The principle of equality of citizens before the law
Article 4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
Persons who have committed crimes are equal before the law and are subject to criminal liability regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, property and official status, place of residence, attitude to religion, beliefs, membership in public associations, as well as other circumstances.
The principle of equality follows from Art. 19 of the Constitution of Russia (equality regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, property and official status, place of residence, attitude to religion, beliefs and other circumstances).
The criminal law must ensure equal protection of objects of equal social significance.
This principle is manifested in the establishment of:
1) the same grounds and limits of criminal liability,
2) the same grounds for exemption from criminal liability and punishment,
3) equal criteria for individualization of applied criminal law measures,
4) the same conditions for paying off the criminal legal consequences of a criminal record.
Establishing criminal liability for any act only for a strictly defined group of persons (for example, for officials) is not recognized as discrimination.
Principle of equality:
1) does not interfere with the differentiation of criminal liability depending on the personality characteristics of the person who committed the crime (such differentiation is a manifestation of the principle of justice and humanism);
2) the establishment of a special procedure for bringing certain categories of persons (deputies, judges, etc.) to criminal liability is not considered a violation of the principle of equality.
Principle of guilt
Article 5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
- A person is subject to criminal liability only for those socially dangerous actions (inaction) and socially dangerous consequences for which his guilt has been established.
- Objective imputation, that is, criminal liability for innocent causing of harm, is not allowed.
The presence of guilt is a general and generally accepted principle of legal liability in all branches of law.
The principle of guilt in criminal law is that no one can bear criminal liability unless his personal guilt in relation to a socially dangerous act and the resulting consequences has been established.
- Only individuals are subject to criminal liability, and among them only those who have consciousness and will.
- Responsibility is possible only if there is a person’s mental attitude to the committed act and its consequences expressed in the form of intent or negligence - subjective imputation.
- The principle of guilt predetermines the personal nature of responsibility under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - personalization of responsibility excludes the concept of a collective subject of a crime.
The principle of guilt prohibits objective imputation - the onset of criminal liability for innocent causing of harm.
Principle of legality
Article 3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
- The criminality of an act, as well as its punishability and other criminal legal consequences, are determined only by this Code.
- Application of criminal law by analogy is not allowed.
The main provision of the principle of legality: there is no crime and no punishment without indication in the law (NULLum crimen, NULLum poena sine lege), i.e.:
1) only the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation determines which acts are considered criminal;
2) the punishability of an act is determined by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (the code provides an exhaustive list of types of punishment with a precise indication of the conditions and limits of its application).
From a formal point of view, the essence of the principle of legality is to ensure that the signs of a crime are recorded in the federal law (Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), to prevent the establishment of criminality and punishability of an act - and therefore restrictions on constitutional rights - in regulatory legal acts of the executive branch.
