UDC

343.241.2

Authors

Stroganova Oksana Leonidovna
Postgraduate Student, P.G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University (Yaroslavl, Russia)

Abstract

The paper considers the main theoretical aspects related to the concept and content of the principles of sentencing decisions and provides opinions of scholars on their scope and correlation with each other. Taking into account the existing opinions, the author points out the peculiarities of sentencing principles and studies the “mechanism of fair sentencing”, based on them. The author analyzes the principle of fairness through two dialectically opposite aspects – equalizing and distributing ones – as well as its relation to the principle of legality. Considering that the limits of judicial discretion are defined by the law, the author studies the relationship between the principles of legality and practicability. The author finds that practicability is included in the principle of parsimony of criminal sentencing, which states that a court should impose a less severe sentence required to meet the purposes of sentencing. At the same time, the principle of parsimony is a concrete representation of humanism, making the judge be lenient to some degree when sentencing. The author concludes that the principles of sentencing make up a certain system whose elements are interrelated and acting in unity.

Keywords

principle of sentencing, sentencing, fairness, rationality, legality, humanism, parsimony

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