining the lower limit for the criminal discretion in the framework of the Russian Federation Criminal Code. Conclusions: it is necessary to go back to the works that discover the system and the mechanism of the early prevention of the juvenile crimes. The methodology and important scientific positions that added to significant effect at the time of their introduction, have been undeservedly forgotten. There is also no important public apparatus that used to serve for staff purposes. It is necessary to get a substitution for it. The discussion of lowering the criminal discretion age issue should be continued.