Almost throughout the history of its development, mankind has tried to find the most successful and effective regulator of social relations. After all, the interaction of society occurs through the unification of people into groups, which, in turn, form the population of a state. In the process of finding the best regulator, we tried various methods of influence. The first of these was violence. But very soon it became clear that this method has power only in the hands of a skilled leader. In the absence of this significant factor, any violent regime collapses. The second effective method was religion. But its effectiveness also became obsolete soon enough, because not everyone has a deep faith in higher powers.
With the gradual development of social thinking, people began to invent law. Today it is the main regulator of public relations around the world. However, its development can be at a completely different level in a particular country. This indicator, in turn, is called a legal culture, the functions and structure of which will be discussed later in the article. It should also be noted the fact that the effectiveness of the law and many other features depend on the mentioned factor.
Concept of law
The functions of legal culture, as well as the concept of this category, should be considered only in tandem with the main regulator of public relations. We have already mentioned it. As of today, as already mentioned, law is such. Let's determine what this phenomenon is.
From a scientific point of view, law is a way of influencing social interaction, which is a separate system of interrelated, socially defined, authorized and guaranteed by the state special behavioral rules. In other words, this category is a collection of permissions and prohibitions. Based on this thesis, we can say that the legal culture, concept, functions, the types of which are presented in the article, have their own characteristic features.
What is a legal culture?
As we know, a stable system of life principles, ideals and objective assessments is called human culture. This category determines, first of all, the mental and spiritual development of a person as a conscious being. However, the cultural component can be divided into many interrelated criteria. Each of them shows the relationship and the actual interaction of a person with certain areas of his activity. It follows that legal culture is a structural element of the classical category. But a logical question arises about what this concept is.
According to popular scientific opinion, legal culture is a certain level of objective assessments and knowledge regarding law and all related factors. This knowledge can exist in the form of separate intellectual attitudes, life experiences, beliefs, personal norms, etc. The legal culture, concept, functions, the types of which are presented by the author, are manifested both in legal and in other areas of social regulation. Namely: ethnic, state, professional.
Category Expression Form
Many people are trying to understand what constitutes a legal culture. The concept, its functions are of key importance in the process of social regulation of society. Since it is expressed in a special form. The category has its influence due to the fact that its main provisions are included in official state regulations. Moreover, the level of legal culture of the state depends on the number and hierarchy of legal acts in which its key points are applied.
However, there are other factors that testify to the development of the presented concept in the state. If we take into account specifically the Russian Federation, then in this country the legal culture is at a high level, because there is a system of special bodies. They, in turn, issue relevant regulations.
Correlation of concepts
Quite often, people confuse terms such as the legal culture of society and the legal culture of the individual. In general, they are adjacent. However, the presented categories are characterized by completely different objects. In the first case, we are talking about legal culture in general. That is, in this form the term is applicable directly to the state and its population.
In turn, the legal culture of an individual is actual knowledge and understanding of key aspects of law. At the same time, a high level of this category will be manifested in how often people comply with the requirements of the legal regime, taking into account awareness of its existence in general. However, the legal culture of society and the individual are also types of the term mentioned in the article.
The main types of legal culture
Legal culture, the concept, structure, the functions of which are presented in this article, has not only characteristic features, but also types. Classification of a category is carried out on the basis of three stages of its existence. In other words, a legal culture can exist at the level of society as a whole, as well as among hotel groups and individuals.
Previously, the author has already tried to explain what constitutes a category of personal and social levels. Nevertheless, they are also endowed with a number of other features that simply need to be taken into account when analyzing the concept. In addition, the types and functions of legal culture are quite strongly interconnected. Indeed, depending on the scope of the category, certain factors appear. Thus, the following types exist, namely:
- legal culture of an individual;
- legal culture of the group;
- legal culture of society.
Each of these elements plays a significant role in the process of regulating social relations. Indeed, due to different levels of action, the law can be "rebuilt" under the actual interests of specific groups and individuals.
Personal and group culture of a legal nature
Earlier, the author has already indicated that the presence of legal knowledge of an individual shows its level of development. In addition, the subjective legal culture is often an indicator of civil society, in which people not only realize the fact of the existence of their rights, but also fight for them. In the theory of law enforcement, personal fulfillment and knowledge of one’s authority is the key to the rule of law and order. From this we can distinguish a number of factors that determine the legal culture of each person individually, namely:
- The actual availability of legal knowledge.
- The ability to transform this knowledge into subjective measures of assessment or belief.
- Willingness and desire to act to realize their beliefs and uphold their correctness.
More specific in nature is the legal culture of the group. As a rule, this term is characterized by a vision of the legal system and other related concepts by a small number of people who are in interconnection with each other. But, as practice shows, the legal culture of the group actually absorbs individuals and their beliefs due to the ideology that reigns in the state. A very small number of social groups have their own beliefs, independent of any external factors. It follows that in such groups the individual will not be perceived as a link departing from the rules.
Public legal culture
The third and most significant form of the category indicated in the article is the culture of the whole society as a whole. It is often called the state system of beliefs and principles. The legal culture of society reflects the most important interests of the state’s population, as well as the level of real application of the norms of official acts both from the side of the country's authorities and society.
The structure of legal culture
Many functions of the legal culture, or rather, the process of their actual application, depend on the structural elements of this concept. Because the individual systemic parts of the legal category of beliefs and internal perception of the principles of social regulation of society determine the existence of specific functional tasks of the concept specified in the article. Today, the legal culture consists of the following structural elements, namely:
- legal awareness and legal activity of citizens;
- legal practice.
Elements are key in the structure of legal culture, because on their basis it is possible to analyze its actual state.
Legal awareness of society, what is it?
The structure and functions of legal culture, as was already indicated by the author earlier, are concepts that are closely related to each other. But in order to understand the essence of their interaction, it is necessary to consider each system element separately. Let's start with the legal awareness of society. For many people and even some scientists, this element raises many questions. So what is it? If we analyze the concept, from the point of view of linguistics, we can say that it consists of the words “law” and “consciousness”. The last term is a special mental state of each person. Consciousness is expressed in the individual’s ability to interact with the outside world and on this basis to put forward his own opinion.
As we understand it, justice is an offshoot of the classic term. That is, it is expressed in the level of knowledge of individuals legal norms, as well as the desire and ability to use them: to comply with prohibitions, to realize rights and obligations. In other words, a person sees law not as a separate, unnecessary sphere, but recognizes it as the main regulator of social relations, understands its true meaning. Of great importance in this case is the person’s ability to interpret legal norms. Of course, not everyone can do it correctly. However, we all can put forward our own opinion about the degree to which the possibilities allowed by law are implemented and the effectiveness of prohibitions.
In addition, legal consciousness can manifest itself in completely different ways. For example, people directly related to jurisprudence on a duty are obliged to have a good understanding of the current legislation of their state. In turn, ordinary citizens are not constrained by this duty. It is quite possible for them to know the standard norms that affect the normal process of life, that is, the very minimum. This knowledge includes the classical principles of law, as well as some provisions of individual industries. For example: family, labor, civil and, of course, criminal.
It should be noted the fact that in any state, such a phenomenon as legal liability is provided. It occurs in cases where an individual or a social group does not comply with the requirements of the rule of law. In this case, such a phenomenon of legal culture as the presumption of knowledge of legal norms plays a role. This means that all official documents are mandatory for review by all, without exception, persons in the territory of a particular state. Moreover, ignorance of laws does not exempt from liability for their violation.
Legal practice
Legal culture, the concept, structure, functions, the types of which we describe, has in its system a second important element. It is called legal practice. This element plays a big role, because thanks to it, the ordinary life of a person occurs under the influence of legal norms.
Thus, legal practice is an activity aimed at the creation, interpretation and actual application of legal norms in accordance with the cultural trends of the society of a state. There are several basic indicators by which you can determine the state of legal practice, namely:
- Law-making activity. It is the first area to analyze the effectiveness of legal practice. Indeed, many everyday issues of the life of ordinary individuals, as well as entire bodies of national power, depend on the state of legislation. It should be noted that the rulemaking process is effective if it is carried out within the framework of certain procedures. Otherwise, the state legal policy may be filled with “legislative rubbish”, which today is not a unique phenomenon for some European states.
- The level of enforcement among law enforcement officials and courts. In other words, we are talking about the high professionalism of such people and their experience in the process of resolving certain legal situations. Also, the level of enforcement can be analyzed by the work of lawyers who carry out their activities outside the walls of state bodies. For example, private lawyers, notaries, etc.
- Rule of law and rule of law. According to the state of these parameters, one can see the orderliness of social relations, as well as the degree of their subordination to existing steam standards. Legal culture in this case plays a paramount role, because it is it that affects the existence in the minds of individuals of beliefs about the need to obey the law.
The functions of the legal culture of society
Given all the above features of the category mentioned in the article, it should be noted that it performs a number of rather specific functions. But it is thanks to them that the legal culture is a practical and not a purely theoretical phenomenon. Thus, the main functions of the category include the following, namely:
- One of the main directions of the category, which affects the establishment of a legal policy in the state and the organization of civil society, is a cognitive task. The functions of legal culture, as we know, are quite multifaceted. Specifically, using this line of action, the interests of social groups of different sizes are consolidated into a single ideology.
- The value-normative function of legal culture is the actual ability of individuals to evaluate the legal sphere of their state. After all, laws and other regulations are not always ideal. Therefore, each person must understand the benefits or, conversely, the futility of certain regulations. The value-normative function of the legal culture, or rather, the level of effectiveness of this area indicates a high legal awareness of the state’s population.
- The rule of law and rule of law depends on the level of respect of citizens to the state. The educational function of the legal culture is responsible for this. First of all, it manifests itself in the existence of legal responsibility, to which all violators of the legal regime of the state are subject without exception. Also, the educational function affects the formation in the minds of people of the right values, assessments and beliefs.
- One of the most important is the communicative function of the category presented in the article. It affects the interaction of society through existing legal norms. In fact, due to the communicative function of the population of the state, it unites in certain issues.
Thus, we see that the functions and role of legal culture as a whole are quite closely related to society. After all, it is people who are the starting point of any thoughts, theories and concepts. So, in the article, the author tried to answer the question of what is legal culture. The concept and basic functions testify that the theoretical development of this category is still necessary. After all, it plays a significant role in the process of creating a legal policy of the state. In addition, a legal culture is necessary for the development of civil society, which today is gradually becoming the population of many well-known countries.