Our modern world is so dynamic that constant additions and changes to the current legislation are required. Otherwise, a serious gap appears in the legal system, public relations remain unsettled, which poses serious danger to both participants in such legal relations and the whole society, by the state as a whole.
NPA system
But the creation and publication of legal acts is far from the most complicated process. It is important to systematize them, to provide for the boundaries of their action, the moment of entry, relations to which they do not apply, and much more, finally, whether the laws of the Russian Federation that were adopted are retroactive. Concretizing and systematizing the legislation, the state significantly simplifies a number of tasks, starting from familiarization with a particular act and ending with its understanding by society. Ideally, the law should be built in such a way that it does not need serious amendments, clarifications and comments that are created with the aim of conveying its meaning and limitations to society.
Retroactive Law
What is the retroactive effect of the law? In what cases is the law retroactive? And in general - what is it for? Otherwise, this phenomenon can be called the retroactivity of the law, and its value is actually quite large. In cases where the law is not retroactive, its effect in time does not apply to the period in which it did not exist. That is, imagine that a new law is being adopted in our state that regulates economic relations and establishes completely new rules of the game. If it is retroactive, then all relations that developed under the old legislation, when this law was not yet in place, will have to imperatively switch to the new format. As you understand, this gives rise to many problems and misunderstandings on the part of society, and therefore a logical question arises as to whether a regulatory legal act can be retroactive if it regulates economic or, especially, tax legal relations. Let's get it right.
Civil law, administrative, tax
If we talk about relations between equal entities in their rights and obligations, it should immediately be said that within their framework the law is not retroactive. This is quite logical and due to the need to maintain a stable economic space and society.
Even if a new law comes out that governs, say, a contract of sale, then for participants between whom relations have already developed, its legal force will be leveled. Remember that, according to the freedom of the contract, the parties, when concluding it, rely precisely on the conditions that are in it, and to change them if they are legal and do not violate anyone's interests, neither the law nor anyone else can. Administrative law regulates relations between citizens (and other persons) and the government. In such cases, the law also has no retroactive effect, because changing the rules of the game in the “power-submission” relationship is fraught with serious consequences.
Finally, tax law. Fortunately, in tax law, the law is not retroactive. The volume of tax legal relations is changing gradually, carefully and systematically, otherwise you can cause a wave of indignation in society.
Criminal law
It is possible to enumerate branches of law in which the law has no retroactive effect for a sufficiently long time, but to name the only sphere for which this phenomenon was developed is simply necessary.It is in criminal law that the law is retroactive, but limited. If a year ago a person committed a crime for which they began to punish only today, then in this case the retroactive force will not work. According to Russian law, retroactive effect will only take place if the new act facilitates the situation of persons accused, prosecuted or already serving sentences. This is fully consistent with the principle of humanity in criminal law.
For example, a person has committed robbery, convicted, serving a sentence for him in high security colonies sentenced to 5 years. A year later, a normative legal act is issued, according to which, when robbing, the maximum sentence should not exceed 4 years, and criminals should be kept in a penal colony. Thus, the person from our example will be transferred to a general regime colony, and their sentence will be reduced by one year, so as not to violate the framework established by law.
Conclusion
Of course, the retroactive effect of the law in criminal law is a rather important element of modern civilized society. People need to be given a second chance, it is necessary that the punishment does not aggravate the situation as a whole. However, this can have negative consequences, in connection with which such a phenomenon should attract a lot of attention, and have control from the state and society.
