CRIMINAL LAW AS A BRANCH OF ROMANIAN LAW

Abstract

Throughout history, criminal law has known several definitions, all of which finally have its presentation as a branch of law, made up of a totality of legal norms, which establish the facts that constitute crimes, the conditions of criminal liability, the sanctions and the manner of their application. From the presented definition, we can deduce the fact that criminal law is a distinct branch of law, along with civil, administrative, constitutional, commercial law. Also, it is composed of the general part and the special part, but the structure is unitary, one cannot exist without the other. The general part provides the general rules, rules on how to apply the law, the governing principles, the typicality of crimes, the manner and rules of sanctioning. Instead, the special part of criminal law includes the rules of criminalization and the content of crimes. Consequently, criminal law aims to defend legal values against crime and at the same time combat it, especially, criminal law is the main guarantor of the norms and rules provided by the Romanian Constitution, having as its main objective the independence and unity of the state as well as the safety of citizens.