Die Möglichkeit einer rechtsstaatlichen Ordnung in Russland – die soziale Norm von der Herrschaft des Rechts und der Mythos des Rechtsnihilismus in Russland

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of creating a stable order in Russia based on the rule of law. So far, all efforts to create it have failed. The instability of the rule of law in Russia is explained by the fact that attempts to create such a regime were limited to infrastructure reforms and modern proposals to reform the legal and political systems are reduced to infrastructure 2 changes. The author shows that despite the importance of infrastructure, the main reason for the instability of the rule of law in Russia is the legal consciousness of citizens. At the beginning of the XXI century, the concept of “social norm of the rule of law” was introduced in scholarly debates and it was shown that the presence of this social norm in their legal consciousness is crucial for the observance of laws by members of the community. The article builds a model of legal consciousness of Russian citizens and shows that they do not have this social norm. But contrary to popular opinion, Russian citizens are not legal nihilists, but legal utilitarians. Accordingly, the stability of the rule of law regime in Russia can be achieved if conditions are created for the emergence of a social norm of the rule of law in the legal consciousness of Russian citizens. Three ways of creating such conditions are considered and it is shown that, contrary to popular opinion, such a social norm can appear quite quickly. The practical possibility of transformation of the Russian legal system is shown, based on the most realistic of these three methods.