Often, qualified lawyers encounter difficulties in explaining a particular norm, let alone ordinary citizens? The legislator, setting out articles of the Federal Law in the legal language, significantly complicates the understanding of its meaning. The interpretation of law solves this problem.
Critical Process Elements
Any methods of interpretation of the law include the subject and object, without which the "decoding" of the law is not possible. In each case, regardless of the type, the object of interpretation is the regulatory legal acts: federal laws, government decrees, presidential decrees, departmental orders, regulatory documents of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and so on.
If the object is quite simple to find, then the problem often arises with the subject of interpretation. This element expresses the will of the legislator, which must be accurately conveyed, but in simple words and in an accessible language.
What's the point?
Before considering the complex system of this process, it is worth thinking about the need for interpretation of law. Does anyone need this? Are citizens interested in this process? Does the result justify invested public funds?
At first glance, it can be mistakenly assumed that the interpretation of law does not interest citizens, therefore, it does not have much significance and meaning for jurisprudence. However, it is important not to forget that:
- Each norm proclaimed by the legislator is applied in a specific life situation. A person does not think about the action of an article until he comes across it in real life, for example, when resolving a conflict situation of an economic nature.
- Legal terms, concepts and phrases that are used in the interpretation of law are not always understood by ordinary citizens.
- Unfortunately, the state bodies of the Russian Federation authorized to issue normative acts, for example, deputies of the State Duma, do not always have high knowledge of the Russian language and philology. This shortcoming gives rise to grammatical inconsistency of verbal constructions, logical errors and ambiguous formulations.
- An analysis of modern legislation shows that, along with the foregoing, the textual part of the article does not coincide with its semantic content, which also gives rise to bewilderment of practical workers.
The interpretation of criminal law, civil, administrative and many other legislative branches is necessary in the activities of the judiciary. As you know, in the Russian Federation a legal precedent is not a legal source, however, the diversity of public relations gives rise to the most controversial practical situations. In this regard, the abundance of standards needs to be carefully interpreted with a view to their successful application by the courts and a fair resolution of disputes.
About the concept and content
The interpretation of law is a volitional activity related to the intellectual processes of legal entities, which is aimed at the primary clarification of the norm and further clarification of its meaning. And the result of this process is expressed in a specific regulatory document.
Any methods of interpretation, regardless of their organizational and semantic form, have the following contents:
- Intellectual activity to clarify the meaning is a thought process that does not go beyond the limits of consciousness of one person.
- Activities related to the clarification of legal norms. This step follows immediately after completion of the clarification. The essence of the element is to properly explain and state the meaning of the will of the legislator for other participants in public relations, which are regulated by one or another norm.
Conventionally, the stages of interpretation of the rule of law can be divided into: “your understanding” and “explanation to others”.
Variety of ways
As noted earlier, there are many obstacles to understanding the meaning of the law by an ordinary citizen who is not related to legal activity. Moreover, the interpretation of the rules of law for state bodies and residents of the state is qualitatively different.
In theory, the following methods of interpretation are distinguished, depending on the object:
- philological;
- systematic;
- logical;
- historical.
About each - “on the shelves”
As you might have guessed, the philological method of interpretation is aimed at considering grammatical constructions. It consists of two elements:
- morphological examination of the verbal construction, which involves the study of the internal structure of words;
- syntactic verification of a phrase, namely verification of compliance and compliance with the presentation of articles of the rules and norms of the Russian language, the sequence of words in the sentence.
In the process of philological interpretation, considerable attention is paid to connecting and dividing unions, since mistakes or the absence of a comma can give rise to terrible consequences, as in the phrase "You can’t be pardoned." The specialist also analyzes various forms of verbs, participles, participles, adverbs and so on.
General analysis of legislation
The interpretation of law in a systematic way is based on an analysis of the structure of the law, as well as its compliance with other legal acts. A large number of questions arise in case of inconsistency of the articles of one document. This form of interpretation also verifies the validity of the use of reference and blanket rules that direct the reader to other articles or laws.
In the process of a systematic interpretation of civil law, administrative, criminal and other industries, general and special norms are compared that apply to certain areas of public relations. A striking example is the obligation of parents to maintain and provide material support for minor children until they reach the age of 18. Moreover, in case of marriage (marriage) before adulthood, such an obligation is removed.
Logic is our everything!
Of course, the interpretation and application of law should be logical! That is why the legislator, when issuing the rules, must use the correct logical techniques, which make it easy to understand the meaning. Most often, officials use a number of the following examples: analysis, logical transformation, synthesis, conclusions by analogy, inference from the contrary, conclusions and so on.
History allows us to understand the origin
The most interesting, and not only for lawyers, is the historical way of interpreting law. This form of "verification" allows you to establish the origins of the norm in terms of the emergence of certain social relations. Along with this, not only the normative source is analyzed, but also the conditions that gave rise to the need to establish the rules of behavior.
The basis of this type of interpretation are specific historical facts, causes and conditions of a certain period of time. A detailed historical analysis allows us to understand the true essence of the norm and its purpose.
The Official Interpretation of Law: The Main Source of Disclosed Content
In theory, two types of interpretation are distinguished: official and unofficial. Each of them has distinctive features that are associated not only with the means and methods used to clarify and present the material, but also with the entities involved in this activity.
The official interpretation of the right is carried out specifically by authorized state bodies. The result of the activity is provided to the general public in the form of an established document. Most often, the criminal law and civil law are subject to official interpretation. The legislator obliges the courts to apply the provisions of documents that interpret the norms in the practice of resolving disputes and imposing sentences, as well as in making other decisions.
Binding and casuistry
In turn, the official interpretation can be normative and casual. In the first case, explanations are given in general terms and act as a typical regulator of public relations. It does not contain regulatory standards, but merely clarifies the meaning of existing laws and orders. Documents of this nature are inextricably linked with interpreted norms, that is, the abolition of the latter automatically entails the invalidity of the interpretation.
The difference in casual interpretation is that it is given in relation to a specific case. Its main goal is the correct and complete resolution of a particular case. State bodies in their activities may be guided by these explanations as a guide. Mandatory application is missing.
Not necessarily and not officially!
An entirely opposite type of clarification of laws is an unofficial interpretation. Here the imagination of the subject, carrying out outreach, is practically unlimited. This type of interpretation is not mandatory in legal terms, and can also be expressed both orally and in writing. For this, clarifications may be given by judges, lawyers, prosecutors during a court hearing or reception of citizens; Print publications or online resources are involved. Despite the variety of forms, means and methods, an unofficial interpretation is divided into the following types:
- Those explanations that are given by grandmothers at the entrance, or by a friend-driver, or ex-spouse on issues of dating children, are called ordinary, as they take place in everyday life.
- A professional interpretation is often given by officials who have extensive experience in the field of jurisprudence, and are also free to navigate the regulatory framework. The subjects of this form of clarification are lawyers, prosecutors, legal consultants and other persons, including graduates with a diploma in law. education.
- Doctrinal interpretation is the most difficult to understand, as it is given by scientists in monographs, articles, manuals, and comments. As a rule, this information is widely used in scientific circles, however, in the life of an ordinary layman it is not so popular.
Realities of the modern world require constant and continuous explanation of obscure phrases, words and expressions. Along with an explanation of the norms of wide branches, an interpretation is given of international law, accounting, and so on, and the closest attention is given to structures that are controversial in meaning and expression.