On the Question of the Criminal Law and Criminological Concept of Recidivism

The concept of relapse, enshrined in the Russian criminal law, is subjected to scientific understanding and critical analysis. The characteristic of the essential signs of legal relapse is given, the opinions of various authors about their content are given. The conclusion is made about the desire of the legislator to narrow the scope of legal relapse. The definition of legal relapse has been formulated. The approaches to the study of criminological relapse, its correlation with criminal law relapse are noted, the essence and features of the study of relapse in criminology are determined. The analysis of the statistics of convicts, who at the time of conviction had removed and outstanding convictions and convicts who were found to have committed crimes in case of recidivism, were carried out. The data of official statistics of crime and convictions were compared, conclusions were drawn about the ratio of the proportion of legal and criminological recidivism in them, and conclusions were drawn about the insignificant volume of recidivism in the total aggregate of repeated crimes. Shows the reflection of information about the recidivism of crimes in criminal statistics - the number and proportion of persons who have previously committed crimes, as well as previously convicted. The analysis of the statistics of convicts who at the time of conviction had a removed and outstanding convictions and convicts recognized as having committed crimes upon recidivism was carried out. The data of the official statistics of crime and convictions were compared, conclusions were made about the ratio of the proportion of legal and criminological recidivism in them, and conclusions were drawn about the insignificant volume of recidivism in the total set of repeated crimes.