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Vestnik of the East Siberian institute of the Ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation
Journals / Vestnik of the East Siberian institute of the Ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation / Issue 1, 2026 / LEGISLATIVE DETERMINISM IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEGAL INSTITUTION OF EXEMPTION FROM CRIMINAL LIABILITY
UDC
343.291

LEGISLATIVE DETERMINISM IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEGAL INSTITUTION OF EXEMPTION FROM CRIMINAL LIABILITY

Published in Vestnik of the East Siberian institute of the Ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation · Pages 134–152 · Rubric: Criminal law sciences
Received: 18.12.2025 Accepted: 29.12.2025 Published: 31.03.2026
Authors
VA
Vadim A. Avdeev
ORCID
ABSTRACT
Introduction. The article examines the legal experience and regulatory framework governing the institution of exemption from criminal liability. By combining theoretical, methodological, and practice-oriented approaches to modeling legislative regulation, the study clarifies the legal nature of the grounds and conditions for such exemption. These are shaped by factors justifying the termination of criminal prosecution and the potential for alternative measures, provided that the offender no longer poses a public danger and the act committed is deemed insignificant. Furthermore, the study establishes the doctrinal and methodological foundations for distinguishing between exemption from criminal liability and exemption from punishment within national law. Finally, an analysis of Soviet-era criminal policy reveals specific features of legislative regulation that remain relevant for modern lawmakers. Materials and Methods. The study employed general and specific scientific methods to reveal the theoretical and methodological foundations for establishing exemption from criminal liability as an independent legal institution. These methods facilitated an analysis of the legal policy underlying this new direction in crime prevention and allowed for identifying the factors and stages of its legislative regulation within national law. The Results of the Study. The study reveals a wide variety of approaches to understanding the prerequisites for the legislative regulation of exemption from criminal liability. The authors substantiate the legislative formula for this institution as provided by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, incorporating legal experiences from both foreign and domestic legislation. The article addresses the specific features of regulating exemption from criminal liability and its various forms across different stages of state and legal development. Furthermore, the study identifies a correlation between scientific doctrine and law enforcement practices in defining "exemption from criminal liability." The relationship between different doctrinal approaches is clarified, the types of exemption are classified, and the key drivers and stages of legal policy regarding this institution's regulation are highlighted. Findings and Conclusions. In the context of modernizing the national legal system, the institution of exemption from criminal liability is undergoing transformation, characterized by the introduction of new forms. Historical legal analysis reveals a lengthy evolutionary process: certain forms, such as abolition or amnesty, were promulgated as tools to replace punitive repression with principles that appealed to higher psychological motivations and ethical incentives. The development of this institution was rooted in 18th-century scientific discourse, which laid the groundwork for new methods of addressing crime as a social phenomenon. The study concludes that exemption from criminal liability as a legal institution reached detailed legislative maturity during the Soviet period. This formalization was driven by intensified scholarly activity that redefined criminal liability as an independent legal phenomenon, distinct from punishment in both essence and substance. Doctrinal developments predetermined the modernization of a number of norms of the RSFSR Criminal Code of the 1926 edition, in which two concepts—"responsibility" and "criminal responsibility"—were to be distinguished and regulated. The legislative formalization of criminal responsibility was accompanied by the development of grounds both for bringing a person to criminal responsibility and for exempting them from it. This approach was carried out in accordance with the new directions in Soviet criminal policy, aimed at transforming legal consciousness and providing other methods and tools of legal influence on persons who committed crimes. The basis of the implemented criminal policy was, according to program documents, the replacement of the system of criminal punishments with a system of educational measures. As a result of the undertaken scientific research, as new directions in the development of the institution of exemption from criminal responsibility, the distinction between general and special norms was established. A qualitatively new approach was reflected in the Fundamentals of Criminal Legislation of the USSR and the Union republics of 1958, according to which, along with the recognition of exemption from criminal liability as an independent institution, the grounds and types of such exemption were subject to legislative formalization and consistent detailing.
KEYWORDS
national security, legal policy, criminal policy, criminal law, criminal punishment, criminal liability, legal experience, exemption from criminal liability
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