On Bridging Gaps in the Penal Legislation of Russia

Bridging gaps implies the activity of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in creating necessary penal norms by amending the Penal Code of the Russian Federation and other federal laws. It stems from the meaning of Paragraph "o" Art. 71 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, under which this branch, along with the criminal and criminal procedural ones, is assigned to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and, therefore, can include exclusively federal laws, while laws or regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are not allowed. However, bridging the gaps involves the activities of authorized law-making federal bodies that go beyond their competence in adopting the norms necessary for regulating penal relations in a sub-legislative normative legal act. Thus, the final elimination of gaps in the penal legislation requires from the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to adopt a corresponding penal norm in the Penal Code of the Russian Federation, without violating its architectonics and general provisions (subject matter, principles, etc.). Neither decisions of the judicial authorities of Russia nor regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation can be used to eliminate or bridge the gaps in the penal legislation. The opposite would mean a violation of the principle of legality in the execution of criminal sentences.

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