Commenting on distinction of minor acts (part 2 art. 14 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and other offenses

This research is devoted to the issue of distinction between minor acts (p. 2 of Art. 14 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and other offenses. As an example, the author analyzes the complexity of application Art. 256 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and p. 2 of Art. 8.37 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. During the research it becomes clear that population of the Russian Federation, including justice officials, does not perceive illegal fishing as a crime. In this regard, there are a lot of controversial issues considering ways of distinguishing an administrative offense from a criminally punishable act. Based on the results of the study, the author made an attempt to improve the legislation, specifically we propose to introduce the new concept of a “criminal offense” in order to bring the legislation in line with social and economic forces.