Modern legal science. Legal science and legal education

Legal (or legal) science is studying the legal system in the state. It is part of the training program for lawyers and other people whose work is related to the court.

Significance of jurisprudence

Today, modern legal science is one of the most important humanitarian disciplines. This is due to the fact that in the XX century, the triumph of the law was established throughout the world. All socially important actions are regulated in one way or another by legal norms. It is the legal science that examines them. The knowledge associated with it has a direct applied purpose. Without jurists and lawyers, it is impossible to provide a legitimate relationship between the state and society.

Over time, an international system of legal education, which annually produces millions of specialists. Typically, training is divided into several cycles. For example, in the US, Mexico, the UK and some other large countries, the first stage of education lasts three years. Upon completion, the student receives a bachelor's degree. After one more course, the student becomes a master of law.

The origin of jurisprudence

Even in antiquity, there was a legal science, more precisely, its prerequisites. They were born and developed as the legislation grew in ancient societies. Often, legal norms were associated with religion. For example, in Judea, laws were taught according to Bible passages.

At the same time, in Ancient Greece, the first schools emerged, where legal science was taught in the modern sense. In politics there were philosophical circles, where, together with the laws, they taught eloquence. It is important to note that at that time the concept of "legal science" was inseparable from general knowledge. For the ancient Greeks, there were no isolated disciplines. The sages (philosophers) studied all sciences at once.

In Rome, jurisprudence received an additional impetus for development. At first in this city, knowledge of the laws was also a privilege of the priests. However, as early as the 1st century AD, the first private law school, founded by Sabine, was established in Rome. The term of study in this institution was 4 years. Gradually, similar schools were based in other major cities (Constantinople, Athens, Beirut and Alexandria).

Roman law

In Rome, a modern system of law was born. Its features can be found in any current legislation. How did you manage to keep this knowledge for so many centuries? After all, in the V century BC. E. Rome fell, and the whole great ancient civilization dissolved among the barbarian peoples. The answer is very simple. The Roman Empire had a legal successor, Byzantium. It was in this state that the former legal and state system was preserved.

Legislative principles adopted in ancient Rome are known as Roman law. Today this discipline is an obligatory part of the program at any law faculty. In the years 530-533. In Byzantium, the Justinian Code was created , in which this knowledge was systematized. Modern legal science could not exist without this document. It is also known as the Digest.

The Importance of Roman Norms

In Roman law (and later in the Digests), concepts of principle for jurisprudence were fixed. The most important of them was the statement that the state is the result of an agreement established between citizens. For residents of the country, the creation of a clear system of power is necessary to solve socially important problems.

Already in ancient Rome, there were principles of justice, which stemmed from equality. It consisted in the same measure of responsibility of any citizens to the state. People could live in a society of well-being only if certain norms were adopted prohibiting actions that violate the rights of the inhabitants of the country. These were the laws. Experts of these rules became lawyers and defended people in court if their rights were under attack.

The legal science in Russia and in the rest of the world is built largely on the concepts used by lawyers in the Eternal City. This is not so strange if one realizes that since then the structure of the state and its relations with society have undergone not many changes.

Reception of Roman law

The provisions of Roman law were universal. They continued to be used even after the ancient state was left in the past. This phenomenon is called the reception of Roman law. This process has several forms. They changed depending on the specific state.

Roman law can be the object of study, commenting and research. In this case, its principles and norms are not directly adopted. Select only some of the principles that are in the modern legislation. This is the easiest and inconspicuous form of reception.

In other cases, Roman law can be adopted entirely. Applied legal science in this case develops mechanisms for working with legislation in which these norms have turned out. For example, the best French lawyers of the XIX century combined national and Roman norms. The result of this work formed the basis of the famous Code of Napoleon. It stressed the importance and priority of civil rights. Many modern laws are based either on Roman law, or on the norms formulated in 1804 in the Code of Napoleon.

Jurisprudence in Russia

The first signs of the emergence of jurisprudence as a science in Russia can be found in the documents of the XVII century. The state planned to introduce the teaching of "justice" in the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. It was the first higher educational institution in Russia. But then this idea was never realized.

Legal science and legal practice became an urgent necessity in the epoch of Peter the Great. The Russian tsar reformed the state. All old posts were replaced by European counterparts. There was a "Table of Ranks" and other documents regulating the life of the bureaucratic class. State activity became orderly. However, in the new conditions, the country needed specialists who understood the principles and processes taking place within the bureaucratic machine.

Therefore, in 1715 Peter I began to prepare a project for the creation of a specialized academy. According to the idea, her graduates had to work in the chancery and monitor the legality of their work. However, the domestic teaching of jurisprudence began elsewhere.

The emergence of domestic legal education

In 1725 the Academy of Sciences of Russia was established. Until the 1860s, the law and the basics of political science were taught within its walls. Pupils of St.Petersburg first heard about what a legal science is. The functions of this knowledge were extremely pragmatic. It was in the 18th century that a noticeable growth of the bureaucracy took place, which could not be effective if its members did not understand the structure of the state and laws.

After the foundation of Moscow University, the best Russian legal education began to be taught within its walls. At the same time, the first lecturers in law were invited German specialists. Only in the era of Catherine II the first domestic teachers and professors (for example, Semen Desnitsky) appeared.

Current state

Russian law and legal education in recent years have experienced significant changes associated with the introduction in our country of a European model of training legal experts. This phenomenon is also called the Bologna Process. He got his name at the place of signing the corresponding agreement. In 1999, European countries (Russia joined them in 4 years) agreed to bring together and harmonize their disparate higher education systems.

This decision was reflected in the law faculties. Modern Russian levels of higher education (bachelor's, master's, etc.) as much as possible comply with European standards. The existing order allows students of domestic universities to continue their studies abroad without difficulties. In turn, the legal science in Russia receives an additional stimulus for its development in the form of links with foreign specialists.

Theory of Government and Rights

Jurisprudence is divided into several basic sciences. One of them is the theory of state and law, or abbreviated TGP. This theory appeared in the Soviet professorial environment, and today remains predominantly Russian discipline. In Europe, the state and law are explored separately.

The legal science of TGP considers the principles, tendencies and patterns of the emergence of institutions of power. The theory deals with such important concepts as offense, legal responsibility, political system, legislative process , etc.

The theory of social contract

In its current state, jurisprudence has several fundamental theories. Jurisprudence studies the state, civil society and the law itself. But do these phenomena have a single point of intersection?

The theory of the social contract assumes that the state, law and civil society arose as a result of an agreement between all people. The meaning of the word "legal science" is the totality of the disciplines that study this phenomenon.

The theory of the social contract formed the basis for the modern notion that a legitimate state can exist only with the consent of its subjects. For the first time such an idea was formulated by the famous English thinker Thomas Hobbes in 1651. Later, his theory was developed by equally important philosophers John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Their research has spawned several scientific schools and famous terms. For example, Hobbes suggested that in the absence of the state, anarchy or a war of all against all will reign.

Legal Psychology

A significant part of the legal science is related to investigative activities and criminalistics. Without jurisprudence, there would be no criminal law. An important era for its emergence in the modern form was the 20th century. There were new methods of conducting investigations, etc. In the 1960s, legal psychology arose. As a science, this part of jurisprudence is necessary to identify and search criminals.

In forensics, the psychological factor is very important. Often acts of criminals are irrational, they can not be explained. A person who has violated the law may have hundreds of motives to commit a fatal act. Legal psychology appeared as a set of methods aimed at investigating the behavior of criminals.

Methods of legal psychology

The modern concept of "legal science" is quite multifaceted. This is due to the complex organization of society and the state. This concept also includes integrative disciplines, that is, those that exist at the intersection of the other two sciences. For example, legal psychology uses the methods and concepts of both psychology and jurisprudence that have become its foundations.

Her subject explores the interrelations, mechanisms and phenomena that become the causes of the violation of the law in society. Legal norms are violated by the individual. But, as a rule, the reason for his action is hidden in deeper processes related to the state of society.

The specialists in legal psychology have several universal methods that help them in their work. For example, structural analysis examines the dependencies of the event under consideration. The method of conversation is necessary in order to obtain from a person accurate testimony about the causes of his actions, which led to the violation of the law.