Institute of Criminal Liability of the Legal Entities as a New Stage of Development of the Criminal Law

The prerequisites for the formation of the Institute of criminal liability of legal entities are under consideration of present article. The author has assessed the current conditions which can affect this institute and has examined the role of this institution in common and civil systems of law. Preconditions of formation of this Institute of the criminal liability of legal entities can be as external, which consists of combining factors of formation of qualitatively new social relations, as internal, due to existing provisions of the Russian legislation. The first group of prerequisites is related to the development of social consciousness, complication of technological processes and economic relations, the processes of globalization. The second group includes the obligations caused by the state participation in international agreements, the norms of existing national legislation, defining characteristics of a legal entity, and existing elements of criminal-legal influence concerning legal entities in the criminal law. The author has noted that the existing provisions of the Russian legislation are not an obstacle to the introduction of this institute and concluded that further development of the Institute of criminal liability of legal entities in the domestic legislation related to the scientific rationale of its relationships to existing elements of the national legal system. In this context the presence of a social conditions is essential, such conditions can help to effective functioning of the mechanisms of self-regulation and control of legal entities.