Legal Consciousness of Businesspeople in Serbia: Relational, Political and Inconsistent?

Shelykh A. A. Rule of law, legal awareness and human rights As the title implies the article describes such categories as legal consciousness, constitutional state and providing of human rights and freedoms. These categories are very important for Ukraine, which stays on the way of forming of constitutional state. In the article peculiarities of constitutional state and legal consciousness were described. Also psychic nature of legal consciousness was disclosed based on works of I. Kant and L. Petrozhitsky and own definition of legal consciousness was given. Main ways of providing of human rights were considered. The main purpose of this publication is to explore the role of legal consciousness in providing of human rights and freedoms. It should be stressed that legal consciousness is multidimensional phenomenon, because it has very complicated psychic nature and despite on a big variety of works on such topic it needs detailed research. ‌In this research was found that legal consciousness plays fundamental role in providing human rights and freedoms. First of all, it produces different mechanisms of providing human rights. Everything starts in our mind especially our legal or illegal acts. Legal consciousness is one of the elements of the mind, which is an engine to all changes in society so logically follows that legal consciousness is an engine to all changes which has legal nature. In the article was suggested as a key to forming a constitutional state a legal consciousness, particularly high level of it both in public and officials. In the publication as an argument suggested that if both public and officials have high level of legal consciousness , authorities will make effective and necessary laws and people will perform them at own discretion, because they will understand it's necessarity In this publication empirical method especially method of observation was used. Thanks to this method it was found very low level of public legal consciousness both among the population and the authorities. Also comparative method was used. In the publication legal consciousness was compared with filter that leaks legal information and forms positive or negative attitude to the law as phenomenon. Method of analysis was used in particular was analyzed psychic nature of legal consciousness. And formally logical method was used during the analysis of works of I. Kant and L. Petrozhitsky. In conclusion it should be emphasized that to provide rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of human and citizens necessary to raise the level of public legal consciousness. It can be done thanks to special programs of legal education both for the population and the authorities. Keywords: law, legal consciousness, constitutional state, human rights, freedoms, legitimate interests.

The process of formation and development of legal consciousness is one of the main elements of the development of public consciousness in general, it helps to reach new levels of collective evolution. The development of public consciousness went through many stages, it can be defined as follows: from mythological, and then traditional consciousness to logical and legal consciousness. The category of legal consciousness, widely used in legal discourse, acts primarily as a characteristic of the sociolegal way of being a person. Legal consciousness, considered as a process, implicitly contains an initially defined meaning of law, encoded in the goal-setting and ideological position of the subject as a legal creature. In modern domestic jurisprudence, issues related to the understanding of legal consciousness, its essence and structure, have been developed to a certain extent. However, this does not mean that there is no space for their further study, taking into account the new methodology and changing social realities. In their works, various authors express positions that legal consciousness should be considered as a complex, in relations of interaction with law: one depends on the other equally. At the same time, it should be noted that legal consciousness is also influenced by non-legal factors that have a huge impact on the formation of legal consciousness, namely: ideological, cultural, religious, historical, material and economic, historical factors. Combining, all of the above factors form the levels of development of ordinary legal consciousness, both personal and public. The choice of legal means and, as a result, the effectiveness of the types of legal activities of the individual and society as a whole depends on the level of development of ordinary legal consciousness. In this article, the Author analyzes one of the levels of legal consciousness, namely ordinary legal consciousness. Special attention is paid by the Author to the views of legal scholars regarding the “concept” and “essence” of ordinary legal consciousness. The construction of legal consciousness, its specificity, characteristic features, as well as factors influencing its development and formation are considered. In his work, the Author reveals the features of ordinary legal consciousness, and also comes to the conclusion that ordinary legal consciousness is a phenomenon based on the subjective reflection of an objectively existing and developing reality by an individual.

Background: Legal consciousness and legal culture are interrelated but different concepts. Legal consciousness is a set of ideas, views, beliefs and feelings of people regarding law, legality and justice. It reflects the attitude of society or an individual toward the law. Legal culture is a broader concept that includes not only the level of legal consciousness but also the degree of implementation of legal norms in society, as well as the lawful behaviour of citizens. The development of legal awareness and legal culture is necessary for the construction of a legal state and the observance of democratic principles. Examining these elements is important for evaluating how effectively policies fulfil human rights obligations and identifying key directions to improve justice and equity. Methods: The study utilised document and legal analysis approaches. It examined the legal culture and legal consciousness in Kazakhstan by analysing the annual reports of the Ombudsman for Human Rights from 2019 to 2023, as these provide authoritative assessments of human rights, legal awareness, and access to justice in Kazakhstan. Additionally, the study analysed current legislation and policy documents relevant to legal culture and legal consciousness in Kazakhstan, including the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Concept for the Development of Legal Policy in the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2030, and the National Plan for Human Rights and the Rule of Law. Results and Conclusions: The study revealed the dynamics of public legal consciousness and the challenges of adjusting national policies to global human rights standards. The findings were categorised into three main themes: complaints as indicators of legal culture and legal consciousness; human rights in criminal proceedings and rights of convicts; and legal education and public engagement. As the findings indicate, human rights violations during pre-trial investigations, allegations of coercion, and mistreatment of convicts remain significant concerns in ensuring access to justice in Kazakhstan. These results highlight gaps in institutional accountability and policy implementation, stressing persistent difficulties in protecting human rights within the criminal justice and judicial systems. An analysis of key legal acts in the context of legal culture and legal consciousness revealed that the development of a strong legal culture in Kazakhstan requires a number of reforms aimed at increasing the level of legal education of the population, institutional accountability, and effective implementation of laws. The study concludes that to promote legal culture and legal consciousness in Kazakhstan, it is imperative to address identified systemic issues through legal reforms, public education, and institutional strengthening.

The implementation of legal norms is dedicated to various factors and conditions that affect the development of state and society. The search for optimal directions for ensuring these conditions is a priority for the effective implementation of legislation. The adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On Public Consultations”, the legal regulation of lobbying in Ukraine, and the expansion of the powers of public councils in executive bodies create the prerequisites for public participation in forming and implementing state policy, and solving issues of local governments. However the possibility of such a participation provided by law does not mean that the society is interested in such state activities. In this case, a high level of legal consciousness is important. After all, the relationship between legal consciousness and the effectiveness of implementing legal norms is directly proportional: effective legislation determines the formation of legal consciousness among the population, and a high level of legal consciousness ensures the effectiveness of implementing of legislation. Legal consciousness is not only a form of public consciousness that reflects the attitude of members of society to the system of legal phenomena; It determines the necessity of public participation in state governance, ensures the creation and functioning of mechanisms for such participation that meet the principles of democratic development and the formation of positive behavior in society. A high level of legal consciousness, legal culture, and legal ideology is the basis for the formation of civil society and public control, which is assigned a significant role in resolving many problematic issues of state formation, including the implementation of legislation. The growing role of public control in the creation and implementation of legislation enhances the importance of legal consciousness as a factor and catalyst for public participation in state affairs. For positive changes in legal consciousness in Ukraine and a corresponding increase in the efficiency of legislation implementation, it is worth continuing the reform of higher legal education, involving active members of society in lawmaking, in particular, participation in public consultations, as well as in state affairs through participation in public councils, and the implementation of justice through a jury trial, etc. Key words: the effectiveness of the implementation of legal norms, the effectiveness of the implementation of legislation, legal consciousness, legal culture, legal ideology, legal education, increasing the effectiveness of the implementation of legislation.

Interventions in public health crises inevitably give rise to concerns about how the balance between rights concerns and community health security might be handled. During the SARS global health crisis, different jurisdictions struggled simultaneously with similar public health challenges posed by the previously unknown and deadly disease. Yet instead of a convergence of strategies, different jurisdictions responded with measures, especially with regard to the use of quarantine, that revealed a pattern of divergence about how to strike the balance between rights concerns and health security. The origins of this article stem from the realization that Toronto's use of quarantine was far more extensive than that of either Hong Kong or Shanghai, two jurisdictions with historically weak records regarding respect for fundamental rights and civil liberties. Perspectives on the balancing of individual rights and community health security are treated here as expressions of legal consciousness. Instead of assuming a uniform legal consciousness in Toronto, Shanghai, or Hong Kong, this article presents legal consciousness as varied among groups of individuals differently situated in the crisis. The promise of this differentiated approach to legal consciousness is that it facilitates both drawing contrasts between perspectives of differently situated groups within the same city and noting commonalities between similarly situated groups in other cities. Through an examination of three distinct perspectives on rights and quarantine in each city—those of senior public health officials, frontline hospital workers, and contacts of SARS patients—the competing legal meanings and understandings about the tensions between community health security and individual rights during the SARS crisis are identified in a way that enables us to better understand the pattern of different uses of quarantine.

Legal Culture and Legal Consciousness

Moralization of law, heavy-penaltyism, and retributive justice: A corpus-assisted study of legal consciousness on Chinese social media

The article discusses issues of psychological support and modeling of the process of development of ecological and legal consciousness of the subjects of conservation. Discusses the features of ecological and legal consciousness of the subjects of the environmental activities described development program environmental and legal consciousness of the subjects of conservation. Taking into account the obtained results of experimental and diagnostic work created development program environmental and legal consciousness of the subjects of conservation. It envisages the following areas of work for the development of environmental legal consciousness among professionals and future professionals: psychological education, aimed at increasing interest in environmental education and selfeducation with the aim of developing ecological and legal consciousness; the question of compliance of the level of their own ecological, legal culture requirements of the future profession; psychological education, aimed at training future specialists in the system of knowledge, abilities and skills, ensuring the development of environmental legal consciousness; diagnostics aimed at identifying the individual characteristics of students, their level of readiness for the development of ecology-oriented values; a system of correction and development of measures aimed at overcoming the lack of training of specialists for inclusion in various kinds of environmentally-oriented activities the set of training exercises which were aimed at solving the following tasks: correction, the formation and development of environmental identity in the first place, overcoming the anthropocentric and pragmatic relations to the natural objects; correction goals of interaction of a person with natural objects; learning skills such interaction; the development of perceptual abilities of a person in contact with natural objects; the expansion of the individual environmental space. In the thesis on the basis of scientific and methodological analysis carried out systematic theoretical analysis of the psychological structure of ecological and legal consciousness prosecutors to lawmaking, enforcement in conservation areas, nature management and environmental protection. Defined objective and subjective factors in the development of environmental legal consciousness of prosecutors. Formulated holistic theoretical concept of the psychological structure of ecological and legal consciousness of prosecutors. The role of ecological and legal consciousness of the Prosecutor in ensuring its effectiveness. An algorithm for constructing the prediction efficiency of professional activity of the Prosecutor on the basis of professional psychological profile of employees with high level of ecological and legal consciousness.

The article considers the conditions of the effective formation of legal consciousness of students through psychological training. The study included ascertaining and formative stages. 60 students aged 20 to 22 took part in it. At the ascertaining stage, R.R. Muslumov’s method of study of legal consciousness of personality was used to determine the levels of formation of the legal consciousness components of students. It was established that the formation of all components of legal consciousness among students (legal knowledge, legal attitudes, attitudes towards law, and attitudes toward legal institutions, legal activity and legal motivatedcognition) was at an average and high level. At the formative stage, psychological training was used, which was aimed at developing legal consciousness and legal competence of students. The authors note that the most effective means of forming legal consciousness is psychological training based on the cognitive-behavioral approach, which suggests that a person can learn new social skills, emotions and new ways of thinking through the learning mechanism. Within the framework of the training, the work is focused on behavioral reactions andinternal attitudes. As a result, qualitative positive results were obtained on the scales ”legal activity” and “motivated cognition”. Conditions for the effective formation of legal consciousness (which include interactivity, reality, relevance, success, emotionality and modernity) were generalized and identified in the group work. While recognizing the importance of educational work, the authors point out that the development of legal consciousness of students also depends on other external (family, conditions in a particular university, friends, etc.) and internal (character, personality characteristics, etc.) factors. It is not enough simply to form legal knowledge - it is important to nurture the legal consciousness, legal beliefs, lay the foundation of behavior on the basis of law observance. Keywords: Legal consciousness, legal competence, legal activity, legal socialization, legal motivated cognition, legal attitudes, psychological training.

Evidence from a recent study of Canadian attitudes toward civil liberties indicates that the issue of wiretapping presents an important exception to the familiar theory of democratic elitism. Ironically, the very sophistication and knowledge that leads elites to support individual rights and freedoms also makes them more likely to support wiretapping than the Canadian population as a whole.

The content of the concept of legal consciousness from the point of view of modern scientific developments on this issue is considered. The article is devoted to the analysis of the interrelations of the legal consciousness and the legal system in the context of the European integration processes in Ukraine. The conclusion is argued: the processes that occur in society inevitably affect the legal consciousness and the development of new branches of law. Further development of the legal system of Ukraine and its acquisition of qualitatively new properties that would contribute to the development of civil society in the state and the establishment of the rule of law are possible only in the context of the development of legal consciousness. The development of the legal system of Ukraine has traditionally been a priority area of modern science research in the theory of state and law. The system of law is the regulatory core of the emerging legal system, based on the legal ideology of a particular state and at the same time serving as the normative basis of behavior in the field of law. The dialectic of the components of legal reality is due to their reflection in human consciousness and the embodiment of this process in other legal phenomena. But at the same time, one should not abstract from the generative role of legal consciousness. A significant factor that raises the theoretical relevance of this topic is that the emphasis on the theoretical level was mostly given to the normative component of the legal system, which somewhat artificially pushed issues related to the development of justice into the background. However, the practice of law-making processes in Ukraine proved the need for special legal research on the relationship between the dynamics of legal consciousness and the development of the legal system as a whole. Realization of legal norms and increase of efficiency of legal regulation necessitate study of all factors that promote normal development of legal life of society and legal relations. One of them is the legal consciousness, since just as the functioning of the legal system is impossible without the subjects of law, and the existence of the subjects themselves can’t be presented separately from the legal consciousness. Quite often, ineffectiveness and ineffectiveness of legal regulation are explained not only by the low level of legal acts in force, but also by the factor in rejecting the legal consciousness of the society of these legal norms or entire legal institutions. Legal consciousness is directly formed in the person himself and in fact with the person himself. She goes along with her path of development; in this context one can draw an analogy with the formation of the individual. And moreover, the person as the basis of the natural and social world, its development, forms the ideas of the legal field, that is, reflects through its legal consciousness the foundations of legal reality around them.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the features of the development of the Ukrainian legal mentality, in the process of introducing digital innovations into the national legal system and preserving legal traditions that were formed under the influence of historical, cultural, social and political factors. The author considers the national legal mentality as a set of deep ideas, values, beliefs and stereotypes about justice, law, state, which are inherent in the Ukrainian people, formed historically and embodied in its culture, language, religion, traditions and behavior. Thus, the researcher outlines the features of the Ukrainian legal mentality: a close connection with spirituality, individualism, compliance with liberal values, nihilism combined with idealism. The study proves that legal mentality is of great importance for understanding the peculiarities of the functioning of the legal system, the social behavior of citizens and the formation of legal culture, because it is a reflection of the way of thinking, the system of values, norms and beliefs that determine a person’s attitude to law, law and justice; it reflects the deep level of legal consciousness, which is the result of the long-term influence of historical, cultural and social factors on society. Considering these positions, the author argues that legal mentality can be considered as an integrative category that covers both the individual and collective levels of legal consciousness. During the study, the author also draws attention to the conceptual differences between the concepts of “legal mentality” and “legal mentality”. Thus, through legal mentality, the deep level of legal consciousness is revealed (perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and stereotypes that determine the attitude to law at the collective or individual level); static historical and cultural features of society are reflected. Instead, legal mentality appears as a system of ideas that determines the attitude of society or an individual to law, legality and legal institutions, but in a more dynamic aspect (as a reaction to social transformations, reforms, educational programs and the impact of globalization); reflects the current state of legal consciousness and culture; covers the current level of knowledge about law, readiness to act in the legal sphere and the ability to adapt to new legal conditions (global processes of digitalization). In view of this, the author pays special attention to the problems of modern trends in updating the legal system, in particular, to the means and methods of integrating legal systems through the use of digital technologies. The study emphasizes that the integration of AI into the national legal system changes the traditional understanding of jurisprudence, legal practice, and the role of a lawyer. In particular, AI raises ethical questions regarding responsibility for decisions made by algorithms and the transparency of such decisions, since the lack of clarity of algorithms undermines trust in the legal system. The author emphasizes that the introduction of AI into the national legal system should take into account the specifics of the national legal culture, which is based on the ideas of the rule of law and social justice. However, there are risks that the globalization of technologies may displace national legal peculiarities. Key words: legal mentality, legal mentality, artificial intelligence, legal system, legal consciousness, legal traditions, globalization.

The formation of the legal culture and legal consciousness of minors in modern society has increasingly been influenced by the digital space in which modern teenagers and minors live and study, which can affect the emergence in the near future of essential changes in public legal consciousness. Such changes include, first of all, a new state of the logical-normative, emotional-figurative and behavioral components of legal consciousness. The aim of the study is to identify the characteristics of the formation of the legal culture and legal awareness of minors using cyberspace as a source of information about law and an environment for legal communication. The object of the study is the content, structure and basis for the formation of the legal culture and legal awareness of minors as an independent socio-demographic group. The article used a systematic and comprehensive approach to the study of the problem from the perspective of various sciences: jurisprudence, psychology, pedagogy, sociology, philosophy. The methodological basis of the study was the dialectical method of cognition, the general laws of the emergence, formation and development of legal phenomena, comparative legal and general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalization). The article provides an analysis of possible approaches to the organization of the process of formation of cognitive, motivational-evaluative and activity components of the high level of a minor's legal culture in the digital space. The issues of creating an educational electronic space are disclosed. The problem of assessing the level of formation of a minor's legal culture and legal awareness through the lens of their participation in legal life is addressed. The authors believe that the formation of the legal culture and legal consciousness of a minor goes from the usual, practical level to the theoretical one, and in this development the leading role belongs to legal education and upbringing. The allocation of the ordinary virtual-game level of legal consciousness in minors is justified, which begins to dominate, replacing other levels of legal consciousness, in the digital world. In the context of consideration of the characteristics of the legal self-development of a minor, conclusions are drawn on the possibility of presenting the legal culture of minors as a combination of manifestations of the characteristics of their legal consciousness and legal solidarity mainly in the virtual space.

The relevance of this study is that taking into account dynamic social and globalization changes, the growing importance of legal aspects of the system of international relations and the active development of informatization of society, legal awareness is the main lever of influence on the level of public legal culture. At the same time, legal awareness is the basis of professional activity of the individual, because without awareness of legal principles a person is unable to achieve a high level of his activity. It is worth noting that the issue of legal awareness of student youth must be considered in the context of the direction of educational training. In addition, the relevance of the study of this issue is due to the latest challenges, for example, the need for legal literacy of students in order to ensure compliance with public rights, principles of democratic development of society and the state, overcoming corruption, since all this becomes of exceptional importance in the conditions of martial law in our country. The purpose of the study is to theoretically generalize the psychological characteristics of the legal consciousness of student youth. In the process of writing this article, the following methods were used: analysis and synthesis (for decomposing the concept of "legal consciousness" into components and their subsequent combination to form a holistic "portrait" of a modern student), comparative-typological method (for comparing the levels of legal consciousness of students of different specialties), value approach (for analyzing legal consciousness as a system of values), generalization method (for formulating general conclusions). It was found that any person is able to study, perceive and understand the world around him from the position of his worldview principles. It is well known that the understanding of the peculiarities of behavior and self-affirmation in society, as well as the rules of social relations between people in the country, is influenced by the internal beliefs and legal consciousness of the individual. As for student youth, in the process of studying in educational institutions, they master certain professional skills, and also continue the process of internalization. It was found that the development of personal worldview in modern social conditions encourages young people to reassess the historical heritage of the state, the system of values ​​that have existed for many decades and today underlie their legal consciousness. At the same time, changes in worldview allow the formation of legal awareness of student youth, which is considered an important element of their legal culture, which determines the high relevance of this study. It is determined that legal awareness in general is considered a process of reflecting the legal status of an individual and one of the main tools for ensuring the development of the law and order system.

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how the role of the perception of good public governance reduces tax evasion (TE). Besides, this study investigates whether the nexus of public governance and TE differs between developed and developing economies.Design/methodology/approachApart from the ordinary least squares (OLS) model, this study uses the linear mixed modeling technique. The World Governance Indicators and the multiple causes estimation (MIMIC) method are used to measure public governance. The shadow economy is used as a proxy for TE.FindingsThe results show that people's perceptions of public governance and the quality of government institutions are core elements that influence tax-evasion behavior. Besides, the rule of law (RoL) and political stability (PS) significantly impact tax-evasion behavior in developing countries. Nevertheless, the RoL, the control of corruption and PS are the most critical tax-evasion determinants among public governance indicators for developed countries. Regulatory quality shows a substantial positive relationship with TE in developed but not developing countries.Practical implicationsThis paper provides a guide for policymakers on reducing tax-evasion behavior by paying more attention to maintaining the RoL and PS and fighting corruption. Additionally, this study highlights the importance of people's perceptions of the government's pursuit of the above policy-related improvements, which, in turn, affect their tax behavior.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore the role of people's perceptions of improvements in public governance and how this can reduce TE behavior in developed and developing economies. Unlike prior studies, this study used the linear mixed model method, which is more advantageous than OLS and produces robust estimators.