Legitimization of the Upgrades of the Basic Categorical Concepts of Russian Criminal Law

The article considers the problem of legitimizing the upgrades of the main categorical concepts of Russian criminal law: crime — criminal punishment — criminal liability — exemption from criminal liability. The purpose of the study is to develop provisions for such an update of the basic categorical concepts, which can be accompanied by a leveling of the ideas of society and the state about what constitutes a crime and what its adverse consequences are. The objectives correspond to the set goal: to determine the priority in updating key criminal law definitions; to reveal the concept of legitimization in relation to the concept of legalization and the principle of democracy; consideration of the possibility of updating the main categorical series of criminal law, taking into account the requirement of reliability. The research was conducted using dialectical, historical and logical methods and using modern materials, including a representative set of sociological data obtained by the author in open sources. The conclusions are formulated: on the legitimization of criminal law instruments, taking into account the social recognition of legally established norms, judicial positions and law enforcement acts and a uniform understanding of the basic categorical concepts of criminal law in society and the state; on the antisociality of the definition of crime, in which the priority is a combination of signs of illegality and punishability, as well as definitions of criminal liability and exemption from it without clarification of socio‑legal grounds and goals; about a crime as a socially dangerous, culpable, prohibited, reprehensible act, for which criminal punishment and (or) other measures of a criminal‑legal nature are possible; that a change in the approach to defining a crime entails a transformation of the entire basic categorical range of criminal law; about the need to discuss options for updating the initial industry concepts, taking into account their reliability and legitimacy.