Exemption of Minors from Criminal Liability and Punishment with the Imposition of Compulsory Measures of Educational Influence: Problems of Legal Regulation and Practical Application

Exemption from criminal liability or punishment with the imposition of compulsory educational measures is applied to minors much less frequently than general grounds for exemption, conditional conviction, and actual punishment. The purpose of the study is to identify the reasons that prevent the wider use of special types of exemption of minors from criminal liability and punishment, as well as to develop proposals aimed at improving the legal regulation and practical application of the types of release in question. Objectives of the study are the following: to compare the conditions of exemption from criminal liability under part 1 of Art. 90 of the Russian Criminal Code with the conditions of exemption from punishment under part 1 of Art. 92 of the Russian Criminal Code; to compare exemption from punishment with the use of compulsory educational measures to conditional conviction; to analyze judicial practice in terms of establishing and justifying certain conditions of exemption. The following methods are used: formal‑legal, system‑structural analysis, statistical, document analysis. It has been established that the criminal law does not clearly define the conditions under which part 1 of Art. 90 or part 1 of Art. 92 of the Russian Criminal Code should be applied. However, this is important because it leads to different legal consequences for the perpetrator. It has been noted that courts do not always properly justify the possibility or impossibility of exemption of the perpetrator from punishment with the use of compulsory educational measures. When part 1 of Art. 92 and Art. 73 of the Russian Criminal Code are in competition, conditional conviction is more often applied, which makes it impossible to realize the full potential of compulsory educational measures. Recommendations have been made to specify the conditions for special types of exemption of minors from criminal liability and punishment, as well as to improve the practice of application of part 1 of Art. 90 and part 1 of Art. 92 of the Russian Criminal Code.