ABOUT THE PROBLEM OF ENSURING THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY IN THE CRIMINAL CODE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The article raises the problem of ensuring the principle of equality in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The author of the article adheres to the position that the principle of universal equality (equality before the law) is one of the main postulates of a democratic, law governed state which all modern civilized countries seek to build. However, the analysis of Russian criminal law provisions suggests that this principle is violated in it, despite the fact that the fundamental basis of this Code is its adherence to the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the universally recognized norms of international law which oblige Russia to respect and ensure the principle of equality in all public relations. This conclusion is substantiated by a comparative analysis of sanctions involving criminal liability for crimes committed against ordinary citizens, persons with powers (officials) and against those having management positions. For example, if the sanction of Article116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides imprisonment for a period of up to two years, Part1, Article117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - imprisonment for a period of up to three years, Putt, Article 127 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - imprisonment for a period of up to two years, then the sanction of Putt, Article 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - imprisonment for a period of up to five years. The sanction Part1, Article 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides imprisonment for a period of up to eight years, Putt, Article 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - imprisonment for a period of up to three years, Part1, Article 115 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not prescribe punishment in the form of imprisonment, it depends Part 2, Article 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation at all - imprisonment for a period of up to ten years. If the sanction of Part1, Article 334 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation prescribes punishment as imprisonment for a period of up to five years, then the sanction of Part1, Article 335 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - up to three years of isolation from society. The author of article comes to a conclusion that allocation of certain members of society (in particular, authorities, the commanding staff of military personnel) as independent objects of criminal legal protection with a more strict measures of the state reaction for infringement of their rights and freedoms in comparison with other (ordinary) citizens indicates violation by the Russian criminal law of the principle of equality enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and which is one of main signs of a law governed state and this situation is, in our opinion, inadmissible. This contradiction can be eliminated in two ways:l. Exclude from the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of any legal privileges for certain representatives of the society having authority and governing powers; 2. Amend Part1, Article 9 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, presenting it in the following edition: "Everyone is equal before the law and the courts, except certain categories of citizens, specified in relevant federal law". The second sentence is hardly realizable under conditions of building a democratic, law governed state in Russia. Therefore, only the first is left.