Adequacy of Punishment: Ad Deliberandum

In this article, the author addresses the classic issue of criminal law about the proportionality of punishment to a criminal act. Using comparative legal and historical legal methods, the author examines the evolution of approaches to resolving this issue, noting that the criterion of proportionality is evaluative and the problems of its determination depend on the deeper problem of the theory of criminal law — the criteria for criminalization and the choice of the optimal set of criminal legal measures. On the face in order to achieve the declared goals of punishment. The author concludes that three participants in the criminal legal relationship perceive the proportionality of punishment differently: the perpetrator, the victim and the state. Hence, it seems important when constructing criminal law norms, as well as when working with existing provisions of the criminal law, to try to achieve a balance of taking into account the interests of these subjects, as well as the beginning of justice (Part 1 of Article 6 “Principle of Justice” of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).