Human Freedoms: A Philosophical Fetish or Legal Reality

Abstract

The paper analyzes modern scientific views on the term «human freedoms.» The author examines scientific approaches to the concepts of «human rights» and «human freedoms» and compares the content of these concepts and their meaning in legal practice. The paper investigates historical roots of the emergence of the term «human freedoms» in the current legislation of the Russian Federation. The impact of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights on dissemination of the term «human freedoms» in the national legislations of most countries is assessed. The paper argues inexpediency and even harmfulness of using this term both in scientific legal constructions and in the norms of law. Specific proposals have been formulated to amend legislation in order to prevent it from being filled with terms that do not have a clear and specific content, which are not used in law enforcement practice, create discussion in scientific communities and contribute to a vague understanding of fundamental legal structures by future lawyers.