Legal activity of an individual in criminal law and environmental policy

Abstract

Criminal law is traditionally viewed as a branch of public law. Until recently, the category of “dispositivity” in the Russian theory of criminal law had not even been considered. However, it is argued that the development and reflection of dispositivity fundamentals in the criminal law shows the level of protection of law-abiding citizens and also serves as an indicator of activity of legal subjects in the field of criminal justice. The article attempts to define the concept of dispositivity in criminal law and explores its theoretical and applied aspects through conceptual (political and legal) and instrumental approaches. As a part of the conceptual (political and legal) approach, dispositivity is treated as the common grounds of the field of legal regulation. As a part of the instrumental approach, dispositivity is regarded as a method of legal regulation, property legal norms, as well as the mode of legal regulation. From the point of legal methodology, we can speak of dispositivity in the Russian criminal law, since there are no “pure” or distinct fields of private or public law. Simultaneously with the imperative method of legal regulation, there may be the legal grounds for the dispositive legal regulation, and vice versa. The article also analyzes the ratio of the legal activity of an individual (“disposition”) in criminal law and the development of society, using the example of a city. It is stated that the higher the legal activity of a person stipulated by law, the more secure is the position of a person in society.