The main source of criminal law is the Criminal Code. Art. 1 of this normative act establishes this provision. The article also established that new criminal penalties should be included in it. Accordingly, no other acts, judicial precedents, or customs can serve as sources of criminal law. A similar rule applies to the decisions of the Plenum of the Armed Forces. These documents cannot create new standards. They are intended only for disclosure, clarification of existing provisions of a particular part of the Criminal Code .
UK structure
Since 01/01/1997, the updated Criminal Code has been in force in the Russian Federation . This normative act includes 360 articles, combined into 34 chapters and 12 sections. The current Criminal Code provides for 2 parts: Special and General. The latter sets out, as the name implies, general concepts, provisions that the Criminal Code contains . This is necessary for the correct application of the Special Part of the Criminal Code. And in it, in turn, specific types of illegal acts and punishments are fixed.
Specificity
Parts of the Criminal Code are interconnected. The general provisions of the Criminal Code are the grounds and procedure for holding persons accountable, the conditions for the release of citizens from punishment. In addition, it establishes the stages of the commission of encroachments, the circumstances in the presence of which the criminality of an act, form of guilt and so on is excluded. However, the General part cannot be correctly applied without the Special. Otherwise, the tasks fixed in it would not have been realized. Indeed, the recognition of a specific violation and the establishment of punishment for it are determined by the Special Part.
Parts Composition
The General Part provides for 6 sections. They include 15 chapters containing a total of 104 articles. There are also 6 sections in the Special Part. However, there are 19 chapters, and 266 articles. The sections of the General Part are distinguished depending on the concept being disclosed. For example, Sec. II of the Criminal Code - these are “Crimes”. In the Special Part, the separation is carried out according to the generic object of the crime. For example, Sec. VII of the Criminal Code - "Crimes against the person." There are chapters in each section, and articles in them. The latter, in turn, are composed of parts. They are indicated in Arabic numerals. Parts of the articles are divided into paragraphs. They are designated by letters, for example, paragraph "a", part 2 of article 112.
Nuance
It should be said about one important feature of the General part. It consists in the fact that the structure does not distinguish elements of criminal law. Only some articles contain a hypothesis. The norms of the Special Part clearly indicate both disposition and sanction. But the hypothesis is absent in them.
Action of law
The general part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation defines the rules for the operation of norms in space and in time. The latter is that the punishability of criminal acts is determined by the law that existed at the time of their commission. The relevant provisions are fixed in Articles 9 and 10 of the Criminal Code. In accordance with the rule, it is not allowed to apply the new law to an assault committed before its entry into force. As the Constitution establishes, unpublished regulatory acts are not subject to implementation. The effect of the law in space is based on the principle of citizenship and territoriality. The latter suggests that the entity that committed the unlawful act within the Russian Federation should be held accountable under domestic law. Military vessels are considered the territory of Russia, regardless of where they are located. The principle of citizenship implies that a citizen of Russia, regardless of his place of residence when he commits an encroachment, is held accountable under domestic law. A similar rule applies to military personnel, unless otherwise provided by international agreement.
Time of the act
As him, according to the Criminal Code, the moment of the implementation of unlawful acts, regardless of the duration of the consequences. Meanwhile, the concept of a continuing crime is enshrined in law. It means that unlawful acts are committed continuously. In the event of a change in the criminal law, liability for such a crime comes under the new rules. This is due to the fact that the attack continues after the adoption of amendments to the law. An example of a continuing crime is weapons storage in violation of established rules.
Reverse force
It is allowed as an exception. The retroactive effect of the law is applied if it eliminates the criminality of actions, softens the sanction or otherwise improves the situation of those responsible. This assumption applies to entities who committed an infringement prior to the entry into force of the norms. This possibility is determined by the principles of humanism. At the same time, there is a special indication in the Criminal Code that a law that worsens the position of a citizen does not have retroactive effect.