Criminal Law

the branch of law whose rules define which acts are recognized as socially dangerous (that is, as crimes), the measures of punishment for the commission of such acts, and the conditions for imposing punishment.

Soviet criminal law is designed to prevent criminal infringement on the Soviet social and state structure, the health and the legally protected interests of Soviet citizens, and socialist property. The fundamental principles that determine the entire content of Soviet criminal law were formulated in the first years of the Soviet state with the direct participation of V. I. Lenin.

Soviet criminal law is imbued with the spirit of socialist legality. This means primarily that criminal responsibility accrues only to a specific, socially dangerous act (a crime) covered by criminal law (that is, an act whose characteristics coincide with the formal elements of a crime) in a manner established by criminal and criminal procedural legislation.

Soviet criminal law embodies the principle of socialist humanism. The principle is expressed in the refusal to use punishment as a means of retribution, in the subordination of punishment to the goal of correction and reeducation of convicted persons, in the possibility of early release (including conditional early release) from punishment, and in the permissibility in specific cases of releasing individuals from criminal responsibility and punishment and the application of measures of social influence. Socialist humanism is also manifested in the defense of the interests of society, which requires the undeviating application of strict punishment to persons who have committed crimes against the foundations of the Soviet order, serious crimes against individuals, and crimes against peace and mankind.

The rules of Soviet criminal law are contained in all-Union and republic criminal legislation.

Soviet criminal law as a system of legal norms is divided into a general and a special part. The general part formulates general rules of criminal responsibility. It defines a crime as a socially dangerous act (action or inaction) infringing on the Soviet social or state order; the socialist system of economy; socialist property; the person of individuals; or the political, labor, property, or other rights of citizens. Other socially dangerous activities infringing on the socialist legal order may also be defined as crimes, as provided for by criminal legislation. The general part of criminal law also includes rules defining the form and content of guilt, circumstances excluding criminal liability (nonimputability, necessary defense, and extreme necessity), and the procedure and conditions for criminal responsibility for preparation for a crime, attempt, and complicity in the commission of a crime. A separate place in the general part of criminal law is given to the characterization of the purposes and types of punishment and the rules for imposition of and release from punishment.

The rules of the special part of criminal law are contained in the criminal code. They define which specific socially dangerous acts are crimes and establish the corresponding punishments for the commission of such crimes. The object of criminal infringement is taken into account when responsibility is established for various types of crimes.

The criminal codes of all Union republics first establish responsibility for crimes against the state. Responsibility is then established for other crimes in the following order: crimes against socialist ownership; crimes against the life, health, freedom, and dignity of the person; crimes against political and labor rights of citizens; crimes against personal ownership of citizens; economic crimes; official crimes; crimes against justice; crimes against the system of administration; crimes against public security, public order, and health of the population; crimes constituting survivals of local customs; and military crimes. The nature and social danger of an act are taken into account when measures for punishment for a given crime are established.

The criminal law of foreign socialist states is built upon principles and general rules in common with Soviet criminal law. Criminal codes are in effect in all socialist countries; they define the general principles of criminal law and establish the measures of punishment for specific crimes.

In modern bourgeois states criminal law is one of the means used to support and strengthen capitalist social relations. In many countries the criminal laws provide strict responsibility for participation in revolutionary and national liberation movements and for membership in Communist parties and democratic organizations.

In contradistinction to socialist criminal law, legal doctrine and legislation in bourgeois countries permit establishment of criminal responsibility for certain minor crimes without proof of fault, that is, merely by virtue of a violation of the law; examples are “purely material” crimes in France and the institution of strict liability in Anglo-American law. The criminal legislation of a number of capitalist states, besides providing punishment for specific crimes committed, also permits “security measures” to be taken against persons declared to be “dangerous to society.” In Northern Ireland, for example, the British government uses this right to intern for an indeterminate period, without investigation or court hearing, both participants in the struggle for civil rights and members of reactionary groups.

The basic source of criminal law in most capitalist states is a criminal code; however, rules establishing criminal sanctions for crimes are also contained in various acts of legislative and executive authority and in decrees by municipal bodies. One of the oldest criminal codes still in effect in a capitalist state is the criminal code established in France in 1810, which received its last major reform between 1958 and 1960. Imbued with the ideas of the classical school of criminal law, it has served as a model in the promulgation of the criminal codes of many Western European, African, and Latin American countries. In the Federal Republic of Germany a new general part of the country’s criminal code was put into effect on Jan. 1, 1975, but the special part of the 1871 criminal code of the German Empire continues in effect (with substantial corrections and additions). In Great Britain there is no criminal code, and questions of criminal responsibility are regulated by separate legislative acts, such as the 1957 law on homicide, the criminal law of 1967, and the 1968 law on theft.

In the USA the federal criminal code of 1907 regulates responsibility only for certain crimes; it is supplemented by the criminal codes and laws of individual states. The provisions of these codes differ significantly with respect to the definition of individual crimes and their punishments and the general range of punishable acts.