Extrajudicial Forms of Protecting Rights and Freedoms of a Person in the Field of Criminal Law Relations: Conceptual Aspects and Improvement of State Response

Abstract

The article describes the conceptual basis for a new special research theory — extrajudicial forms of protecting rights and freedoms of a person in the field of criminal law relations. The authors introduce the concept of these forms and their system consisting of legal and non-legal forms of such protection. It is concluded that the reaction of the state to the implementation of legal extrajudicial forms of protecting rights and freedoms of a person in the field of criminal law relations should be improved with the purpose of ensuring greater justice when making decisions on criminal prosecution for the self-defense of the legal status of a person in the analyzed sphere of relations. The authors offer a number of suggestions on changes and amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that would improve the effectiveness of this reaction. On the other hand, non-legal forms of self-defense in the field of criminal law relations should be prevented. The authors present a list of factors determining the existence of these forms in the Russian society, some of which, due to certain circumstances both in the past and present period of the deve­lopment of Russian state and society, have an «excusable» character. These factors include both global (the spread of various discrimination practices, ideas of extremism and religious radicalism; the escalation of violence) and national factors (historical predetermination of state and public development; features of cultural development of the Russian society; specifics of the implementation of state policy and public administration activities; drawbacks of criminal law regulation of social processes and law enforcement activities; destructive practices of social relations; moral and psychological state of the society; influence of propaganda; defective educational and pedagogical influences, etc.). The authors also present a system of preventive measures aimed at eradicating non-legal forms of the analyzed extrajudicial protection. This system includes measures of developing a state reaction to crimes that would correspond to social expectations, ensuring a greater strictness of criminal law, unavoidability of prosecution, as well as measures of moral rehabilitation of the Russian society, raising the level of its legal conscience and culture. The authors suggest the introduction of a norm that establishes criminal liability for usurping the power of the court connected with the administration of justice.