Limits of Legal Regulation and Discretion in Law: on the Correlation of Concepts

Abstract

The author considers the logical connections between the content of the concepts «limits of legal regulation» and «discretion in law» in terms of the ratio of their volume. At the same time, the content of the concepts «legal regulation», «legal impact», «limits of legal regulation» is specified. The features characterizing the limits (scope) of legal regulation are identified: the conscious-volitional nature of social relations; the possibility of external control of public relations by the state; the importance of public relations; the opportunity for subjects of public relations to choose a behavior option, etc. The features of discretion in law are the possibility of implementation only within the framework of the subject of legal regulation; legality; expression in the passive or active behavior of the subject, etc. It is concluded that these concepts are not identical, but rather, are subordinate and are included in the scope of the concept of «legal impact». They are comparable because they have common features (for example, the existence of an authority establishing public relations and being expressed in a legal act), as well as related ones, since their volume partially coincides.