Criminalization and decriminalization as instruments of social control over persons who committed a crime

Annotation: The relevanceof the research topic is determined by the complexities of modern trends in criminalization (decriminalization) within the framework of the emerging criminal law policy. Generalization of the approaches formed in the doctrine (and the positions of the authors) to the ongoing changes in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, expressed in the increase in the number of criminal law prohibitions and law enforcement practice, demonstrates the qualitative changes in the emerging prohibitions in relation to the designs of the relevant offences, sanctions, as well as the actually developing law enforcement practice in this area. The object ofthe study is social relations linking criminalization processes with the stage of the implementation of criminal punishment and other measures of criminal law nature and further individualized crime prevention. The aim of the study was to define the mechanism of criminalization (decriminalization) not only within the framework of criminal law prohibitions, but of further law enforcement practice as well. As a result of the study, the author states that there is a correlation between the trend towards the increase in the number of criminal law prohibitions with the simultaneous introduction of instruments to reduce the punitive potential of sanctions contained in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as well as the practical reduction in the use of repressive measures. The partial use of measures of social control over the behavior of convicts as an instrument of private prevention is noted and the need to expand such means and their specification based on the characteristics of the crime committed and the personality traits of the criminal is pointed out. The findings can be used in the legislative process, as well as law enforcement practice when assigning and executing punishment and other criminal law measures.