Constitutional Principles of Spiritual and Moral Values Protection under Criminal Law

The formation of a system of criminal law protection of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values can be considered as an actual and independent direction of the criminal policy of the State. Its legitimacy and effectiveness are directly determined by the degree of implementation of constitutional standards and principles of regulation of criminal law relations in the normative and law enforcement decisions adopted by the State. The constitutionalization of criminal policy in the field of protection of traditional values requires not only compliance with general principles: the use of criminal law as a last resort, proportionality, legal certainty, justice, differentiation of responsibility, humanism, etc. It necessarily involves solving the difficult task of specifying other, meaningfully specific principles of the embodiment of traditional values in legislation and practice of its application in the field of criminal law regulation. Among such principles, ensuring constitutional identity, balance of constitutional values, and solidarity of society are of primary importance. The first principle is embodied, in particular, in Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in the differentiation of criminal liability for sexual acts against minors, depending on the type of this action (Parts 1 and 2 of Articles 134 of the Criminal Code). Articles 354.1, 144.1–145.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation can serve as examples of the normative consolidation of the solidarity of the society. In turn, the search for a balance of constitutional values is carried out at all stages of the creation and application of a criminal law norm, taking into account specific historical conditions and based on ideas about constitutional identity.

1. Bosholov SS, Maximov SV. Criminal law policy: experience, problems and ways of improvement. Prologue: Law Journal. 2018;3:8-18. (In Russ.).

2. Chervonyuk VI, Artyukhov YuS. Solidarity as the basis of general civil consent — the paradigm of modern constitutional development. Law and the State: Theory and Practice. 2023;10(226):92-95. (In Russ.).

3. Filimonov VD. The protective function of criminal law. St. Petersburg: Yuridicheskiy Tsentr-Press Publ.; 2003. (In Russ.).

4. Galyashina EI, Bogatyrev KM. The concept of «traditional russian spiritual and moral values» in the context of ensuring media security on the Internet. Lex russica. 2022;75(10):138-151. (In Russ.).

5. Khabrieva TYa. Stages and main directions of constitutionalization of russian legislation annotation. Journal of Constitutional Justice. 2013;6:25-30. (In Russ.).

6. Naumov AV. Constitutional foundations of criminal law protection of human and civil rights and freedoms. In: Komissarov VS (ed.). Constitutional foundations of criminal law: Proceedings of the Ist All-Russian Congress on Criminal Law. Moscow: Prospekt Publ.; 2006. (In Russ.).

7. Pavlov VI. Constitutional identity and the rule of law as two different paradigms of modern constitutionalism. Pravo.by. 2022;5(79):36-42. (In Russ.).

8. Podolyan DA. The formation of the doctrine of constitutional identity. North Caucasus Legal Vestnik. 2017;4:94100. (In Russ.).

9. Shalamova AN. Constitutional principle of social solidarity: theoretical and legal analysis. Altai Law Journal. 2023;3(43):73-78. (In Russ.).

10. Troitskaya AA. Constitutional identity and where to find it. Moscow University Bulletin. Series 11. Law. 2023;2:1223. (In Russ.).

11. Umnova-Konyukhova IA, Aleshkova IA. The principle of solidarity in the post-industrial society: content peculiarities and development tendencies. Public International and Private International Law. 2021;1:3-7. (In Russ.).

12. Zorkin VD. Public trust and its role in the functioning of the legal system. Available at: https://www.ksrf.ru/ru/News/Speech/Pages/ViewItem.aspx?ParamId=59 [Accessed 15.01.2024].