Criminal law is an independent legal institution of law, which is part of the legal system. Criminal law differs from other industries in the subject matter, that is, in the field of public relations that regulate the norms specified in regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation. Recently, in legal science, one can more often hear the opinions of legal scholars who claim that criminal law does not have an inherent subject of legal regulation, since the sphere of relations is regulated by industry legal norms, for example, administrative, state or civil. As for the branch of law under consideration and the basic principles of criminal law in the Russian Federation, the above specialists give it only a protective function, stating that criminal law acts as a way of providing for the remaining branches.
Adhering to the classical understanding of the considered branch of law as an individual unit, it should be noted that the industry has the principles of criminal law of the Russian Federation. So, the principles of criminal law in the general classification include those fundamental principles on which, in fact, all those normative norms that govern this area of public relations are built. The functions and fundamental principles of criminal law have a specific content, which has a certain classification of a very mixed sense.
The principles of criminal law in the Russian Federation are divided into general principles that are inherent in the entire system of law and, as a result, of the branch of law under consideration and the principles of criminal law for industry. The fundamental principles of criminal law for a specific purpose reveal the features of the legal regulation of this branch of law. Again, by analogy with the subject of legal regulation, there is an opinion expressed in the fact that there is no need to highlight industry principles, since the general principles operate through industry principles. Thus, industry principles are not visible through the prism of common ones. However, the principles of criminal law are legally documented in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. These include the principle of legality, the determination of the equality of all individuals in society before the law, the guilt of a citizen, the principle of humanism and the principle of justice. The meaning of each of these fundamental principles is also formulated quite clearly in the Criminal Code. The main functions of criminal law, on the principles of which the whole industry is built, are preventative and protective. The criminal law as a whole has a definite goal, which is clearly defined in the law - it is the protection of the rights and freedoms of the individual in society, also the protection of the private property of a citizen and the protection of public order. In addition, the protection of the constitutional system of our country, the environment and those important social institutions without which the state simply cannot exist as a system of state bodies of power and administration. These functional tasks and principles of criminal law are directly enshrined in law, but the means of solving these problems are the determination of the grounds and principles of responsibility that arise in the field of criminal law, in addition, the definition of the range of crimes. In addition, to the means of solving the called tasks, the establishment of the types of punishment and other penalties of a criminal legal nature should be added. As for the preventive task of the considered branch of law, it is solved by psychological influence on the consciousness of a citizen who does not violate the rights of others, is law-abiding. In addition, there is an impact on the consciousness of those individuals in society who allow various types of deviant behavior.