Sabotage: the Soviet Experience of Legal Regulation of Criminal Liability

Through the comprehensive study of Soviet criminal laws, resolutions of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, resolutions of the Plenum of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, as well as the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in current and previous editions, the article examines the Soviet and modern Russian experience in the legal regulation of criminal liability for sabotage, sabotage and sabotage. In the modern world, in the context of increasing international and interstate conflicts (including military conflicts), the number of crimes encroaching on the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the state (especially acts of sabotage) is sharply increasing. Official statistics on the number of people convicted of a crime under Article 281 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation confirm this thesis. This makes it necessary to study the criminal law regulation of criminal liability for sabotage and related acts in the historical aspect. This may allow us to suggest ways to improve the current legislation, which will make it possible to more effectively counteract such crimes. The article distinguishes between such phenomena as sabotage, subversion and wrecking. Based on a comparative analysis, the authors propose to improve the current criminal legislation (in particular, by criminalizing sabotage). In the course of the research, a set of different methods was used, including methods of analysis, induction and deduction, formal legal and comparative legal. The research results are both theoretical and practical. The proposals of the authors can be used by the legislator in terms of improving the current criminal legislation. The discussion of the considered issues will make it possible to draw the attention of the legislator to the development of solutions to further improve the regulation of criminal law counteraction to encroachments on the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the state.