SOCIOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF LAW: GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

The article highlights the main provisions of sociological understanding of law. It is noted that an important part of empirical concepts of understanding of law is sociological school. Sociological School of Law is considering law as a system of real rules that are actually used in the interaction between the members of society. Law is identified with the law and order, legal relations. It is through a sociological understanding of law were formed such notions as a "living law" and "dead law". The school explained: why there exist prescriptive texts (or their individual precepts) that are not implemented in public relations, moreover, why society does not want their implementation and subjects of law enforcement do not take steps to implement them. Thus challenged identification of law with a law, the main role in resolving social behavior is given to law. Hence the need for compliance of normative and legal acts with the real public relations The sociological understanding of law quite simply denies normative provisions of normative school, appealing life of society. Thus, in any society, regardless of legal consciousness level rather small portion of citizens permanently monitors changes to legislation, analyzes the activities of legislative branch of law, prepares a subscription to the official publications, publishing regulations (mostly such information – about a new law – is obtained through television, of course without detailed coverage of the content of the legal act), includes proposals to public authorities with lawmaking initiatives etc., despite the fact that according to part 2, Art. 68 of the Constitution of Ukraine ignorance of the law does not exempt from legal liability. The attention is focused on that that the society remains relative order; people interact with each other, despite the low awareness of the law. which leads to the following conclusion: most people in society "feels" law, even not knowing a particular precept of prescriptive regulation (we do not deny the fact that a legal provision could comply with law, that is why it is not important for people no matter to find out and read this precept). It is noted that the constitutional provisions on legal liability even in ignorance of the law on the one hand indicates exactly the same feature of law as coercion, forced realization of the rules of conduct set by the authorities and, on the other hand, implies the need for compliance of regulations with social relations that prevail within this society, because it is difficult to imagine a situation in which a law is adopted and many citizens are brought up for violations only because of simple not knowing its contents (although this can be imagined, but in a state of non-democratic regime), because how can you follow the rules of conduct without knowing them.