Disadvantages of Judicial Interpretation of the Concept of a First-Time Offender

Abstract

It is shown that the essence of the judicial interpretation of the concept of a person who first committed a crime comes down to recognizing the person as having committed the crime for the first time, if the person had not committed the crime before, or even though it did, but is not tried at the time of such recognition. It is emphasized that in solving the problem of legal interpretation of this concept the question of its scope or thematic focus remains. The Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, giving an interpretation of the concept of a first-time offender, does not create uniformity in the understanding. The disadvantages of the judicial interpretation of the concept under consideration are the attempt to pinpoint it to certain types of exemption from criminal liability and to limit its clarifications to the effect of individual criminal law institutions. Both require the legalization of the definition of the concept under consideration.