Requirements for the definitions in law

Abstract

The article substantiates the importance and methodological application of the theory of concept in jurisprudence. The analysis of the practical use of logic as the science in legal processes is carried out, in particular, the theoretical approaches to the formulation of definitions in law and the criteria of the correctness of normative definitions, developed by domestic and foreign specialists. The relevance and importance of giving due consideration to this aspect of the rule-proclaiming technique were disclosed. It is shown that the effectiveness of legal regulation is largely determined by the level of compliance with logical rules and laws in formulating definitions in regulatory texts, and ignoring these requirements can lead to legal errors and collisions of all kinds.

In the formulated theoretical provisions of the article, the author relies on the works of logicians from Kyiv, Moscow, Kharkiv schools, who have made a significant contribution to the development of the modern version of doctrine of concepts, among them outstanding scientists: E.K. Voyshvillo, V.E. Zherebkin, A.E. Konversky, V.D. Titov and also well-known specialists in the field of law, including S.S. Alekseev, V.M. Baranov, V. Kosovich, A.V. Plotnikov, T. Podorozhna, Y.O. Pokrovsky, A.V. Khvorostyankina,  etc. - all of them were engaged in the elaboration of theoretical approaches and the development of methodological recommendations on the formulation of correct legislative definitions.

Given the crucial importance of legislative definitions in legal matters, the author demonstrates on the example of definitions in Ukrainian and international law that legal gaps in this aspect of rule-proclaiming technique still exist, and therefore extremely it is necessary to deepen the development of methodological guidelines for the requirements that are put forward to the definitions in law.

The practical part of the study is based on the analysis of some definitions of legal concepts from the existing legislative texts. The author of the article concluded that, apart from generally accepted logical rules for the formation of definitions, the lawmaker must also take into account some specific requirements regarding definitions in law.

As a result of the research, these specific requirements are formulated. Among them: constancy of meaning of the formulated concepts in different legislative texts, avoidance of evaluative and moral terms and concepts, sequence and coherence in correlation of legal concepts and categories in different legal sources, avoidance of synonyms, brevity, and completeness of the formulated definitions, use of the popular science style and avoidance of overloaded verbal constructions. Each provision was illustrated with examples of existing legislation.