HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTION OF EXEMPTION FROM PUNISHMENT DUE TO DISEASE

Abstract

The article provides a retrospective analysis of the institution of exemption from punishment due to disease in the Ukrainian lands under the author’s periodization (preconditions, foundation, formation, and current situation). It is emphasized that the historical development of the institution of exemption from punishment due to disease should be considered from the emergence of the preconditions for its emergence, i.e. from the time of the imperial expansion of the territory of Ukraine in the XIX century. The preconditions and the foundation of the institute were developed “evolutionary” due to the difficulties of medical care, impossibility of labor activity by convicts and the development of humanistic principles in criminal law. The criminal legislation of Austria-Hungary, the Russian Empire, and Soviet Ukraine is analyzed. The diminished responsibility institution proved the reason for preconditions emergence of the institution of exemption from punishment due to disease. The institute’s origins are associated with the development of Soviet criminal law, particularly during the war (World War II) and the postwar period. The establishment of the institution of exemption from punishment due to disease took place in the Soviet period as a criminal procedure institution (since 1960). The current development period of the institute of exemption from punishment due to disease is directly related to the coming into force of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The current regulations of the institute of exemption from punishment due to disease fully reproduce the logic and sequence of its development. The findings will be useful to the scientific community in conducting further research, taking into account the peculiarities of the development of the institute of exemption from punishment due to disease. It emphasizes the importance of implementing a thorough scientific study of the institute of exemption from punishment due to disease for further legislative drafting activities.