The article examines incentives in law, because legal incentives are a strong lever of motivational pressure, the most important means of educated modern human. It is emphasized. that legal incentives are an effective tool of public administration, a way to solve existing economic and social problems. It is determined, that the subject of legal incentives is the "own" interest of the subject.The approaches of a number of researchers concerning the division of legal incentives into positive and negative are given. A comparison is made between legal restrictions and incentives in law. Criteria are given that separate legal incentives from legal restrictions. It is noted, that all legal means of coercion as incentives should be used in such a way that they can have a positive impact on a particular convict in the implementation of an individual program of correction, and on the activities as a whole. In the future, it is emphasized, that legal incentives as positive factors often include all legal means and in the case when they contribute to the goal of law - direct people's behavior in the right direction.It is noted, that negative incentives are an integral part of maintaining law and order in the state, as it aims to influence a person, forcing him/her to do so by restricting his/her opportunities through coercive measures by the state. Negative incentives take on the role of restrictions, affect the subject by narrowing the scope of opportunities through "negative" legal motivation and coercive measures, while playing the role of a general regulatory legal instrument. At the same time, negative incentives are those significant levers on the part of the state that aim to prevent illegal behavior of a person and force him/her to commit lawful behavior, through the possibility of using state coercion or prosecution