Criminal law is a large branch of the Russian legal system, which includes the norms on the basis of which the fight against crime is conducted. It is an integral, orderly and internally consistent structure. The concept of criminal law will be described in detail in our article.
What is criminal law?
Crimes have been committed, and will be committed. They cannot be eradicated, but can be minimized. This is the purpose of criminal law.
The concept of crime, scientists give various interpretations. Lawyers talk about breaking the law, sociologists talk about committing major atrocities. Absolutely, crimes violate public order and harm people. The most important duty of both the state and the whole nation is the prevention and prevention of criminal acts. To implement this can only be in accordance with the law.
The concept and system of criminal law have been formed in Russia since ancient times. Historians call the first Russian criminal law "Russian Truth" by Yaroslav the Wise. This act contains a list of crimes and their corresponding sanctions. The criminal branch of law in Russia has a long and complex history. It was formed for ten centuries, but acquired its final form only in 1996. It was then that the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Criminal Code) was adopted - the most important regulatory act of the country.
This branch of law has two forms: general and special. The first incorporates the norms that establish the rules for the operation of the law in space and time. The concept of crime is formed, and its signs are established.
A special form of law involves the formation of sanctions for each type of crime. Punishments must be proportionate to the atrocities committed. An optimal result can only be achieved through a competent study of the concept and methods of criminal law.
General and special forms may change their content due to differences in classifications compiled by lawyers. So, there is another system according to which the general part incorporates the concept of criminal law and criminal law, as well as crime and punishment. The concept of a special part of criminal law involves the division of crimes into groups. So, they are against the individual, the state, public security, the military sphere, justice, etc.
The modern criminal branch of law does not stand still. She is constantly changing and improving. For more than 20 years of the existence of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, many norms have changed or lost their significance. This indicates the continuous development of the concept and principles of criminal law. However, some ideas are unchanged. This is the rule of law, aimed at protecting human and civil rights, humanism and justice.
Subject of criminal law
The concept of the legal industry under consideration is formed on the basis of its subject. In this case, it is social relations created in the field of criminal law.
The subject of this legal industry is based on four scientific provisions. Firstly, it is the expediency of such differentiated categories as legal regulation and legal impact. Secondly, this is a division of a legal fact. It can be characterized in terms of relations of the type of state-criminal, as well as in connection with the commission of crime. Thirdly, this is an analysis of the violation of a person’s reaction to basic regulatory legal relations. Finally, fourthly, this is the determination of the content of the rights and obligations of the subjects of criminal law by examining their needs.
The subject is three types of social relations:
- Precautionary relationship. They are taking shape in the field of preventing the commission of a criminal act. Here the prevention of socially dangerous acts plays an important role.
- Protective relationship. They arise between the state and the criminal in the scope of state functions to protect order in society. Protective relations are related to public and state security.
- Authorizing or regulatory relations. They arise between the criminal, the state and society. It is about the interaction of the state and citizens in order to protect their own freedoms, interests and rights.
Thus, the concept and subject of criminal law is a complex structure of public relations. The above classification is a classic in jurisprudence. It accurately reflects the whole essence of the concept of criminal law.
Objectives of Criminal Law
The concept of criminal law in Russia includes not only the interpretation of a specific term, but the definition of all its features. In particular, the tasks of the legal industry under consideration may well constitute a whole definition. All of them are presented in part 1 of article 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
The first task is the most important, and therefore the most obvious. This is the protection of the rights, interests and freedoms of man and citizen. This also includes the protection of property, the protection of the political system, public order and security, ensuring environmental safety, maintaining peace, preventing and preventing crimes, and much more. All tasks presented are priority. On their basis, many other goals and functions are formed.
The concept of Russian criminal law includes the protection of property rights. Moreover, the division into private, municipal, state property is absent here.
The protection of public order is the subject of criminal legal protection. It is a combination of social relations aimed at ensuring public peace, personal integrity, protection from internal and external threats, etc.
Environmental protection is an independent object of criminal law protection. Every citizen of Russia has the right to stay in a favorable environmental environment. Criminal sanctions await the perpetrator for any environmental crimes.
Thus, all the tasks of the legal industry under consideration can be divided into three groups: the protection of public order, the protection of property and the preservation of the environment. Other classifications were compiled by lawyers, but it is the three groups represented that most fully reflect the orientation of the criminal sphere.
Rule of law
Having dealt with the concept and objectives of criminal law, you should pay attention to the basic principles, ideas and conditions on which the legal branch under consideration is based. Further, we will talk about the principles - the starting points that underlie criminal law.
Legality is the first and most important principle. It plays a decisive role in the development of the concept and system of criminal law. The content of the principle of legality is disclosed in the Russian Constitution: no adopted norm should contradict the provisions enshrined in the country's main law.
The principle under consideration is not limited to just pointing to the rule of law. It is also about the proportionality of the harm caused during the crime, and the subsequent punishment. All sanctions imposed on perpetrators must be fair. Justice is the source of any law. As a result, criminal norms must be built on the basis of higher standards to ensure social balance.
Another meaning of legality is related to the prohibition of the use of the analogy of legal norms. An analogy in jurisprudence is the filling of gaps in law without relying on the norms of the law. Since case law does not apply in Russia, an analogy of the law is considered unacceptable. Decisions can only be made in accordance with applicable standards, and in the event of gaps, one should seek interpretation from the Supreme or Constitutional Courts.
Finally, the final interpretation of the principle of legality is related to the work of legislators. They are required to indicate as accurately and fully as possible the signs of criminal acts. In other words, it is the legislators who are obligated to prevent gaps and analogies of the law from appearing.
The principle of legality in criminal law takes two forms:
- no punishment without a law;
- no crime without law.
Thus, the considered principle is formal. It is a prerequisite for ideas such as equality, humanity and justice.
Principles of Equality, Guilt, Justice and Humanism
The idea of legality in criminal law is fundamental. Other principles directly depend on it. Thus, the idea of the equality of all citizens before the law is directly enshrined in the Russian Constitution. She smoothly flows into criminal law. The content of this idea is that all people are equal before the court and the law. The state guarantees the equality of freedoms and human rights regardless of gender, race, nationality, attitude to religion, language, worldview, etc. Social labels or attributes do not affect the final sanction, which will be imposed on the perpetrator.
The principle of justice has already been described above. It is only necessary to add that the idea under consideration proceeds from the provisions on morality and morality. It is these two categories that determine the principle of legality. However, justice is not the main idea. When it comes to morality and law, jurisprudence gives priority to the latter. The thing is that justice is the main, but in no way regulated and systematized sphere. To manage the society requires a clear system of norms.
The principle of guilt is closely related to the principle of justice. A person cannot be punished until his guilt is officially proved. Objective imputation of liability for innocent harm is not allowed. Guilt is characterized by special features that should be considered by the legislator before imposing sanctions. The importance of the principle is undeniable because it makes a link between two legal categories: disposition and sanction.
The last principle is connected with the ideas of humanism. He is close in spirit to justice, since we are talking about the moral position of man and society. In the concept of criminal law, the meaning and role of humanism is especially important. So, all applicable punishments and sanctions should educate a person, but not ruin his life.
Criminal Law Methods
A method in jurisprudence is a set of methods and means aimed at resolving relations in society. In criminal law, methods regulate the criminal sphere - namely, crimes and ways to establish penalties for them.
There are several classifications of legal methods. The concept of criminal law is included in the system of legal sciences, and therefore it is necessary to cite scientific methods: dispositive (permissible) and imperative (binding or prohibiting). The considered branch of law includes exclusively imperative methods interspersed with dispositivity. This phenomenon is easy to explain: criminal law establishes harsh sanctions for certain crimes. Accordingly, the courts, guided by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, oblige the guilty persons to be punished. Splashes of dispositivity can be found in some types of guarantees.
The following classification of methods is also scientific. It does not concern the implementation of the criminal process, but only its study. The division occurs into deductive and inductive methods, as well as analysis and synthesis. Deduction means the study of various elements of law on the principle of "from the general to the particular," and induction - "from the particular to the general." Analysis involves a systematic analysis of the whole phenomenon, and synthesis involves the formation of a representation by studying various elements.
Finally, a group of practical methods should be studied. It should highlight:
- the imposition of criminal sanctions for criminal acts;
- criminalization of certain socially dangerous acts;
- decriminalization of acts previously considered crimes;
- confiscation of property from the offender;
- exemption from criminal liability and punishment;
- the application of coercive measures of a sanitary or medical nature;
- empowering citizens with special powers in protecting their own health or life, etc.
Unlike scientific methods, practical methods and techniques for organizing criminal law differ in quantity and variety. They disappear and appear along with the new norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Criminal liability
Having dealt with the concept, subject and methods of criminal law, attention should be paid to the most important category of the legal branch under consideration: criminal liability. This is one of the types of legal liability, the content of which are the measures applied by the authorities to the person who committed the crime.
Criminal liability is closely related to the concept of crime in criminal law. If a crime is an act or omission that violates the law, then responsibility is a proportionate measure of punishment.
Society reacts negatively to the unlawful behavior of its representatives. However, arbitrariness in the country is prohibited. That is why the monopoly on the imposition of sanctions belongs to state power. The relevant authorities apply to a person a number of physical, property or moral deprivations, which are designed to prevent the commission of new crimes.
In the legal industry under consideration, the concept of criminal law plays an important role. Responsibility is considered from the point of view of positivism and negativism. In the first case, the obligation to comply with the requirements of the criminal law is fulfilled. It fulfills social and legal duty. The state positively assesses the behavior of a person, and sometimes even encourages his actions. Positivism in criminal law is manifested, for example, in exemption from liability of a person who voluntarily refused to commit a criminal act. A negative type of responsibility is associated with the implementation by a person of a crime and subsequent repressions.
Many scientists do not take the positive form of responsibility into account. Allegedly, the phenomenon itself is not interpreted as an objective reality, but as a psychological process. This kills its legal content. Negative responsibility is of the greatest practical and theoretical significance.
Criminal law
Particular attention should be paid to the concept of the source of criminal law - criminal law. Law is an external expression of legal norms. Moreover, far from all normative acts can be called law. So, judicial precedents and by-laws are not included in the list of legal sources. Only major normative acts, such as the Constitution, the Criminal Code or federal laws, can act as external spokesmen for criminal law.
Lawyers compiled the official definition of the concept of criminal law. This is a normative act adopted by the legislature or by popular vote. It consists of rules of law connected with each other, some of which enshrine the principles and grounds of criminal liability and contain general provisions of the law, while others determine which of socially dangerous acts may be called crimes. For each formed criminal act criminal sanction is established.
So, the criminal law is the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It formed and regulated all the issues for the legal branch under consideration. The legal basis of criminal law is the country's main law - the Russian Constitution. It is she who defines the concept and signs of criminal law, which are subsequently disclosed in the relevant code.
Criminal law is the only source of criminal law. Moreover, the law itself is expressed in three forms - three codes: directly criminal, as well as executive and procedural. The first code contains a list of crimes and punishments for them. The executive code governs the direct sanction process. Finally, the code of procedure enshrines the norms of criminal proceedings in Russia. Thus, there are several types of criminal law concepts.
Procedural criminal law
Considering the criminal sphere of Russia, one cannot fail to mention the most important area - the procedural legal branch. , , . . - .
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The purpose of the penitentiary system is the correction of convicted persons and the prevention of new criminal acts. The presented goals can be achieved by regulating the order and conditions of serving or executing sentences, determining means of correction of convicts, as well as assisting convicts in social adaptation.