In modern science, there is no generally accepted definition of the concept of "law". It, along with morality and ethics, is one of the regulators of social relations. The question of the essence of law, its foundations and origin has not been resolved in science until now.
Law is a kind of set of norms that determine the rules that are binding on all people and determine their relationship with each other.
According to the classical Marxist-Leninist jurisprudence, law is a set of generally binding rules of conduct that are established and sanctioned by the state, the implementation of which is ensured by measures of state regulation.
In the theory of law, various signs of law are called, most authors distinguish such as:
- normativity (the law establishes certain rules of behavior);
- generally binding (for all subjects);
- provision by the state (non-observance of legal norms entails the onset of responsibility);
- objective nature (right regardless of the will of individuals);
- formal certainty (legal norms are expressed in the form of legislative acts);
- impersonalization (the norms of law are addressed to an unlimited number of subjects);
- the repeated action of the norms of law (the norms of law are designed for repeated application);
- consistency (law is an agreed, interconnected structure).
The forms of expression of objective law are: normative legal act, normative contract, legal custom and judicial precedent.
A normative legal act is a document that is adopted by an authorized state body in order to establish, change or abolish the rule of law.
A normative contract is an agreement that contains rules of conduct that are binding on everyone (i.e., the rule of law).
Legal custom is a set of certain rules that prescribe a strict line of behavior in specific situations. The preconditions for the emergence of the right custom are the stability and repeated repetition of social relations, which cause certain stereotypes of behavior in the individual and mass consciousness. These stereotypes become the source of law.
A judicial precedent is a court decision that has entered into legal force in a specific case, which establishes, changes or cancels legal norms.
