RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS UNDER RUSSIAN CRIMINAL LAW: ISSUES OF LEGISLATIVE TECHNOLOGY AND LAW

Today, no state in the world can say with confidence that it does not face the problem of human trafficking as it does not depend on the geopolitical position of the country, nor on the socio-economic situation. The negative social consequences of the transformations in Russia at the end of the last century determined not only its transit destination during the illegal migration of labor, but also the role of the “sender” and “recipient” of “human commodity” (mainly women and children) intended for exploitation (i.e. including sexual), surrogacy, removal of organs and tissues. Trying to adhere to the international definition of “human trafficking” as much as possible and drawing on the existing experience of regulation, the Russian legislator enshrined the norm in the Criminal Code (Article 1271) containing editorial flaws that impeded its implementation. The purpose of the study is to formulate proposals to address the deficiencies identified during the study of the legislative definition of trafficking in persons, which cause difficulties in enforcement. The methodological basis is constituted by general scientific (analysis and synthesis, dialectics) and private scientific research methods (system-structural, formal-legal, logical, linguistic). The paper notes the terminological difficulties associated with the inclusion of Convention norms in the system of Russian law. Noting the need to establish enhanced guarantees of child safety, the author does not see the need for independent criminalization of trafficking in minors. By identifying technical and legal shortcomings in the definition of “human trafficking” and “human exploitation”, the author suggests ways to solve them by reforming the criminal law and judicial interpretation at the level of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.