Humanization of punishment. Evolution of the concept in drafts of normative legal documents of the XVIIIth and early XIXth centuries in Russia

Abstract

The article analyses how ideas concerning punishment fulfillment were developing in legislative proposals of normative legal documents of the XVIIIth and early XIXth centuries. The author emphasises the fact that despite the declared humanism, all legislative proposals under examination still considered death penalty as the principal punishment. Nevertheless some modification of the capital punishment did take place: whereas early in the XVIIIth century there were specified two formats of death penalty (ordinary and qualified), the Draft of the Criminal Code of 1813 lists only an ordinary death penalty. Analysis of historic processes and punishment conceptions that are set forth in legislative proposals of the XVIIIth and early XIXth centuries allowed the author to predict further development of domestic legislation in the field of penal sanctions.