The ranking of punishment according to the Christian faith
Abstract
The article examined the Christian faith as a fundamental principle of ranking punishments in European civilization. Spiritual values were described as criteria for the differentiation of punishments. The principles of punishment, which have moral effects on the convicted person were formulated. Also the purposes of punishment in the Old and New Testament and the differences between them were revealed. It was concluded that external phenomena which determine punishment appearance, size and conditions are more important than punishment itself. It is the scale of values preached by Christianity for our society and the state. It was proved that deprivation of freedom of the convicted person have to be proportional to the amount of all the sufferings of the victim, which it suffered as a result of the offense. It is proved that Christian values are the primary source of ranking punishment in European criminal law culture. In today’s national criminal legislation, the protection of a great number of basic socio-constituent values is established. However, article revealed that this kind of protection is in the Christian-neutral space, and it shows its lack of effectiveness. Also the principles of punishment according to the Christian doctrine, which are helping to base the moral influence on the sinner and to regulate public relations in conflict situations were formulated.
References
- The 1994 Constitution of the Republic of Belarus (with ammendments and additions, adopted 24 November 1996 and 17 October 2004). Minsk, 2005 (in Russ.).
- The criminal code of the Republic of Belarus adopted by the House of representatives June 2, 1999 : s. Council Resp. June 24, 1999 : signed by the President of the Republic of Belarus of 9 July, 1999, No. 275-З : by the Law of the Republic of Belarus from 20.04.2016, No. 358- З (Rev. and ext., with effect from 01.07.2016). Etalon-Belarus [Electronic resource]. Natl. center for legal inf. of the Rep. of Belarus. Minsk, 2016 (in Russ.).
- Khristianstvo [Christianity] [Electronic resource]. Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia. URL: http://ru.wikipedia.org/?oldid=79508897 (date of access: 11.07.2016) (in Russ.).
- Kalinin S. A. Pravo i khristianstvo. In: Abramovich V. A., Vasilevich G. A., Vershok I. L., et al. Obshchaya teoriya prava [General theory of law]. Ed. by S. G. Drobyazko, S. A. Kalinin. Minsk, 2013. P. 47–52 (in Russ.).
- Khristianskoe uchenie o prestuplenii i nakazanii [Christian teachings about crime and punishment]. Ed. by K. V. Garabet, A. A. Tolkachenko. Mosc., 2009 (in Russ.).
