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and the “letter” of law is written in the law. The spirit of the law is
believed to be higher than the letter of law. Therefore, when applying
the law, in particular, in the courts, this feature is taken into account,
that is, the attention is paid not only to the formal side of the law – its

“letter”, but also to the “spirit” of law – content of law and reflection
of right.
The social purpose of law is formed and consists of needs of

social development. The function of law is the realization of its social
purpose, the main directions of legal influence over people’s
consciousness and behaviour, characterizing its role and significance
in the life of society. In accordance with the society’s needs, laws are

issued, aimed at consolidating the certain relations, their regulation or
protection. The role of law becomes the more urgent, the more acute
the need (necessity) is in its proper social role – to consolidate, protect

or direct the development of certain social relations.
The ordering of social relations, their systemic and dynamism
are necessary conditions for the functioning and development of

society. Therefore, the social purpose of law is to regulate, organize
the social relations, provide them with proper stability, create the
necessary conditions for realization of citizens' rights and normal

functioning of civil society as a whole.
There are two groups of criteria, underlying the differentiation of
common law functions: internal (within law) and external (beyond
law).

Internal criteria (grounds) of classifications of legal functions
derive from legal system, the ways of its influence over people’s
behaviour, the peculiarities of implementation forms.

The inextricable connection of legal functions with the actual
legal material determines the existence of the main self-legal
functions: regulatory and security.
The regulatory and security functions are those functions,

characterizing law as a specific qualitatively independent formation.
The need for existence of law as a social phenomenon consists in the
necessity of performing these functions.

The external objective criterion for the classification of legal
functions is various social factors, determining the purpose of law.
Society as a complex and even an intricate whole is divided into

certain spheres of social relations. We can distinguish three main areas

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