Larionova L.N. Genesis of Mitigating and Aggravating Circumstances in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/lc.jvolsu.2026.1.4
Larisa N. Larionova, Candidate of Sciences (Jurisprudence), Associate Professor, Department of Criminal Law and Procedure, Volgograd State University, Prosp. Universitetsky, 100, 400062, Volgograd, Russian Federation, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8243-1167
Introduction: the norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation regulating mitigating and aggravating circumstances have undergone numerous changes, although the main postulates of the doctrine of these circumstances have generally remained unshakable. The changes were mostly related to the lists of mitigating and aggravating circumstances, which were adjusted, supplemented, and even excluded from the Criminal Code. These processes require comprehension, systematization, determination of the correctness and validity of legislative decisions, both for the system of mitigating and aggravating circumstances as a whole and for their specific varieties, which constitutes the purpose of the analysis undertaken in the paper. The research methodology is based on the traditional techniques of system-structural analysis, formal logic, and historical-legal comparison. As a result of the conducted research, all innovations in the regulation of mitigating and aggravating circumstances that have occurred over 30 years are systematized, and considerations are expressed regarding the legal nature and properties of these criminal law categories. Conclusions: among the legislative transformations of interest to us, the clarification of the wording of individual circumstances leads (50% of all changes); 45% are associated with the expansion of the list of aggravating circumstances, and one – with its removal from the latter. In addition, a conditionally aggravating circumstance, which is facultative for consideration, is added to the system of unconditionally and unambiguously aggravating circumstances. The legal nature of the circumstances under consideration is revealed through their consideration as part of the circumstances of the case characterizing the crime and the criminal, and their properties imply unambiguity, unconditionality, and obligatory influence, exceptions from which should be stipulated directly in the Criminal Code.
Key words: sentencing, mitigating circumstances, aggravating circumstances, crime, personality of the guilty.
Citation. Larionova L.N. Genesis of Mitigating and Aggravating Circumstances in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Legal Concept = Pravovaya paradigma, 2026, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 32-37. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/lc.jvolsu.2026.1.4
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