The Supreme court urged judges to explain the punishment
According to the decree of the Plenum of the Supreme court, in passing sentence, the judge must specify the reasons and motives for which the imposed punishment.
MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. The Plenum of the Supreme court of the Russian Federation (the armed forces) called upon the judges to explain the chosen sentence, particularly if they are made in addition to imprisonment on criminal charges. This is stated in the resolution of the Supreme Council “About the judicial sentence” which was discussed at the Plenum of the Supreme court.
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“The sanction of the criminal law, along with imprisonment provides other forms of punishment, the court must specify the reasons for which may not be elected as a measure of punishment”, — is spoken in the decree of the Plenum.
Special attention to the Plenum was paid to the issue of the imposition of capital punishment — life imprisonment.
“Courts must bear in mind that this kind of punishment in cases stipulated by law may be used only when the need for it purpose due to exceptional danger to society the person who committed the crime,” — said the Plenum of the armed forces. For the issuance of such sentences, the judge must give specific facts and data that prove the need for life imprisonment.
Moreover, the court ruled that judges should not “burden” the prosecution in sentencing.See also
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The judge may reclassify the case in another article (for which the defendant was not charged) only if it charged him; the new article does not contain evidence of more serious crimes and do not differ significantly according to the actual circumstances, supported by the Prosecutor.
The charge is considered more serious if the new article provides a more severe penalty or if it includes additional, not imputed to the accused the facts (episodes), entailing a change in the classification of the crime to the provisions of law providing for more severe punishment, or increasing the actual amount of the charges.
In the course of the Plenum of the Russian Supreme court, the highest judicial authority also explained how to make the sentence fair. Sun decided that set out in the judgment the court’s findings must be based only on those evidences that were directly examined in the court session.