Appointment of punishment

For any unlawful act, whether it is a crime or other offense, the perpetrator must bear the responsibility established by law. Punishment is a measure of state coercion, which first of all should help to correct such a person.

Appointment of punishment is carried out taking into account the nature of the offense, the identity of the offender, his property status, aggravating and mitigating circumstances. As a rule, within the limits set in the sanction of an article of the law regulating a particular group of social relations. The application to a person of well-deserved punishment does not release him from reimbursement of the harm caused and procedural costs.

The actions of the person who committed the offense are regulated by the Code of Administrative Offenses. The appointment of administrative punishment is described in chapter 4 of this normative legal act. Unlike the Criminal Code, responsibility for administrative violations is imposed not only on physical persons, but also on legal entities. The most common form of punishment in administrative law is fine.

Legislation of the Russian Federation, existing legal relations in the society are based on fundamental principles that are recognized in practically all countries and are fixed in international acts.

There are the following principles of the punishment:

• Justice. The punishment should be appointed fairly, correspond to the gravity of the offense, the identity of the perpetrator, the circumstances of the commission;
• Humanism. It is unacceptable to inflict physical suffering, human dignity should not be degraded. In addition, in Russia the death penalty does not apply to men who are over 65 years of age, persons who have committed a crime as minors, and women of any age. The same category of persons can not be sentenced to life imprisonment ;
• Legality. Punishment applies only for violations of the law. It is not permissible to hold accountable for the commission of acts not provided for by law, and restrictions of rights should not exceed the scope of the articles provided for in the sanctions;
• Equality before the law. Any person, regardless of social status, sex, language, race, etc., is liable. On an equal footing.

Appointment of punishment in criminal law under mitigating circumstances

In the presence of the latter and the absence of aggravating circumstances, the court may be sentenced for more than 2/3, and in the case of an existing pre-trial agreement - more than half the maximum. These provisions can not be applied if the sanction of the article provides for the death penalty or life imprisonment. If there is a pre-trial agreement, such strict measures of responsibility are not appointed, and punishment can not be more than 2/3 of the maximum.

Appointment of punishment in case of relapse

The court, in addition to the nature and degree of public danger of the new crime and committed earlier, also takes into account the circumstances in which the corrective impact on the person was insufficient. The term of punishment, regardless of the type of relapse, should be at least 1/3 of the maximum, but not exceeding the lower limit of the sanction. In the presence of mitigating circumstances, a shorter period is also possible.

Assignment of punishment in the aggregate

It is carried out separately for each of the crimes. The court determines the final punishment by partial or complete addition or by absorption of less severe punishment more stringent in the following cases:

• If committed crimes of small gravity and average;
• A person is convicted for preparing for a crime;
• A person is convicted for attempting a crime.

In such a situation, the term of punishment should not be more than half the maximum for the most serious crime.