The article analyzes the main approaches to understanding the concept of the «rule of law», which is currently practically implemented as a principle of functioning of legal systems of the Western legal tradition both at the national level and in the sphere of international communication of states, communities and state authorities of which profess the values of Western civilization. The ideas of the rule of law, democracy, and human rights, as defining values of Western civilization, are also the basis of the political and legal concept of Professor V. Sokurenko, one of the founders of the Lviv Scientific School of History of law. Founded by Professor P. Nedbailo, Associate Professor V. Kalynovych, Professor V. Kulchytskyi and Professor V. Sokurenko in the 1950s and early 1960s, the traditions of the scientific school of the history of law are now supported and developed by their successors, in particular, Professor B. Tyshchyk, Professor M. Kostytskyi, Associate Professor E. Orach, Associate Professor A. Kolbenko, Associate Professor T. Andrusiak, Professor I. Boyko, Professor M. Kobyletskyi, and also the younger generation of scholars. Based on the purpose of the research, the article reveals the patterns and features of the doctrine of the rule of law in the Lviv scientific school of the history of law, which are illustrated by the example of the political and legal concept of Professor V. Sokurenko, who expressed Г. Федущак-Паславська ISSN 2078-4503. Вісник Львівського університету. Серія юридична. 70 2023. Випуск 76 the leading ideas of the school. The analysis of the main elements of the political and legal concept of Professor V. Sokurenko makes it possible to reveal the understanding of the principle of the rule of law in the Lviv scientific school of the history of law. It is found that almost all issues considered by V. Sokurenko in the scientific research, one way or another are related to the understanding of law, its correlation with other phenomena. Revealing the correlation between law and the state, the scholar defines law as an expression of the common interests and social wisdom of people who created the state by having agreed. Revealing the problem of the rule of law, V. Sokurenko asserts that the functioning of this principle consists in ensuring the rule of law by the state authorities, which, in turn, correspond to the values professed by the respective society. His remark that values in law are predetermined requirements that law must meet in order to be an effective regulator of social relations is of paramount importance. The scholar draws attention to the essence and peculiarities of the functioning of the rule of law principle in the legal system of common law. He concludes that in this type of legal system, the role of the judge is very prominent, having the power to restore justice in each specific case, even in the absence of the norm of law that directly regulates the relevant legal relationship. Therefore, the principle of the rule of law is ensured by the activity of the independent judicial branch of government. Taking into account the prevailing positivist type of legal understanding at the time of the formation of his political and legal concept, Professor V. Sokurenko emphasizes the need for the domination of law as an important condition of the legal state. Inherent in the Lviv scientific school of the history of law, the scholar expresses the requirement to reconcile the norms of the law with the morality of the people, the requirement for the regulatory unity of the norms of the law with the requirements of morality. That is, V. Sokurenko emphasizes the supremacy of legal law in his concept.
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May 7, 2024
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