Several problems of imposition of punishment for illegal drug trafficking with the use of electronic or telecommunication networks

The aim of this work is to explore the impact of particular characteristics of a person guilty of illegal drug trafficking with the use of electronic or telecommunication networks (including Internet) on the imposition of punishment. The author uses a system structural method, a system functional method, a formal method, a comparative legal method, a sociological method to find a solution for this problem. Illegal drug trafficking with the use of electronic or telecommunication networks (including Internet), due to the possibility of a considerable expansion of criminal drug selling, raises objectively the level of public danger of this crime. Thus, there is a question on the formation of a balanced criminal policy which concerns the reporting of an offender's personality. The solution of the problem of a fair imposition of criminal punishment depends primarily on the inclusion of the criminal's personality social role-based block into its description, and on recording the corresponding qualities in practice. A conclusion is doubtful that to impose a fair punishment it is necessary to consider such personal traits as nationality, views, beliefs, attitude to the authorities. In this article, a set of circumstances of personal character, which should be considered in case of an imposition of criminal punishment for drug trafficking with the use of electronic or telecommunication networks, and directions of further research of the problem are given. The author comes to the following conclusions. (1) The general principles of imposition of punishment are most clearly followed in criminal sentencing of persons who organized and committed crimes. (2) Mitigating circumstances were taken into account by the court over crimes where the amount of drug trafficking was not so considerable. (3) Courts insufficiently take into account the circumstance of a person's addiction to drugs. (4) Differences in the influence of "satisfactory" and "positive" characteristics on the punishment appear more often than differences in this influence of positive and negative characteristics of a guilty person. (5) Under mitigating circumstances, such circumstances as previous convictions, repeated offences, including special repeated offences, do not result in a more severe punishment in comparison with punishment imposed to other convicts under mitigating circumstances. (6) It is difficult enough to analyse the consideration by the court of the circumstance, mentioned in Article 60 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: impact of the punishment on the life conditions of the criminal's family, because in its social meaning it is close to the circumstance of having underage children. (7) It is extremely rare for the court to impose penalty fine as an additional measure of punishment.

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