Although the essence of law is a rather serious and complex topic, its explanation and understanding is extremely important and necessary for understanding the very essence of legal science. In scientific everyday life, there are many different interpretations and theories that define the main categories on which law is based. These theories both mutually contradict and complement each other.
In Soviet science, the most common was the theory of positive law, which primarily highlights the rules of law that are created by the state and support its functioning. This theory sees the essence of law in those established by the state and, as a rule, enshrined in written laws, legal norms and regulations. Even if these regulations issued by the state appear unjust and anti-human, they still constitute a right to be followed. This theory gained immense popularity in the 19th and first half of the 20th century, but now other theories are successfully competing with it.
From the point of view of supporters of natural law, which was most substantiated in the 17-18 centuries, although the roots of this theory go back to the antiquity, the essence of law is that it arises from the natural, innate properties of human nature. The source of law in this concept is Theory of Natural Law. Its most prominent representatives are absolute principles that “go out” through the human mind and are manifested in beliefs about what justice, freedom, and equality are. These beliefs are codified as interdependent and universal natural rights that are characteristic of man by his very nature, and which no one can take from him, including the state. This theory, one of the creators of which is the famous Dutch lawyer Hugo Grotius, formed the basis of the theory of human rights. This theory is historically the earliest.
Those who share the concept of natural law do not at all deny the existence of positive law, but they do not base the essence and content of the law on the will and needs of the state, but on the protection of the individual. Therefore, they believe that a positive law that violates natural rights, even enshrined in law, is essentially not a right. The state can only then consider the laws created by it to be truly legal if the criteria of natural law were taken into account when writing and codifying them. Therefore, in this concept, the essential difference between law and legislation is very important. If the latter does not fall under the provisions of natural law, the state cannot be considered legal.
The school of law, based on a historical approach, criticized the theory of natural law, having arisen at the same time with it. It originated in Germany. Its representatives believed that morality and values in society are formed historically, and there are no absolute moral requirements. This is proved by the fact that at different times in different states and regions quite opposite systems of morality and the concepts of the public good were often found . However, the formation and development of society led to the formation of certain practical social norms and customs, the observance of which makes life easier and leads to stability. When people noticed and highlighted such norms, they fixed them with certain agreements, the observance of which was required from everyone. Therefore, the essence of law is local and national customs, which have taken the form of written agreements and laws. With this approach, the state has the function of an auxiliary institution, which only streamlines customs.
In modern legal science, the basic theory of natural law is currently very widespread, especially in the field affecting international relations and human rights, although many elements of the historical approach are also used as valid. Many other theories have also appeared that supplement the main ones - the normative one, which offers to investigate “pure” law as a kind of hierarchical emanation of the norm of duty, outside of the social and historical context; sociological, which seeks the content of law in the relationships of various social groups and associations; psychological, which focuses on the legal emotions of the subject or groups of people as a source of unofficial law, and so on. In fact, the difference between all these approaches is that each of them defines as the essence of law the norms of behavior established by the state, relations between people that take shape historically, or legal consciousness based on universal human values.