Criminal-legal significance of minority of the injured as an aggravating circumstance

The article considers the criminal law significance of signs of infancy and minority of the victim as an aggravating circumstance in the criminal legislation of the Russian Federation. Thus, the subject of research is the social relations that characterize the named circumstance. As part of the work, the author studies various doctrinal approaches to the definition of the concepts of "juvenile" and "minor" in the context of the issues under consideration. In addition, the study touches upon the law enforcement problems of taking into account the infancy and minority of the victim when qualifying a socially dangerous act. The author notes that the inclusion of the minority of the victim among the circumstances under consideration is dictated by the special danger of the person committing such an attack, his inhumanity, the baseness of the motives that prompt him to commit a crime. By analyzing the legal framework, statistical data and provisions of the theory of criminal law, controversial and problematic aspects of the application of the norms of the current criminal legislation in the context of taking into account the minor age of the victim as an aggravating circumstance are revealed. The paper notes that these signs affect the nature and degree of public danger of a crime, differentiating responsibility, being important for qualifying a criminal act and imposing a just punishment. The author proposes recommendations for changing the current criminal law in the relevant part. The author notes that the proposed changes will make it possible to improve the process of individualization of the punishment imposed on the guilty, and will also allow an objective assessment of the degree of public danger of the deed when the court decides the sentence.

punishment, circumstances, victim, juvenile, minor, sentencing, criminal, age, qualification, criminal law