Задача, стоявшая перед автором, - установление степени соответствия действующих норм Уголовного кодекса РФ, относящихся к определению ответственности несовершеннолетних, их возрастным особенностям. Анализируя конкретные статьи Особенной части действующего УК РФ, автор приходит к выводу, что часто логически невозможно обосновать позицию законодателя, установившего конкретный возраст уголовной ответственности за преступление.

An important legal measure to protect children's interests is the correct establishment of criminal liability which corresponds to age peculiarities and significantly differs from adults' criminal liability, and establishing criminal liability for the encroachment on social relations ensuring normal conditions of the socialization of the under-aged. The subjects for study in the paper are the standards of Russian criminal legislation regulating juveniles' liability. The author aims to determine the degree of accordance between the current provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on defining juveniles' liability and their age peculiarities. The author proceeds from the concept of natural law, acknowledgment and imperishable value of every human personality, irrespectively of their qualities and behaviour. The idea of the paper was determined on the grounds of the works of child and developmental psychology researchers. The author also used special scientific methods: comparative law, a technical method. It is noted in the paper that not all Russian researchers support the legislator's position respectively the lower age of criminal liability, which is 14. In their opinion, it should be lowered to the age of 12. The author analyzes the arguments adduced by the authors of this position. Disagreeing with the stated position, the author of the article adduces other arguments based on the ideas of age and pedagogical psychology, contemporary criminology that allow claiming the necessity of preserving the lower age of 14 for instituting criminal proceedings against a person. It is mentioned in the paper that the issue of determining the age of criminal liability is not reduced to the establishing of the lower age for instituting criminal proceedings against a person, it is much broader. In particular, the Russian Criminal Code states that criminal proceedings for committing certain crimes, when the victim is under-aged, can be instituted against a person who has reached the age of 14, 16 or 18. Naturally, this raises the question of what the legislator was governed by when establishing particular age ranges for instituting criminal proceedings? Analyzing certain articles of the Special Part of the Russian Criminal Code, the author concludes that it is frequently impossible to logically explain the position of the legislator establishing certain age of liability for a crime. The existing problems do not contribute to achieving the purpose of criminal law relating to juveniles which consists in using only the least severe punitive measures.