Sources of Criminal Law
When it comes to the criminal law of the RussianFederation and its structure, one of the main issues is the concept of "sources of criminal law", "criminal law and its structure", "criminal rule". In this article, we will speak about these concepts and their essence.
The criminal law is the most important factor among those,which affect the effectiveness of the fight against crime. It's no secret that the more fully it takes into account the real life conditions of society and the state of crime at the moment, the more successfully its basic functions will be realized.
The criminal law and normative acts in its composition- the main sources of the criminal law of the Russian Federation. They are characterized by a number of features that describe the operation of the existing law and explain its purpose. So, the criminal law is a legal act that is adopted by the Federal Assembly (legislative and representative body of Russia) and signed directly by the President of the country. In addition, such a law has the highest legal force throughout the state. There are a number of legal acts that are adopted solely on the basis of the Criminal Code. The first article of the Penal Code states that all new laws that criminalize criminal liability must be included in this document. At the heart of the Criminal Code is the Constitution of the Russian Federation and general principles and norms of international legal relations. At the same time, the main goal of the criminal law is the solution of specific tasks of protecting the public from crime and criminal encroachment.
Given all these facts, it is possible with certaintyto say that the phrase "sources of criminal law" is incorrect, since it is exactly in Russia that this source is one, and it is the Criminal Code. Only this document contains exclusively all criminal law norms on which the working field of criminal law and all its bodies is based.
There is a misconception that managementexplanations of cases of the Supreme Court and decisions of the Constitutional Court are also sources of criminal law, but this is not entirely true. The thing is that they do not create new norms, but explain those already existing in the Criminal Law. Thus, acts that contain interpretation of the law are not its sources.
A characteristic feature of the criminal law is itscodification. This means that absolutely all criminal-legal norms are contained in the articles of the Criminal Code of Russia. The set of norms is clearly systematized and has a certain structure: the CC consists of the General and Special Part, sections, chapters, articles, parts and items. Thanks to this structure of the document, it is possible to quickly and clearly determine the rate under which a criminal or a suspect in a crime will be prosecuted.
Peculiar sources of criminal procedurerights in Russia are the relevant legal norms in international law, which are ratified by our parliament. So, if the established norms do not meet international standards, they must be changed or brought into line with them.
The criminal law norms contained in theThe special part has two structural elements - sanction and disposition (there are no sanctions in the General part). Disposition is that part of the norm that describes the signs of a crime. The disposition can be simple (the name of the crime), descriptive (the name and description of the main features of the criminal act), reference (referring to other norms for avoiding repetitions) and blanket (reference to legal acts). Sanction is part of the norm, which determines the type of punishment and its limits. Sanctions are relatively specific and alternative. Relatively specific can establish a minimum and maximum punishment, alternative - provide for several types of punishment.
Thus, the main sources of criminal law are the legal norms that underlie one main source of the Criminal Code.
