Legislative basis and judicial practice of exempting minors from criminal liability under articles 90, 75, 76, 76.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Countering juvenile delinquency through criminal law means is one of the current tasks of Russian criminal policy at the present stage. In addition to criminal liability and sentencing, such measures include a particular and special means of exempting minors from criminal liability through compulsory educational measures. However, under the conditions laid down by criminal law, minors are also subject to general rules on exemption from criminal liability, the application of which, according to judicial statistics, is preferred by judicial practice. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the legislative regulation of exempting minors from criminal liability under special (Article 90) and general rules (Articles 75, 76, 76.2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as well as the legal explanatory and law enforcement practice emerging in this area. The study is carried out using a set of methods: general scientific (induction, deduction, analysis, synthesis, system-structural) and specific scientific (formal legal, sociological, statistical). Results: two negative, according to the author, trends are identified, which are developing in the practice of exempting minors from criminal liability: 1) courts departure from the specialization established by the Russian Criminal Code in this area, which is manifested in the priority of applying general rules (exemption under Articles 75, 76 and 76.2 in connection with active repentance, in connection with reconciliation with the victim and with the imposition of a judicial fine) over special rule (exemption with the use of compulsory educational measures under Article 90); 2) the imposition of a judicial fine on minors, with the obligation to pay it by their parents or other legal representatives, hampers the achievement of the sectoral objective of crime prevention. The author’s options for eliminating the identified negative trends at the legislative and explanatory levels are proposed.