In the Russian criminal law, the death penalty is present. But since April 16, 1997, it has not been practiced due to the imposition of a moratorium. Until the moratorium is lifted, life imprisonment is used as a punishment for all crimes involving forced killing.
Subjects
The death penalty under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is valid for male criminals in the age category from 18 to 65 years. The latest court ruling on this article was put into effect in 1996. Formally, it can be applied today. Everything changed the accession to the Council of Europe, where one of the main requirements for the legislation was to abolish the death penalty, which led to the issuance of a decree by the president of that period, Boris Yeltsin. From that moment, the practice of resolving pardon complaints, which was a mandatory procedure for approving the death penalty, ceased.
Ban
Before the death penalty was abolished, a number of legal procedures were carried out. For example, the decision of the Constitutional Court No. 1344 of 2009. This document contains the wording in favor of the abolition of the death penalty - "the death penalty deprives the offender of opportunities." Perhaps we are talking about corrective measures, since ideally any punishment should be aimed at translating the behavioral factors and the outlook of the offender into a more humane channel.
However, society is periodically returning to the need to resume the death penalty. But the idea is still considered controversial. On the one hand, the practice of the death penalty can serve as a tool to reduce serious crimes. On the other hand, the deprivation of life by forced means is contrary to some international legal norms, according to which the right to life is considered inviolable. Another aspect is that the practice of the death penalty is only appropriate for countries with a transparent judiciary.
Why can they impose the death penalty?
The death penalty in Russia according to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation can theoretically be applied for the following types of crimes:
- Under article 357 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - genocide.
- The killing of a person with particular cruelty - based on Article 105 of Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
- The facts of the attempt on the representative of power in the person of a public figure or other state person. The basis - article 277 of the Criminal Code.
- Also, the death penalty under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is applied in cases of attempted murder of a representative of law enforcement agencies on the basis of Article 317 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
But at present, in practice, another measure of restraint is being selected for such crimes.
Procedure
The death penalty according to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the procedure for its execution at the time of relevance were regulated by article 186 of the Penal Code of the Russian Federation. This law provides the algorithm, forms and order of execution. As a method of killing people, shooting was used. The procedure should be carried out within the walls of the penitentiary bodies, pre-trial detention centers or prisons. The direct executor, his position and initials remain confidential.
Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation providing for the death penalty also provide for the implementation of a court decision. The procedure involves a representative of the executive unit, the prosecutor and the doctor for examination. Upon execution of the sentence, a protocol is drawn up to which a death certificate is attached with the signature of the doctor. A copy of the documents is sent to the judicial authority that issued the verdict.
The burial of the body of the offender is carried out by government agencies. The body does not give out to loved ones. They will receive only a notification in the form of a copy of the protocol and death certificate.
Exceptions
After the new Criminal Code came into force in Russia, the number of especially serious crimes sharply declined. However, they are not completely eliminated. Currently, the death penalty is life imprisonment. As a pardon, a reduction of the term of serving up to 25 years is applied.
In world practice, various methods of killing criminals are used. For example, in America for a long time used an electric chair. In Russia and in the Soviet Union , only one method has always been used - shooting.
The exceptions are criminals under 18 and over 65 years old. The death penalty does not apply to women of any age. Citizens of other countries are also free from harsh punishment if, according to their law, the death penalty is not provided.
History
The death penalty was used in the Soviet Union. According to statistics, from 1960 to 1984, more than 13,500 court decisions were passed, where forced death was chosen as the punishment. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many members of the great power, including Russia, continued to live according to its laws. Consequently, the death penalty continued to operate.
From 1992 to 1999, the number of court decisions on the death penalty was 894. But only a small part, or rather, 163 of them, were put into effect.
Arguments against
Why is the death penalty under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation under a moratorium? There are reasonable factors. For example, everyone remembers one of the most high-profile crimes of the last century - the story of Chikatilo. According to the court’s decision regarding the serial killer, the death penalty was chosen as punishment, but instead another person by the name of Alexander Kravchenko was shot.
Mistakes in judicial practice are not uncommon. This happened in the case of Chikatilo. If in other types of judicial sentences it is possible to review the criminal case and bring to justice the true culprit, then in the case of the death penalty this is impossible.
World practice
Today, the death penalty is actively used in many countries: the United Arab Emirates, the United States, China, Iran and Iraq. Moreover, the range of crimes for which a person may lose his life is very wide. For example, under Chinese law, the death penalty can be punished for 68 types of crimes, including prostitution. Compared with these data, in Russia and the Soviet Union, more than four types of crimes are usually punishable under the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
With the UAE, everything is expected, since the country does not live according to secular laws, but according to the canons of the religion of Islam - according to Sharia, where rather severe penalties are defined. But the United States, despite promoting democratic principles in other countries, does not intend to abandon the killing of criminals in an electric chair by introducing lethal injections and putting them in gas chambers.