Legal behavior is the social behavior of a person (his action or inaction) of a conscious-volitional nature, which is regulated by the rules of law and entails legal consequences. From this definition it follows that neutral, from a legal point of view, behavior is not legal.
Signs
The main features of legal behavior are:
- The behavior of people. The key word here is the word "people", that is, the behavior, for example, of animals cannot be legal. Only human behavior in Russia is regulated by law.
- Behavior can be expressed by a specific action or inaction, that is, from the point of view of law, only what you specifically did or did not do matters.
- Legal behavior - this behavior, which in one way or another is regulated by legal norms.
- Behavior must be conscious. Any actions committed, for example, by a mentally ill or juvenile, cannot be considered legal behavior, since they were not aware of them, and the ensuing consequences did not depend on their will. But such actions can be legally significant.
- Actions must have social significance, that is, social and legal behavior are inextricably linked. Examples of such behavior can be: participation in elections, military service, participation in strikes, etc.
- Legal behavior should be controlled by the state. An action or inaction cannot be recognized as legal if it is not regulated in any way by the rules of law.
- Legal behavior is the behavior that entails the occurrence of any legal consequences. Sometimes these consequences will not be obvious. For example, if a person complies with all legal norms, then it will not suffer any concrete consequences, but this will be the very legal consequence.
Kinds
By the number of subjects, legal behavior is divided into:
- Collective - committed by a group of individuals.
- Individual - perfect alone.
By external manifestations:
- Action - can be expressed both in the form of some kind of physical activity, and in written or verbal form (report, insult).
- Inaction is the most obvious example - refusal of medical care or leaving in danger, that is, a situation where a person could do something to prevent the onset of negative consequences, but did not. On the other hand, inaction can also be socially beneficial - for example, refusing to participate in a strike.
By social significance:
- Socially useful - beneficial to society, for example, military service.
- Socially harmful - committed to the detriment of the public.
According to legal assessment:
- Lawful - behavior that complies with legal or legal standards.
- Wrongful behavior - behavior that does not comply with the rule of law. It can be expressed in the form of a crime - an action that poses a danger to society, as well as in the form of an offense - a socially harmless act, but regulated by law, for example, truancy.
The most important in this classification is the legal assessment of legal behavior. It is worth considering in more detail.
Lawful behavior
Signs of lawful behavior are:
- It always appears in the form of action or inaction.
- It is always aimed at the benefit of society.
- This is the most massive behavior in a legal society.
- If the behavior of the public is considered unlawful, but at the same time is of a mass nature, first of all, the legal norms are reviewed for the correctness of their application.
Behavioral aspect of legitimate behavior
Lawful behavior is also divided by the behavioral aspect into:
- Active-conscious - it is based on internal beliefs that such behavior is completely legitimate.
- Habitual (positive) - based on habits or upbringing, for example, from childhood, the suggested principle of "do not steal."
- Conformist - such behavior is based on the fact that everyone around behaves this way, that is, even if a person’s convictions do not coincide with the convictions of the “crowd”, he still acts like other people.
- Marginal - based on the fear of applying sanctions against him in case of misconduct.
In fact, it doesn’t matter what the legitimate behavior of the subject is based on, the main thing is that it benefits the public. But it is clear that the fear of punishment, for example, may one day pass, but internal convictions will not go anywhere. That is why now they are trying from childhood to instill a love of the motherland, aversion to cruelty and other aspects of the rule of law.
But the concept of lawful behavior can be applied not only to a single person, but also to, for example, an enterprise, that is, to a group of people. Legal behavior is behavior only between people. Also, such behavior can be considered not only from the point of view of criminal law. It may be unlawful or lawful in other areas of public life.
Norms
Legal norms of behavior are expressed in the fact that the subject of law consciously chooses for himself such behavior that will not contradict the legal, social and other norms set forth above.
At first glance, it seems that these concepts are mutually exclusive, that social and legal norms are not always similar. But if you think about it, it becomes clear that, having certain moral principles that have social significance, the effect on the observance of legal norms is also affected, i.e., social and legal behavior are inextricably linked.
rules
Legal rules of conduct are rules that are established by the state. This is done depending on various conditions and possible public behaviors. You can also highlight several rules of legal behavior that are characteristic of society. First of all, it is:
- Coercion. Legal norms of the rules of conduct allow that their execution is voluntary. But in case of violations of these rules, sanctions will be applied. For example, you are free to abide by or not abide by the criminal code, but in case of violation, sanctions will be applied to you, which are provided for your violation.
- Sociality. Legal rules of conduct are provided only between people, that is, these rules can in no way regulate the relationship between a person and, for example, an animal.
The rules of law offer only abstract rules of behavior, but establish a specific punishment for non-compliance, that is, this abstractness is formal.
Conclusion
Summarizing all the above, we can say that legal behavior is the behavior of an adult capable person living in compliance with legal, moral, religious principles, having a clear concept of “what is good and what is bad” and has such a strong internal conviction in this, that nothing and no one can shake his faith.