The operation of the criminal law in time contains several aspects. These include, in particular:
- Entry into force.
- The time of the misconduct.
- The loss of legal force.
- The reverse action.
The entry into force is regulated by the application of the federal regulatory act on the appropriate procedure. This action of the criminal law in time provides that only officially published acts are valid in the territory of Russia. The provisions adopted by the State Duma in the final version and signed by the head of the country are submitted to the official publication. The law is published within a week after its signing by the President, and the entry into force takes place ten days after publication in official publications.
There is also the concept of an extraordinary order. In this case, the criminal law in time, expressed in its entry into force, can be reduced or extended. So, for example, during the reform of the law, many normative acts acquired legal force immediately after their publication. At the same time, for larger acts, in some cases, the terms are set longer.
The loss of force means that the criminal law ceases in time. At the same time, its norms cannot be applied to crimes that arose after this. The theory of the law in question provides for the loss of legal force of law for two reasons. So, the act can be canceled or replaced (actually canceled).
Replacement involves the adoption of a new act ensuring the regulation of the same social relations as the previous one. At the same time, the action of the criminal law in time by the new act is not canceled. In some cases, it is not easy to determine which norms are losing their legal force and whether the loss occurs at all. This circumstance can provoke various collisions. In this regard, the criminal law more than other industries, prefers the repeal of the act.
Cancellation takes place in cases of the abolition of the act by the competent state authority. This fact is recorded in the act in the following ways:
- The publication of an independent law. It eliminates the power of the previous one.
- By issuing a list of acts that have expired on the basis of the adoption of a new one.
- An indication of repeal in a new law replacing the past.
- An indication in a provision fixing the procedure for the entry into force of a new act.
Signs of a criminal law provide for special principles for its functioning. So, immediate activity, ultraactivity, retroactivity are distinguished.
Immediate action provides for the extension of the provision to acts that arose after its entry into force. This activity of the act is normal, ordinary, basic.
When committing a crime during the period of the previous law, even if it has lost force by the time the charge is brought, the case or sentencing, the offender applies the rules of this particular previous law. Thus, the old act in some way “survives” the period allotted to it.
Retroactivity is the extension of a new law or regulation to crimes that arose before its entry into force. At the same time, acts fixing crime, increasing the degree of punishment or otherwise worsening the position of a citizen are not retroactive.
It should be noted that there are two types of reverse action: revision and simple. The last of them is the extension of the newly adopted, milder act to offenses for which the court decision has not entered into force. Reverse feedback action is the extension of the newly adopted law to decisions that have entered into force.