The Criminal Legal System and the System of Criminal Law

Introduction: in modern social and legal realities, the question of the need for a systematic understanding of law in general, and criminal law in particular, is acute. The judicial practice shows that law enforcement officers often have difficulties in interpreting and implementing legal norms. In this connection, the author of the paper sets the purpose of the study: to consider criminal law as a system-based construct. Methods: the methodological framework for the research is a set of methods of scientific cognition, among which the main ones are the systematic approach, the method of deduction, induction, abstraction, analysis and comparative law. Results: the author’s position justified in the work is based on the legislation and the opinions of the competent scientific community on the question of whether the totality of sources of criminal law has a sign of consistency. Using the legal analysis of the provisions of the theory of law, the question is raised about the possibility of including in the criminal legal system such elements as the legislation on issues related to criminal law, doctrinal opinions of scientists, rules for the qualification of crimes, criminal law principles, judicial practice and others. A semantic distinction is made between the concepts of the criminal legal system and the system of criminal law. The author’s definition of the category of a system-forming feature of criminal law, as well as the concept of a criminal legal system, is given. The conclusion about the non-identity of these concepts is substantiated. Conclusions: as a result of the study, it is established that criminal law has signs of consistency. Criminal law as a branch of law contains various elements, including those related to unwritten law. Among them, it is possible to distinguish socio-philosophical categories, such as religious norms, norms of morality and decency, as well as the rules formulated in the criminal-legal sphere by theoretical scientists and law enforcement officers. In particular, they include the rules for the qualification of crimes, the general principles of criminal law, the doctrine of the composition of the crime and others.