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5. Military justice and punishment
 
  Article 26-Concept and purposes of punishment  
26.1 Concept and purposes of punishment  
  Punishment is a measure of compulsion assigned by a court's judgement. Punishment shall be applied to a person who has been found guilty of the commission of a offence. It consists of the depreciation or restriction of the rights and freedoms of this person, as provided for by this Code.
  
  Punishment shall be applied for the purpose of restoring social justice, and also for the purpose of reforming a convicted person and of preventing the commission of further offences.  
26.2 Circumstances Mitigating Punishment
  
  The court shall impose just punishment on a person who has been found guilty of the commission of a offence, within the limits stipulated by the relevant Articles of this Code. A stricter penalty from among several provided for one offence shall be imposed only if a milder penalty cannot ensure the achievement of the purposes of punishment.
  
  Stricter punishment than that envisaged by the relevant Articles of this Code for the committed offence may be imposed only in the circumstances where (a) an offender has been convicted of multiple serious offences and/or (b) the convicted offender is a repeat offender.
  
  In imposing punishment, the court shall take into consideration the nature and the degree of the social danger of the offence and the personality of the convict, including any mitigating or aggravating circumstances, and also the influence of the imposed penalty on the rehabilitation of the convicted person and on the conditions of life of his family.
 
26.3 Circumstances Mitigating Punishment
  
  The following circumstances may be considered as mitigating circumstances:
a) commission of a offence of small gravity in consequence of a coincidence of circumstances;
b) age of minority of a guilty person;
c) pregnancy;
d) a guilty persons, responsibility for his infant children;
e) commission of offence in consequence of a coincidence of personal circumstance, or out of compassion;
f) commission of a offence as a result of physical or mental coercion, or by reason of material, official, or any other dependence;
g) commission of offence through a breach of the lawful conditions for necessary defence, the detention of a person who has perpetrated the offence, extreme necessity, justified risk, or the execution of orders or instructions;
h) the illegality or amorality of the victim's behavior, which served as a pretext for the offence;
i) the military's giving themselves up, or actively assisting in the exposure of a offence, catching other accomplices in a lie, or searching for property stolen as a result of a offence;
j) rendering of medical or other aid to the victim after the commission of the offence, voluntary compensation for material loss and mental injury caused as a result of the offence, and other actions of effecting restitution of damage caused to the victim.
  
  If an offender is found to be a repeat offender charged with more than one serious offence, then mitigating circumstances shall not be permitted to be considered whatesoever in the application of sentence.
 
  Mitigating circumstances may not be used twice by the same offender for different offences.
 
26.4 Imposition of Punishment in the Presence of Mitigating Circumstances  
  In the presence of mitigating circumstances and in the absence of aggravating circumstances, the term and scope of punishment may not exceed three-fourths of the maximum term or scope of the strictest penalty envisaged by the relevant Article of this Code.
 
26.5 Circumstances Aggravating Punishment  
  The following circumstances may be deemed to be aggravating circumstances:
a) repeated commission of offences; recidivism of offences;
b) grave consequences of the commission of a offence;
c) commission of a offence by a group of persons or a group of persons as a result of a preliminary conspiracy, by an organized group, or by an unlawfull military community (unlawful military organization);
d) especially active role played in the commission of a offence;
e) involvement in the commission of the offence of the persons who suffer from heavy mental derangement or who are in a state of intoxication, or of persons who have not attained the age of military responsibility;
f) commission of a offence by reason of national, racial, or religious hatred or enmity, out of revenge for the lawful actions of other persons, or with the purpose of concealing or facilitating another offence;
g) commission of a offence against a person or his relatives in connection with his official activity or the discharge of his public duty;
h) commission of a offence against a woman who is obviously in a state of pregnancy, or against a minor, another defenseless or helpless person, or a person who is dependent on the guilty person;
i) commission of a offence with especial brutality, sadism, or mockery, or involving torments for the victim;
j) commission of a offence with the use of weapons, ammunition, explosives, fake explosives, specially manufactured technical means, poisonous or radioactive substances, medicinal or other chemical and pharmacological preparations, or with the use of physical or mental compulsion;
k) commission of a offence during a state of emergency, natural or social disaster, or during mass disturbances;
l) commission of a offence, abusing confidence placed in the guilty person through his official position, or through a contract;
m) commission of a offence with the use of uniforms or documents of representatives of the authorities.		  
26.6 Imposition of a More Lenient Punishment Then That Provided for the Given Offence  
  In the presence of exceptional circumstances related to the purposes and motives of the offence, the role played by the guilty person, their behavior during or after the commission of the offence, or other circumstances essentially reducing the degree of the social danger of the offence, and also with the active assistance of an accomplice in a group offence in the disclosure of this offence, the most lenient punishment stipulated by the corresponding Article of this Code may be imposed, or the court of law may even impose a more lenient penalty than that provided for by this Article, or may not apply an additional penalty envisaged as obligatory.
  
26.7 Imposition of Punishment in Case of a Verdict of Leniency Passed by the Jury  
  The term or the scope of punishment for a person who is found guilty by a jury of the commission of a offence, and who deserves leniency, may not exceed two-thirds of the maximum term or scope of the strictest punishment provided for the offence perpetrate.  
26.8 Imposition of Punishment for an Unfinished Offence
  
  In imposing punishment for an unfinished offence, the court of law shall take into account the circumstances, by virtue of which the offence was not brought to completion.  
  The term or the scope of punishment for preparations for a offence may not exceed half the maximum term or scope of the most severe penalty prescribed by the relevant Articles of this Code for the finished offence.
  
  The term or extent of punishment for an attempted offence may not exceed three-fourths of the maximum term or scope of the most severe penalty prescribed by the relevant Article of this Code for the finished offence.  
     
     
 
 

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