A Retrospective Analysis of the Institute of Exemption from Criminal Liability in Russia

Abstract

This article analyzes the origin and development of the institution of exemption from criminal liability in Russia. To achieve this goal, the institutions of criminal liability, punishment, and criminal record are examined in their historical development. Criminal law norms are examined from Ancient Rus’ to the late 20th century. The study concludes that exemption from criminal liability was not a feature of Russian criminal law until the mid-20th century, as there were no clear rules regulating this institution. It is concluded that the prototype of criminal liability in Russian legislation is best considered to be the phenomenon now referred to in criminal law as a criminal record, which is an element of criminal liability. Exemption from criminal liability began to be formalized in Russian criminal law in the mid-1920s, but it only became a fully-fledged institution in the mid-20th century with the adoption of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR in 1960.