The "amortization" effect of inflationary processes in the imposition of criminal punishment: The example of penalties for theft.

The imposed punishment "amortizes" the depreciation of the criminal consequence and the attendant increase in the offense's criminalization level. This is supported by the following evidence. First, the share of imprisonment as a punishment is steadily declining, with courts increasingly imposing fines. Second, the amount of the fine specified in the sanction of Part 3, Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has remained unchanged since 2003, meaning its real value has also been subject to depreciation. This points to another avenue for amortizing the rising criminalization level of this offense: the reduction in the punitive potential of the fine. Third, within the segment of imposed imprisonment for this crime, there is a consistent trend towards shorter sentences. To test the hypothesis's validity, we attempted to determine whether these trends are general and inherent to other offenses as well. The available data do not refute the conclusions drawn. For instance, in 2010, 123 thousand individuals were sentenced to a fine, while in 2020, the number was only 61 thousand. Considering the overall decline in the number of convicted individuals, the proportion of those sentenced to a fine in the conviction structure decreased by 2.99% over ten years. Regarding imprisonment, shorter sentences are occupying an increasingly significant place in the overall punishment structure for crimes. However, for offenses with non-indexed consequences, as in the case of Part 3, Article 158 of the Criminal Code, such growth is significantly more pronounced. For example, while the overall share of imprisonment sentences of up to 1 year increased from 12% to 22% between 2009 and 2023, for the examined offense, it grew from 4% to 25%. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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