Introduction. For a long time, our ideas about the essence and content of the category of "responsibility" in the general theory of law, including views on the concept of criminal liability, remained stable, despite their debatable nature. Retrospective responsibility, which implies a state response to unlawful behaviour, has always been associated with state coercion. At the same time, the current criminal law policy, the need for a tougher response to modern challenges, coupled with the ideas of postmodernism and metamodernism allow us to put forward a thesis about a significant transformation of the category of “responsibility” and the need to rethink its essence and content. Methods. To achieve the objectives of the study, various scientific methods were used: general scientific methods of cognition (systemic-structural, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction), the historical method in combination with the hermeneutic, as well as specific scientific methods, such as comparative legal, legal modeling and extrapolation. Results. Indicators have been identified that do not fit into the traditional understanding of responsibility, confirming the fact of its serious and inevitable transformation. These include, in particular, the use of emergency legislation by the state, significantly expanding the boundaries of responsibility; the use of new technologies (biotechnology, artificial intelligence capabilities); a shift in the vector of strategy and tactics for combating crimes from criminal law to political; a gradual transformation of the concept of retribution and punishment into a concept of control. All of the above allows us to conclude that in the near future our justice system will become more totalitarian and harsh.