Introduction. After declaring a moratorium on the death penalty in Russia life imprisonment has turned to be the most severe of the applied criminal punishments. In order to respect the rights and interests of all parties of the criminal process, the court when passing a sentence shall con¬sider all the characteristic features of this kind of imprisonment. Taking into account the processes of self-organization, the lack of common approaches to the imprisonment for life in law, the use of evaluation categories that are not explained in the prac¬tice of the highest court, as well as the presence of gaps in certain provisions of the criminal law, leads to the fact that the courts in different regions in text justify and substantiate the sentence of life imprisonment form their own experience. The problem of sentencing in the form of life imprisonment has become the subject of the article. The author’s approach is based on the analysis of the first instance courts sentences and the examination of their features. Theoretical Basis. Methods. The work is carried out with the use of such general scientific research methods as comparative legal, dialectical, formal legal, and hermeneutical methods are applied. The above methods are used in conjunction in order to obtain a synergistic effect of the research. Results. When passing a life sentence, it is important to describe thoroughly the exceptional dan¬ger of the defendant. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in the cancellation of the sentence. The author also analyzes the circumstances that are to preclude the possibility of life imprisonment, deals with the features of life verdict in the case of a combination of crimes or sen¬tences in the particular situation, takes up the questions of determining the type of correctional facility for a person sentenced to this type of punishment. Discussion and Conclusion. Based on the author’s research, the article offers legal options for describing the exceptional danger of the person committed the crime, reflecting in the sentence the punishment imposed for a combination of crimes and sentences, one of which is life impris¬onment.

The existence of life imprisonment in the criminal legislation of Russia is assessed ambiguously both by representatives of Russian science and by foreign analysts. This problem is many-sided and ambiguous in its content. Its solution depends on a large number of variables, sometimes independent of the subject of analysis. These include trends in criminal policy, the state of crime in the state, and the related “punitive claims” of the population. The balance of Domestic and International Interests in ensuring Human Rights is the key idea in analyzing life imprisonment from the perspective of historical viability or reality. The purpose of the research was to clarify the place and role of life imprisonment in the current system of criminal punishment based on the analysis of doctrinal approaches, the practice of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the European Court of Human Rights, and statistical data. The work is based on the use of such general scientific methods of research as dialectical, statistical, comparative-legal and hermeneutic. The above methods are used in interaction to obtain a synergistic effect. In the course of the study, the “deterrent” mechanism of the most severe punishment in the criminal system was found to be sufficient. It is determined that life imprisonment is a necessary measure to ensure social justice, albeit cruel, but appropriate in today’s society.