Humanity is a complex mechanism that functions through internal relations between individuals. But the main problem is that this kind of interaction is very often chaotic and requires ordering. Initially, people existed in small groups. Relations in such formations were regulated through moral standards. With the development of states, the problem of controlling human interaction arose, because any country is a super-powerful social construction. therefore moral standards cannot provide control of public relations in such a bulky mechanism. In the process of searching for the most effective way to coordinate, various categories have been tried.
One of them is violence and religion. But in the practical industry, these categories have not shown themselves as effectively as law. The latter design was developed on the basis of revised moral standards, which, in turn, are authorized by the state. In addition, law has many forms of manifestation, one of which is the law. He is endowed with a mass of characteristic features and other features. It is also worth noting that the legislation plays a rather large role in the process of bringing these or those persons to criminal liability. Therefore, in this article we will consider the main tasks of not only general regulatory legal acts, but also of the criminal law.
What is the law?
The functions of the law are an extremely important issue, however, not all people understand the fact that this legal category is a general one. We have already pointed out the fact that law is the main regulator of public relations, which is a set of norms authorized by the state. In turn, the law refers to the form of manifestation of law. But such a concept is broad in nature. In a narrower sense, the law can be represented as a normative legal act adopted in the prescribed manner by special legislative bodies. The content of the law consists entirely of legal norms that affect certain types of social relations. In addition, the presented legal acts make it possible to apply methods, methods of state coercion and responsibility. It should be remembered that today in the world there are certain families of legal systems. One of them is continental. The peculiarity is that in this family the law is a key source of law. In turn, the legal system of the Russian Federation can be classified as a continental type, which determines the rather significant importance of laws in this state.
Signs of the law
Given the large role of the mentioned legal acts in the life of modern society and some states, the most typical signs of law that characterize him. These include the following, namely:
- The law is primarily a document with legal force. That is, its norms have a direct impact on certain relations by coordinating them.
- The mentioned NLAs are, in all cases without exception, the product of standard-setting activity, defined by a state authority. As a rule, laws are issued by parliaments. In addition, their creation is a rather complicated procedure, consisting of a whole system of individual steps.
- Laws govern the most common, in other words, typical relationships that arise within society.
- In the continental family of law, the law is not only the main source of legal norms, which has already been mentioned, but also the normative act highest in its legal force after the constitution.
- Laws create a certain basis for the legal activity of rule-making, law enforcement, judicial and other similar bodies. In addition, these legal acts are included in the structure of the legal field of the state.
It should be noted that the legislative system of any state, as a rule, consists of a number of normative acts, which, in turn, regulate certain types of public relations. These include criminal law. In the Russian Federation, it is he who is the central act that regulates social relations in the field of socially dangerous acts. In addition, the presented signs determine the functions of the law in society, which will be discussed later in the article. 
What are the functions of the law?
There are many widespread opinions about what are the tasks of higher normative acts in the legal system of the state. Scientists are constantly arguing about this. But still, what functions does the law fulfill? There is an opinion that the tasks of the presented legal acts are related to the functional areas of law in general. This conclusion has a rational kernel, because the law is primarily a source and a form of expression of jurisprudence. Therefore, the following functions of the law can be distinguished: specifically legal and social. In the first case, we are talking about the following types, for example:
- Regulatory function expresses the very nature of law, which was created to coordinate public relations. In other words, laws help to better determine the most correct behavior of people.
- Security function allows legislative norms to directly protect the most significant social relations. In more detail, these lines of action are manifested in special legal sectors. One of these is criminal.
- The law is built primarily on ideology. Subsequently, he carries it to the masses. Based on this, the ideological function of laws can be distinguished.
Social Features
Special lines of action of the acts presented in the article are not paramount. They, as a rule, arise already in the process of their norms. More important are the social functions of the law, which include the following, namely: economic, environmental, political and communicative. All of them, to one degree or another, regulate the most important and significant relations for society in the main areas of its action. Thus, the presented functions of the law clearly demonstrate its paramount importance for humanity. It should be noted that in most modern states these directions are unchanged, although the role of these legal acts is completely different. Some laws, in turn, have their own characteristics. For example, the main criminal normative act regulates the sphere of relations arising from socially dangerous acts that some people implement. He, in turn, is included in the system of the legislation of the same name, which provides legal liability for the commission of such actions.
Features of the criminal law
Today, there are many systems of higher normative acts that are created with the aim of regulating homogeneous social relations. The criminal law, in turn, is a whole system of legal acts created to coordinate social relationships in the field of the most dangerous acts, that is, crimes.This structure is nothing more than a direct manifestation of criminal law in general. In different countries there are many approaches to the expression of this legislation. Some states publish many different regulatory acts, while others embody all industry principles and tasks in codified legal acts. As for the Russian Federation, in this country there is a single criminal law, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. He, like other similar legal acts, has its own functions, structure and place in the legal system.
General Concept of the Criminal Code
It should be remembered that the Criminal Code is primarily an exceptional regulatory act regulating the legal industry of the same name. This means that the functions of the law in criminal law have a lot of features, which will be discussed later. First of all, the fact that the act provides legal protection of public relations from the most harmful, criminal acts that can be committed by people should be mentioned. The norms of the criminal law also provide for measures and forms of punishment for certain crimes. The current Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was created in 1996.
The structure of the criminal law of the Russian Federation
The functions of the law in criminal law are largely determined by the structure of this normative act. In this case, an important role is played by Russia's belonging to the continental family of law. Based on this factor, almost all existing industries are structurally divided into general and special parts. The first element of the criminal law contains the rules governing the most general principles of the industry of the same name. That is, in this part you can get acquainted with the categories of criminals, the concept of guilt, complicity, incompleteness of acts, the possibility of exempting a person from criminal liability, etc. The special part in this case involves a specific list of socially dangerous acts for which sanctions are provided. It should be noted that only those acts that are included in the second part of the law are considered criminal. Any other offenses will cause liability not of a criminal but of a different nature.
Functions of the Criminal Law
As in the case of other legal sectors, the criminal has certain areas of its action. They, in turn, are implemented in criminal law. As practice shows, almost all the functions of these legal acts are aimed at protecting public interests. This is a common principle of many criminal laws not only in the territory of the Russian Federation, but also in other countries. Of course, there are some differences, however, we can distinguish the most classic group of functions that are endowed with all the normative legal acts of the mentioned industry. Thus, the criminal law performs the following functions:
1. The main function of the criminal law is protective. It is expressed in the fact that the norms of this act ensure the protection of public relations. In this case, criminal regulatory acts protect all spheres of human activity from criminal encroachments. Moreover, protection is possible due to the existence of a liability regime for committed acts. It, as a rule, is a system of extremely unsatisfactory personal and property measures that apply to persons guilty of crimes.
2. The functions of a criminal law have a preventive direction in their structure. Such tasks are expressed in the fact that the relevant legal industry creates a certain type of obstacles in the process of committing crimes. This is characterized by the presence of criminal prohibitions existing for specific acts. The main direction of the preventive function is based on forcing the offender to rethink the fact of his act and refuse to implement a criminal offense.It should be noted that in the system of this direction of action, there are two types of prevention. The first is aimed at the whole society. That is, the criminal law does not allow the commission of crimes by any person. In the case of special prophylaxis, the effect of the normative act is aimed, first of all, at persons who have already committed criminal offenses in order to prevent the re-commission of crimes.
3. The main function of the law in society is educational, especially if we are talking about the criminal law sphere, because thanks to the existence of this direction, normative acts build a certain ideology, which, in turn, develops the conviction of the highest value of order and legality. In addition, the criminal law inspires society with a fear of legal liability, which immediately arises for the crimes committed.
Correlation of legal awareness and educational function
The tasks and functions of the criminal law presented in this article, in most cases, depend on social factors, and not just the legal system. Take, for example, the educational direction of action. This function of criminal law only works correctly if the legal consciousness of society is at a high level. That is, each individual person must understand what a crime is, and what consequences for its commission can arise. If society simply does not accept criminal law in this format, then this means that it has not yet formed a high-quality legal ideology. In the Russian Federation, the majority of the population as a whole understands the essence of the criminal industry. People know their rights and do not try to violate the powers of others, except in some cases.
Conclusion
So, in the article we examined the functions of the law in society, as well as its role for the legal system of any state. Most of the structures consisting of such regulatory acts require significant improvement, which is impossible without a theoretical understanding of the problems. We also presented the functions of the criminal law of the Russian Federation, which differ in their characteristic features and scope.
