The article considers the elements of crimes of a special part of the Criminal law, containing the category "obstruction" as a constructive element of the objective or subjective side. The methodological basis of the research is the classical general scientific methods of cognition, as well as special methods of legal research, in particular, comparative legal, empirical, as well as the method of legal practice, and linguistic means of cognition of the studied category, which allows us to establish the meaning of the term in its original understanding before its implementation in criminal law. The analysis allows us to conclude that there are ambiguous approaches in understanding the content of obstruction as an independent criminal legal category. Firstly, it refers to various elements of the corpus delicti. Secondly, in some compositions, the fulfillment of the objective side of the crime committed by obstruction is possible only by action, and in others by inaction. In Chapter 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, obstruction is the result of illegal activity, which corresponds to the lexical meaning of the term in question. However, such an understanding gives rise to a qualification question about the possibility or impossibility of qualifying acts according to the rules of the multiple offences. According to the results of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that the current criminal law regarding the use of the category "obstruction" is subject to change: it is necessary to attribute obstruction exclusively to the signs of the objective side, in its legal and lexical meaning it cannot be the purpose of committing a crime. The norm of Art. 169 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is subject to exclusion, since the methods of committing a crime are excess and abuse of official powers, responsibility for which is provided for in the chapter on official crimes. When describing obstruction as a sign of the objective side of the crime, an indication of the commission of a crime in any form should be excluded, since this creates problems in law enforcement practice in terms of additional qualifications if the method of obstruction is an independent crime.