Age Gradation in the Criminal Law of the Soviet Period (1917–1991)

Abstract

The article features the formation and development of age gradations in the Soviet criminal law. The research covered various legal acts. e.g., Decrees of the Council of People's Commissars, Instructions, Decrees of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, etc. The analysis made it possible to identify the emergence of a two-stage age threshold for criminal liability. The Criminal Codes of the RSFSR (1922, 1926, 1960) and Soviet criminal legislation were studied for the legal regulation of both the age of the subject of crime and the age of the victim, as well as other actors who affected the crime typology and sentence. The author identified the maximal age threshold for criminal liability. This innovation appeared during war time and was applied to dodging conscription in production, construction, and agriculture, as well as to unauthorized absence from work, which were considered criminal liability. The article also features the historical dynamics of the age criminal responsibility.