Punishment and criminal impact: finding the best model for countering crime

The article deals with the essence of punishment and criminal impact in modern criminal law. Vectors of development of the institution of punishment in the era of formation of digital society are defined. The author considers in detail the current trends of transition from punishment to criminal law impact, justifies the reasons for such transformation and possible consequences. The aim of the study is to identify the place of punishment and criminal measures in the structure of criminal law and the prospects for their further improvement, taking into account the shift of scientific paradigm and the formation of a new digital age. Objectives of the study: on the basis of identification signs of punishment and criminal law action, to show the causes of the crisis of the institution of punishment in criminal law and the existing contradictions in the resolution of criminal law conflicts. The study used traditional methods of socio-legal and formal-dogmatic analysis: documentary, historical, legal, analytical, systemic and logical. According to the results of the study, it is proposed to revise the teaching of punishment from cultural and spiritual and moral aspects. Punishment continues today to be the only reasonable way to influence crime, despite the fact that globalization brings to the fore the reformatting of the principles of criminal law and the departure from the principle of equality of all before the law towards differentiation of the perpetrators of the wrongful act, taking into account their social status. Without a fundamental change in the existing approaches to the concept of crime and criminal responsibility, a shift in emphasis from punishment to criminal law impact would not be meaningful. Punishment is directly proportional to the culture of society in a particular historical period and to the spiritual, economic and political values that prevail in society. Therefore, the concept of punishment cannot be changed automatically, in isolation from socio-economic transformations and cultural attitudes of society.