Interpretation and law enforcement issues of voluntary renunciation of crime

The institution of voluntary renunciation of a crime is an important element of law enforcement practice, providing citizens with the opportunity to stop criminal activity of one’s own free will and avoid criminal liability for the committed act. However, implementation of this institution faces a number of unresolved issues, which leads to violations of constitutional human rights and freedoms. Within the framework of a systematic approach based on the use of an analytical method of research, as well as the analysis of normative legal acts and scientific literature, the author reveals that it is necessary to unify law enforcement practice on the norms implementation of the Russian Federation Criminal Code on voluntary renunciation of a crime. For uniform implementation of this legal institution, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation should analyze specific examples of disputable criminal cases. This will make it possible to identify and eliminate possible gaps and contradictions in the interpretation and implementation of this norm. It is necessary for the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to give detailed recommendations on the conditions of the institution implementation on the examples of particular criminal-law situations, in which it can be used to decide whether to prosecute a person or not in criminal legal relations. This will help to ensure uniform interpretation and implementation of this norm by law enforcers. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation can formalize these recommendations into Plenum resolutions, generalizing the practices of the Supreme Court and lower courts to improve the understanding and practical application of voluntary renunciation of a crime.