Conditions of criminalization and decriminalization of acts

It is almost impossible to change the criminal law relying only on "common sense", i.e. on the everyday consciousness. The scientific literature suggests that a condition for criminalization is the deviation of certain forms of behavior, i.e. the most dangerous deviant acts should be protected under the threat of criminal punishment. However, deviance is an unclear category both in the consciousness of society and in the minds of lawmakers. The main issue of criminalization and decriminalization of acts is the question of how, on the basis of objective social processes, to define the very need in the criminal law and its specific content. The main point in the study of this problem is to set the determinants of the establishment (or canceling) of criminal prohibitions, their conditions, first of all. The difficulty is manifested in a large variety of approaches to the identification or definition of the terms of criminalization and decriminalization of acts. The researchers share an understanding that the basis of the process of criminalization and decriminalization of acts is multi-factorial dependence. The article notes that changes in legislation are always associated with corresponding changes in the economy, politics, and social life of the community. Condition is the first determinant of the processes of criminalization and decriminalization of acts. The article states that the reasons can lie outside the social conditionality of the criminal law. The article gives examples of such causes.

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