The subject of the study is a critical analysis of the “theory of automatic sanctions,” which is based on the patterns of formulation and functioning of sanctions developed in the general theory of law. The study aims to determine, based on the analysis of, the patterns of formulation and functioning of sanctions as an element of the rule of law in the Russian legal system by analyzing the signs of automatic sanctions set out in these works. Also, the subject of the study is the patterns of application of sanctions in the Russian legal system, knowledge of which will allow us to draw conclusions about the advisability of the existence of “automatic sanctions” in the Russian legal system. The research methods are analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, abstraction, generalization, modeling formal legal approach, and a variety of these methods as legal analysis. Analysis of the nature of “sanctions” shows that they are aimed primarily at protecting the existing legal order by bringing the person who violated the disposition of the legal norm to legal liability and by applying other protective measures to restore the violated legal order. The effective application of sanctions involves establishing the following circumstances: who committed this unlawful act, whether the person is guilty of committing an offense, if sanctions provide responsibility for its commission; what measures of protection can be applied in this case to a person who has violated the legal order set out in the disposition of the legal norm, whether in this case there are circumstances excluding the wrongfulness of the act, or other circumstances excluding the application of these sanctions. All this requires implementing a law enforcement process, which makes the existence of such a phenomenon as automatic sanctions inappropriate.