Controversial issues of criminal liability and sentencing of persons with mental disorders 

Andrei V. Yashin, Doctor of juridical sciences, associate professor, professor of the sub-department of law enforcement, Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), E-mail: andrej.yaschin@yandex.ru 

Background. Crimes committed by persons suffering from mental disorders that do not exclude sanity differ significantly from other socially dangerous acts in their subjective characteristics. It is not uncommon for persons with mental illness to commit rather cruel and dangerous assaults. At the same time, some authors propose to recognize the state of mental disorder as a circumstance mitigating punishment, which does not always seem justified. An analysis of scientific sources on the issues under consideration indicates the absence of a consensus regarding the court taking into account the mental state of the defendant when sentencing and applying coercive medical measures to him, which emphasizes the relevance of this article. The purpose of the work is to develop recommendations that allow the most optimal use of the means of criminal law in relation to persons with mental disorders who have committed criminal offenses. Materials and methods. The article used normative legal acts and scientific works on the problem under study. The methodological basis was the universal dialectical method of cognition. Also, when preparing the article, the following methods were implemented: logical, formal-legal, deduction and in-duction, expert assessments. Results. Various points of view of scientists regarding the prosecution of persons suffering from mental disorders and the imposition of punishment against them are considered. Conclusions. Based on the results obtained, proposals were made to change the domestic criminal legislation and recommendations were developed on the use of coercive measures of a medical nature, combined with sentencing. 

criminal liability, sentencing, crime, mental disorder, sanity, compulsory medical measures, extenuating circumstances, criminal behavior 

Yashin A.V. Controversial issues of criminal liability and sentencing of persons with mental disorders. Izvestiya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedeniy. Povolzhskiy region. Obshchestvennye nauki = University proceedings. Volga region. Social sciences. 2022;(2): 152–158. (In Russ.). doi:10.21685/2072-3016-2022-2-14