Summary

An extensive amendment of criminal law is carried out not for reasons of fashion or to follow an example but based on its purposefulness and practical need if positive results are to be expected.
In the opinion of the authors, the above principles are not being followed in the criminal law reform. The authors point out several concepts of the general part of the effective Code which have been omitted from the draft Code as useless, but the authors of the article disagree. For example, the draft Code does not provide the definitions of crime and punishment, and does not deal with preparation for and imitation of crimes. Further, the omission of the concept of karistatus (the fact of being punished) is not justified. The authors of the article find that the draftsmen have adhered too much to classical principles, particularly with respect to understanding of punishment.
The authors also criticise the change in the title of the Code from Criminal Code into Penal Code. A penal code should include administrative offences, but since the draft Code does not, the change in the title serves no purpose.