Democratism as a principle of penal legislation: Relevance, legal nature, fundamental postulates

The article posits that the ideas enshrined in Article 8 of the Penal Code of the Russian Federation create a solid foundation for the entire penal mechanism of legal regulation of relevant social relations and shape the conceptual trajectory for the development of the penal policy of the Russian Federation. The reasons for the research and practical significance of the principle of democratism are outlined. The first reason is the highly ambiguous understanding of the principle of democratism within the scholarly community. The second reason lies in its rather imprecise linguistic-legal content. The third consists in its socially consolidating nature. The final reason is expressed in the fact that the idea under consideration is based on the fundamental socio-legal principles of transparency and openness, and refers to complex scientific-theoretical categories. The legal nature of this principle is revealed. The idea of democratism is a constitutional complex principle-legal provision of a regulatory nature and is partially related to the nationwide sphere. Three fundamental postulates forming the basis for understanding the principle of democratism are presented: 1) it is necessary to distinguish between the external and internal aspects of the manifestation of the principle of democratism; 2) it is highly sensitive to transformations in the surrounding social reality and its content is subject to constant change; 3) its implementation is associated with a shift from the retributive properties of criminal punishment to the consequentialist foundations of penal correctional influence and communicative mechanisms for the treatment of convicts. It is concluded that there are significant reserves for optimizing the application of the ideas of democratism in penal relations. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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