Legal Responsibility: Positive and Negative Aspects

Abstract

The discussion about the existence of positive and negative legal liability does not lose relevance to this day. The psychology of a person allows him to choose his own path — whether to implement a rule of law lawfully or to overstep the boundaries of legitimate implementation and be subjected to negative hardships associated with the use of state coercion against him. It is important to note the fact that it is the negative responsibility that is the result of the application of state coercion to the offender in its negative aspect, as well as the result of the punitive and protective function of legal responsibility. Negative legal liability is characterized by its retrospectivity and needs state coercion especially acutely. Positive responsibility, on the other hand, is characterized by voluntariness, is associated with the implementation of mandatory norms and is a promising observance of the law by a person. It is not excluded that a positive or promising legal responsibility is also provided by state coercion, since it is the presence of the boundaries of the lawful implementation of the rule of law that allows the subjects of legal relations to implement the norm lawfully and not allow the sanctions of this norm to be applied to themselves.