Legal (or legal) science studies the legal system in the state. She is part of a training program for lawyers and other people whose work is related to the court.
The importance of jurisprudence
Today, modern legal science is one of the most important humanitarian disciplines. This is due to the fact that in the 20th century the rule of law was established throughout the world. All socially important actions are somehow regulated by legal norms. It is legal science that studies them. The knowledge associated with it has a direct applied purpose. Without lawyers and lawyers it is impossible to imagine a legitimate relationship between the state and society.
Over time, an international legal education system has developed , which annually graduates millions of specialists. As a rule, training is divided into several cycles. For example, in the USA, Mexico, Great Britain and some other large countries, the first stage of education lasts three years. Upon completion, the student receives a bachelor's degree. After another course, the student becomes a master of law.
The Origin of Jurisprudence
Even in antiquity, there was a legal science, more precisely, its premises. They were born and developed as legislation grew in ancient societies. Often legal norms were associated with religion. For example, in Judea, laws were taught from extracts from the Bible.
At the same time, the first schools appeared in ancient Greece, where legal science was taught in the modern sense. There were philosophical circles in the policies, where eloquence was taught along with the laws. It is important to note that at that time the concept of "legal science" was inseparable from universal knowledge. For the ancient Greeks there were no separate disciplines. 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 the privilege of the priests. However, already in the 1st century AD, the first private law school founded by Sabin appeared in Rome. The term of study at this institution was 4 years. Gradually, similar schools were founded in other large cities (Constantinople, Athens, Beirut and Alexandria).
Roman law
In Rome, a modern system of law was born. Its features can be found in any legislation today. How did you manage to keep this knowledge for so many centuries? Indeed, in the 5th century AD e. Rome fell, and the whole great ancient civilization was 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 previous legal and state system was preserved.
The 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 530-533 years. the Code of Justinian was created in Byzantium , 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 enshrined. The main one was the assertion that the state is the result of an agreement established between citizens. For residents of the country, the creation of a clear system of government is necessary in order 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 society in prosperity only if certain norms were adopted that prohibit actions that violate the rights of residents of the country. These were the laws. Professionals of these rules became lawyers and defended people in court if their rights came under attack.
Legal science in Russia and in the rest of the world is built largely on the concepts that were still used by lawyers in the Eternal City. This is not so strange if you realize that since then the state structure and its relations with society have not undergone so many changes.
Reception of Roman Law
The provisions of Roman law were universal. They continued to be used even after the ancient state remained in the past. A similar phenomenon is called reception of Roman law. This process has several forms. They changed depending on the specific state.
Roman law can be the subject of study, comment and research. In this case, its principles and norms are not directly adopted. Only a few principles are selected that appear in modern law. This is the easiest and most invisible form of reception.
In other cases, Roman law may be adopted in its entirety. Applied legal science in this case develops mechanisms for working with the legislation in which these norms appear. For example, the best lawyers of France in the 19th century combined national and Roman norms. The result of this work formed the basis of the famous Napoleon Codex. It emphasized the importance and priority of civil rights. Many modern laws are based either on Roman law or on the rules 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 documents of the 17th century. The state planned to introduce the teaching of "justice" at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. This was the first institution of higher education in Russia. But then this idea was never realized.
Legal science and legal practice became an urgent need in the era of Peter I. The Russian Tsar reformed the state. All old posts were replaced by European counterparts. There appeared the “Table of Ranks” and other documents regulating the life of the bureaucratic class. State activity has become streamlined. However, in the new conditions, the country needed specialists who would understand the principles and processes taking place inside 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 offices 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 60s of the 18th century, it taught jurisprudence and the basics of political science. Pupils of St. Petersburg for the first time heard about what legal science is. The functions of this knowledge were extremely pragmatic. It was in the XVIII century that there was a noticeable increase in the bureaucracy, which could not be effective if its members did not understand the structure of the state and laws.
After the founding of Moscow University, the best Russian legal education began to be taught within its walls. At the same time, the first German legal lecturers were invited German specialists. Only in the era of Catherine II did the first domestic teachers and professors appear (for example, Semyon Desnitsky).
Current state
In recent years, Russian legal science and legal education have undergone notable transformations associated with the introduction in our country of a European model of the training of legal experts. This phenomenon is also called the Bologna process. He got his name at the place of signing the relevant contract. In 1999, European countries (Russia joined them 4 years later) agreed to bring together and harmonize their disparate systems of higher education.
This decision was reflected in law schools. Modern Russian levels of higher education (bachelor's, master's degrees, etc.) are in maximum compliance with European standards. The current order allows students of domestic universities to continue their studies abroad without difficulty. In turn, legal science in Russia receives an additional incentive for its development in the form of relations with foreign experts.
Theory of State and Law
Jurisprudence is divided into several fundamental sciences. One of them is the theory of state and law, or TGP for short. This theory appeared in the Soviet professorial environment, and today it remains mainly a Russian discipline. In Europe, state and law are examined separately.
Legal science TGP considers the principles, trends and patterns of the emergence of institutions of power. The theory touches on such important concepts as offense, legal responsibility, political system, legislative process , etc.
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 social contract suggests that the state, law and civil society arose as a result of an agreement between all people. The meaning of the word "legal science" lies in the totality of disciplines that study this phenomenon.
The theory of the social contract formed the basis of the modern idea 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. Subsequently, his theory was developed by no less important philosophers John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Their research gave rise to several scientific schools and famous terms. For example, Hobbes suggested that in the absence of a state anarchy or war of all against all would reign.
Legal psychology
A significant part of legal science is connected with investigative activities and criminalistics. Without jurisprudence, there would be no criminal law. An important era for its formation in its modern form was the 20th century. New methods of conducting investigations appeared, etc. In the 1960s, legal psychology arose. As a science, this part of jurisprudence is necessary to identify and search for criminals.
In forensics, the psychological factor is very important. Often the actions of criminals are irrational, they defy explanation. A person who breaks the law can have hundreds of motives to commit a fatal act. Legal psychology appeared as a set of methods aimed at studying the behavior of criminals.
Legal Psychology Methods
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 junction of two other sciences. For example, legal psychology uses the methods and concepts of both psychology and jurisprudence, which have become its foundations.
Her subject explores the relationships, mechanisms and phenomena that become the causes of the violation of the law in society. Legal norms are violated by an individual. But, as a rule, the reason for his action is hidden in deeper processes related to the state of society.
Legal psychologists have several universal methods to help them in their work. For example, structural analysis examines the dependencies of the event in question. The method of conversation is necessary in order to obtain from a person accurate testimonies about the causes of his actions that led to the violation of the law.