The effective application of modern criminal legislation requires an understanding of the structure of the legal norms contained in it, which are a direct expression of the state-legislative will, establishing both generally binding rules of conduct and determining the application of appropriate sanctions for violation of the latter.
The classical structure of the rule of law
Any existing legal norm has a classical structure, which is made up of such interconnected elements as a hypothesis, disposition, sanction.
The hypothesis indicates specific conditions in the presence (or absence) of which this rule should apply. The hypothesis allows you to correlate some abstract behavioral model with a specific situation, place and time, or a specific subject.
The disposition contains a rule of proper behavior, which should guide all entities involved in the legal relationship.
The sanction determines those or other adverse consequences that should occur as a result of violation of the rules established by the disposition. Sanction is an unambiguous expression of the negative attitude of the state towards neglect of legal norms.
Such a three-element structure allows us to understand what a disposition is. and what place does it take as well give a chance with a high degree of effectiveness, provide an unambiguous definition of proper behavior. The absence of one or another of the above elements makes it possible to establish quite clearly whether one or another logical structure is a legal norm or not.
The structure of the criminal law
In order to correctly and effectively apply criminal law, one should understand what constitutes the concept and structure of the criminal law norm.
Criminal law norms, being inherently classical legal norms, nevertheless differ in a certain specificity of their structure, which assumes the presence of only two elements. The norms recorded in the General part of the Criminal Code are composed of elements such as hypothesis and sanction, and the norms recorded in the Special part of the Criminal Code are composed of disposition and sanction.
For legal norms contained in the Special Part of the Criminal Code, the hypothesis is of a general nature and is expressed in such a construction as: “If the subject committed an unlawful act ...”. Therefore, in the criminal law norms of the Special Part of the Criminal Code, which establish the signs and characteristics of specific tort, as well as the sanctions that are applied for the commission of the latter, the hypothesis is not indicated and only implied, and the types of dispositions and sanctions are set out as detailed as possible.
In this regard, there is an opinion in jurisprudence that despite the fact that only two elements are actually present in the structure of the criminal law norm, the presence of an obvious implied hypothesis allows one to regard the structure precisely as classical (hypothesis, disposition, sanction).
Disposition - a concept
Under the disposition of a criminal law norm, it should be understood that its structural element, in which the definition of the tort provided for by this norm, as well as its compositions, is recorded.
Classification of dispositions
By design and direct content, the following types of dispositions in criminal law are distinguished:
- Simple - calls a tort, but does not reveal its symptoms.
- Descriptive - contains an exhaustive description of the key features of the tort.
- Reference - does not describe the signs of tort, but offers to establish the latter refer to any other article of the Criminal Code.
- Blanket - to establish signs of tort refers to other regulatory legal acts that do not have a criminal legal nature.
- Combined (or mixed) - includes the signs of either a reference or a blanket disposition in conjunction with signs related to any other disposition.
Types of dispositions: simple, descriptive
So, we consider in more detail what constitute types of dispositions in criminal law.
A simple disposition only indicates a particular tort, but does not reveal its features, since the essence of the latter is quite obvious without any direct mention of any details. The introduction of such dispositions into the criminal law is dictated by the consideration that the law enforcer will not experience any difficulties in understanding the definitions used and, accordingly, their additional interpretation will not be required. An example is the disposition of article 126 of the Criminal Code - the abduction of a person.
The descriptive disposition contains not only the definition of the tort itself, but also a comprehensive description of its key features. For example, the tort stipulated by Article 158 of the Criminal Code - theft - is defined as the theft of another's property committed in secret. These types of dispositions in criminal law are the most common.
Types of dispositions: reference, combined blanket
The reference disposition, as already mentioned above, does not describe the tort, but contains an appeal to some other article of the Criminal Code that defines the features of the latter. Thus, unnecessary and complicating the criminal law repeats are eliminated. References apply both directly and indirectly. In the first case, signs are indicated that should either be present or absent from the tort. In the second case, a concept is revealed once, and then it is applied in dispositions of other norms.
Criminal law blanket disposition contains references to the norms contained in any other branches of law - environmental, civil, labor, etc. These types of dispositions in criminal law are used in those articles which establish liability for violation of certain rules (traffic, handling of weapons, construction works, etc.). The introduction of these rules themselves in the criminal law would lead to a significant complication of the latter, and also required its adjustments caused by changes regularly introduced into the said rules.
A combined (mixed) disposition may contain signs of a blanket or reference disposition, as well as some other, usually simple or descriptive one.
Having dealt with the question of what disposition is, it should further consider what constitutes such a part of the criminal law norm, directly related to the latter, as sanction.
Sanction is a concept
The sanction refers to the structure-forming element of the criminal law norm (contained in the Special Part of the Criminal Code), which establishes the type and amount of punishment provided for the commission of tort, described by the disposition of this norm. Through sanction, the legislator assesses the level of social danger that characterizes a perfect tort.
Varieties of sanctions
Penalties used in criminal law are classified by degree of certainty, namely:
- Absolutely certain - establish both the only type of punishment, and its strictly specific value. In current legislation, these sanctions are not used, since their application does not make it possible to carry out individualization of punishment based on the circumstances of the commission of a specific tort, as well as the personality of the guilty subject.
- Relatively specific - establish a specific type of punishment, as well as its legislatively defined limits, by indicating the minimum and maximum amount of punishment or only the maximum.
- Alternative - establish two or more types of punishment (either a fine, or community service, or imprisonment, etc.), which can be applied for the commission of a corresponding tort, proceeding both from the peculiarities of the latter and from considerations of expediency.
So, having examined the above examples of dispositions and sanctions in criminal law, it can be stated that the system of the latter, as well as the structure of its norms, ensures the proper and effective practical application of the criminal law, which allows maintaining the rule of law in society at the proper level.