A new concept of criminal policy in the field of protection of Russia’s national security
Authors:   Association of Lawyers of Russia, Dolgiev Magomed M. ,   APC Dolakovsky
Published: October 2024

In this article, the author examines the criminal policy of the Russian Federation in the field of national security protection in the context of the special military operation. The latest changes to criminal legislation, as well as Federal Law No. 270-FZ dated June 24, 2023, On the Specifics of Criminal Liability of Persons Involved in the Special Military Operation, are analyzed. Over the past two years, due to the current socio-political situation in the world, the criminal legislation of the Russian Federation has been rapidly updated with a list of norms related to ensuring the security of the state and its sovereignty, as well as protecting the national interests of the country. The “military” amendments to the criminal law were caused by the need to adapt criminal legislation to the modern realities of de facto wartime. In this regard, it also became necessary to form a new concept of criminal policy in the specified conditions. The methodological basis of the research is the application of general scientific and specific scientific methods of cognition, including historical and formal legal ones. The author concludes that the contemporary concept of criminal policy in the field of protection of national interests should be based on an ideological component, and countering attacks on national security should be based on a uniform terminological basis. The concept of contemporary criminal policy in the field of national security protection in military conditions must be based on the placement of the correct accents of its functioning in the future. This means that superficially researched yet, despite this, adopted changes in criminal and criminal procedure legislation in the future may be a problem for other more global areas of public policy. In this regard, the author points out that the legislator must immediately respond to phenomena that form acutely negative sentiments in society, increase the crime rate and infringe on the fundamental norms of morality and the rule of law. Such a concept should take into account the positive results of many years of experience in criminal law impact on crime and optimize criminal justice, since it is justice that is a factor in the realization of a citizen’s right to protection from criminal encroachments. The author states that the public danger of persons convicted and pardoned in connection with the special military operation is not reduced, the prerequisites for this are not presented in the future, and the goals of punishment provided for by criminal law are not achieved. Recognition of problems and, as a result, their relief will allow the state to declare and consolidate the fundamental theses about the need to ensure the security not only of state sovereignty, but also the security of man and citizen as a result of decisions taken by the state. The strategic goal of the new concept of national security protection should consist of several main elements: first of all, it is the unconditional protection of statehood, economic relations and the optimal protection of society as a whole and each citizen individually from criminal encroachments. Only taking into account all the main components, the principles of criminal policy will correspond to the concept of the legal state, legality and the rule of law.