The Principles of Objective Legal Rights in the Context of the Problem of Legal Terminology Accuracy

The dependence of the definiteness of the subject of theoretical legal research on the precision of the terms used is being investigated. The purpose of the work is to substantiate the cognitive significance of the category of principles of objective legal rights and to distinguish it from related categories. Therefore, an externally unified discussion may combine studies of different phenomena. It is proposed to systematically differentiate between general social law and legal law, the system of legal norms, and subjective legal rights and obligations. An approach is substantiated according to which principles gain subject definiteness through the state-legal regularities they express, conditioned by general social law, and through their significance for the content of norms and the direction of regulation. Principles, their doctrinal formulations, and normative-legal prescriptions are distinguished. Principles serve not only as initial guidelines for law-making but also as the basis for evaluating the results of regulation. Based on formal-logical, systemic, and comparative-doctrinal analysis of contemporary scientific publications, it is shown that differences in the understanding of principles are accompanied by discrepancies in the meanings of the law itself. Grounds for distinguishing the phenomenon under study from human rights principles, legal processes, and legal activities have been established; in this regard, the principles of procedural law remain within the subject of research. It is concluded that the precision of terminology ensures the comparability of scientific positions but does not imply the elimination of differences between theories of legal understanding. The term "principles of objective legal rights" denotes the expression of state-legal regularities conditioned by general social law, which determine the content of the system of legal norms and the direction of regulation. The principles of objective legal rights express the necessary connections for the legal support of general social law, and their significance is not exhausted by the adoption of a norm. It manifests in the consistency of rules, the sequence of their understanding, and the reasonableness of expected consequences of application. The integrity of the system is related to the substantive compatibility of its elements, and stability is associated with the definiteness and continuity of regulation, but not with the invariability of individual norms.