On further transformation of Chapter 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Criminal law of the Russian Federation protecting social relations in the sphere of economic activity was considerably amended and changed from June to November 2013. Both dispositions and sanctions of Articles 174, 174.1, 193, 194 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (CC RF) were subject to amendments under Federal law of 28 June 2013. Simultaneously due to the law of CC RF, Article 193.1 was supplemented with establishing the responsibility for «exchange transference in foreign currency or currency of the RF to the accounts of non-residents with counterfeited documents», and Article 200.1 with the responsibility for «cash resources and instruments smuggling» decriminalized in accordance with Federal Law No. 420 of 7 December 2011. The dispositions and sanctions of Articles 184, 189, 190 of CC RF were also greatly changed on the ground of Federal laws of 23 July 2013 and of 2 November 2013. Despite the changes and supplements in the legal rules, the problem of development of these rules as well as other criminal and legal rules protecting social relations in the sphere of economic activity was not solved in a complete form. In particular, some current gaps in the dispositions of Articles 189, 190 of CC RF were not entirely removed. With the changes in law, Articles 173.1, 173.2, 178 of CC RF aimed at combating short-lived companies and encroachment on competition have not been changed. The necessity in changes of the rules is supported by jurists as well as practitioners. Moreover, in the result of the changes criminal injunction on combating «financial pyramids» has not been introduced in spite of the fact that theorists and practitioners have always been in favor of its necessary introduction. The further transformation of national criminal law protecting social relations in the sphere of economic activity must be expressed not only by criminalization of new acts and changes in the dispositions of current criminal law rules establishing the responsibility for commission of indicated crimes, but also by bringing changes into sanctions of these rules for liberalization of the sanctions. As far as jurists and practitioners are concerned, in the social and economic conditions today punishment for commission of crimes of this kind must be imposed without custodial sentence. In these social and economic conditions decriminalization should not be excluded for some acts the legal responsibility for which is laid down by the rules of Chapter 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

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