Protection of Constitutional Freedom of Labor by the Norms of Criminal Law

The article is devoted to ensuring the freedom of labor of citizens enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation by prohibiting discrimination in hiring and dismissal, using pregnant women, women with a child under three years of age, and persons who have reached the pre-retirement age as an example. The problem is examined from the point of view of the effectiveness of the application of articles 144.1 and 145 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in relation to article 136 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which regulates the prohibition of discrimination against citizens. It is established that articles 144.1 and 145 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation have different labor law and historical-legal grounds. If the protection of the freedom of labor of pregnant women and women with children during their hiring and dismissal is confirmed by appropriate restrictions in labor legislation and has historical background, then criminal liability for discrimination against persons of pre-retirement age has neither historical-legal nor special labor-legal grounds. The author supports the opinion of a number of authors who believe that criminal legal protection should be equally focused on all categories of workers. The opinion is expressed that it is necessary to build a holistic state policy of countering discrimination against citizens regardless of the criterion of equality. For this purpose, it is necessary to abandon the practice of including in the Criminal Code of the RF new corpus delicti aimed at protecting the labor rights of certain categories of workers, and to give Article 136 more importance in law enforcement activities.