Throughout its history, mankind has tried to invent the most functional and effective institution for regulating relations within society. Initially, that was violence. Through wars and killings, most of the emerging issues were resolved. However, soon people realized that in this way they harm only themselves. Therefore, soon the violence was replaced mostly by religion. Of course, this method has become much more profitable and effective, although it had its own negative features. Submission of absolutely all social relations to the will of an unknown higher mind impeded the evolution of mankind.
Undoubtedly, this state of affairs did not suit anyone. Thus, people realized that it is best to regulate relations between each other through authorized norms or rules of conduct. This regulator soon gained the greatest popularity and became known as law. It should be noted that law is still the main regulator of public relations. Its development in the XXI century has reached its peak, which allows you to control almost all sectors of human life. Thus, law has a number of functions due to which the regulation of our existence is implemented. It is the concept and types of functions of law that we will consider in this article.
What is a right?
Before highlighting the concept and types of functions of law, it is necessary to understand what constitutes law in general. This term has many definitions, but the article will present the most classic. According to her, law is one of the key regulators of relations in society. It represents a structured system of formally defined, generally binding and guaranteed by the country standards of behavior. With the help of these norms, direct regulation of society is carried out.
Understanding of law
It should be noted that the understanding of law depends on a specific theoretical view. For example, some scholars identify law with state power. In their opinion, these two categories simply cannot exist separately, because the right is authorized and created, in fact, by the state. Adherents of a different theoretical approach argue that law is the totality of all normative acts in a particular country. This view is not without logic, since legal norms exist precisely in the legal acts. Thus, the understanding of law completely depends on one or another theoretical school, although some general laws do exist.
Signs of law as a regulator of public relations
The tasks and functions of law are largely determined by those features that are inherent in this legal regulator of public relations. However, in this matter there is no single theoretical approach. As a rule, scientists distinguish the following most common signs of law, namely:
- Generally binding, that is, the effect of law is extended to a large number of entities.
- Guaranteed performance by the state.
- Regulatory framework for universally recognized rules of conduct.
- Strong-willed and intellectual in nature, that is, law comes from people.
- Structuredness.
- Formal certainty.
Given the presented signs, we can conclude that law is not just a social phenomenon of internal regulation, but a holistic and quite interesting system that performs a number of its own functions.
Functions of law
So, what are the functions of law? It should immediately be noted that the subject and functions of law are concepts that are inextricably linked. The subject is a set of legal relations that are regulated by a particular legal industry. And functions are areas of legal influence. As practice shows, the functional part is expressed in the banal ordering of specific social relations. This thesis is clearly traced in a particular area of law or industry.
Thus, taking into account all of the above, we can conclude that the functions of law are key areas of influence on certain social relations. With the help of such influence, one can see the real purpose of each legal industry and its benefits to society. It follows that, from a theoretical point of view, functions are the basis of law.
Characteristic factors of legal functions
The functions of law, the concept and classification of which are presented in the article, have a number of characterizing factors. Through them you can see the relevance and dynamics of the development of the legal regulator in reality. Thus, functions have the following properties, namely:
- the list of functions shows the real orientation of the legal regulator and the range of legal relations that is actually affected;
- as a rule, functions are constant, unchanged;
- the functions of law show directions that people cannot regulate in other ways than law;
- the content of each function individually is characterized by the dynamics of changes in tasks, goals and main directions, depending on the slightest changes in the sphere of certain social and legal relations;
- All functions without exception are included in a single structure, which allows us to talk about their systematic nature;
It should be noted that, taking into account the above properties, the legal functions of law are divided depending on the industry. That is, some functions belong to one industry, others to another. This means that we can speak separately about the areas of action of the functions of labor law, administrative, civil, criminal, etc. In addition, the systemic nature of functions and law as a whole makes it possible to classify the areas of action of the regulator based on various factors. The article will present standard differentiation, as well as features of functions in some industries.
Classification
The functions of law have a dual nature of regulatory orientation. In simple words, law is both a legal and a purely social phenomenon. This means that the concept and types of functions of law will also be considered through the prism of these two fundamentally different positions. Theoretical scientists today the whole array of functional orientation is divided as follows: the general social block and the special legal.
Social orientation
General social functions prove and clearly demonstrate the role of law in the process of regulating human life. They directly reflect the regulation of certain areas that are least in contact with the legal industry. Thus, in the general social block, a number of the following functions are distinguished, namely:
1) Political . This function is quite important given the current development of political life and culture. It manifests itself in the regulation by law of relations between states, political parties, religious denominations and other social groups that participate in the process of consumption, exchange and production of material goods. In addition, the political function, in fact, determines the existence of a kind of guarantor of the rights and freedoms of the subjects of such legal relations.
2) The economic function of law exists to maintain a healthy financial climate in the state. In this case, legal regulation is mainly aimed at increasing the initiative of business entities. It should be noted that the economic direction is very often influenced by global trends. For example, in the 21st century, most countries want to enter the world market. Accordingly, all relations within these countries will be regulated to suit the trends of a market economy.
3) The upbringing function of law is aimed at creating awareness among the participants in public relations of justice and the effectiveness of the existing ideological regime.
4) The fact that law supports the development of national, historically formed thought and ideology makes it possible to talk about the existence of a cultural function .
5) Social control is also one of the functions of law. It manifests itself in stimulating and deterring from unlawful actions of participants in public relations.
Thus, the functions of law, the concept and classification of which are presented in the article, in many aspects regulate not only the legal areas of human life. In other words, general social directions enable the legal system to influence the world around us.
Special legal functions
If general social functions show the effect of the right on non-legal branches, then specially-legal ones are clear examples of the matter that allows the law to actually work. In other words, they are called special because they regulate the internal structure of law and its relationship with structural elements. To date, scientists distinguish the following special legal functions, namely:
1) The regulatory function is the main direction of the dynamics of the legal system as a whole. As already indicated at the beginning of the article, law is the main regulator of public relations. By means of the presented function, he exerts the necessary force on certain moments arising in society. Direct coordination of public relations is carried out through various legal sectors. For example, the functions of labor law are mainly regulating, because the government’s imperative is not required here, because the institution of responsibility in the labor industry was initially poorly developed.
2) The protective function, along with the regulatory one, is one of the most important. Through it, the displacement of negative phenomena, the restoration of violated rights and the prosecution of persons who have committed unlawful acts are carried out. With this function, law supports the existing legal regime in the state by suppressing any actions that go beyond its scope. For example, the functions of administrative law are for the most part regulatory. Thus, social relations are not only streamlined, but also become more “convenient” for coordination. In the structure of the protective direction, some additional, more precisely, auxiliary functional branches are also distinguished. These include: restorative, punitive, compensatory and restrictive functions.
It should be noted that the tasks and functions of law are realized through the special activities of the subjects of a particular type of public relations. As for the protective direction, its structural elements carry out their action only through certain forms, which will be presented later.
Security function forms
The functions of administrative law or any other industry, which are protective in nature, are implemented through certain forms. Many scientists put forward theories that without the norms presented below it would be impossible to really influence society. In other words, any negative phenomena could not be eradicated, let alone restore the violated powers of the subjects. To date, the following forms of implementation are distinguished, namely:
1) Information . Through this form, information is transferred from the state to individual subjects of law in order to form their understanding of the existing legal regime, the rules of which must be obeyed.
2) The orientation form is directly related to the transfer of information, because knowledge of the subjects of the existing legal regime allows them to form guidelines for their behavior. The latter, in turn, should protect people from the commission of any offenses.
3) Regulatory - this is a form that manifests itself in the real actions of special subjects of law, which, with their authority, coordinate the behavior of society as a whole and individuals.
4) The security form is a set of prohibitions and permissions through which people choose the most appropriate “plot” of their behavior.
Conclusion
So, in the article we presented the concept and types of functions of law. It should be noted that the issues discussed are constantly being studied by scientists around the world. Indeed, through functions, the main task of law is actually realized, which determined its creation - the regulation of public relations.