Defects in Judicial Practice in Changing the Category of Crime

The author analyzes the acts of the courts of first, appellate and cassation instances and identifies shortcomings regarding the application of Part 6 of Art. 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It is noted that all defects should be divided into several groups: 1) inadequate, incomplete justification for decisions to change the category of crime or to refuse it; 2) lack of motivation for such decisions; 3) ignoring the consideration of the issue of changing the category of crime; 4) violation of the procedure for changing the category of crime; 5) imposing a court fine after changing the category of the crime; 6) changing the category of crime in the presence of formal obstacles; 7) failure to take into account changes in consequences following a change in the category of crime; 8) taking into account the same circumstances when applying Part 6 of Art. 15 and Art. 64, 73 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation; 9) other errors (in particular, discussion of the issue of changing the category of a crime of minor gravity). The explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation are assessed and proposals are put forward to improve law enforcement practice.