The Ratio of Systematization of Legislation and the Codification of Law in the Theoretical and Historical Dimension

The article notes that abstract concepts derived from the systematicity of law in domestic jurisprudence are often not subordinate to the laws of formal logic. They are focused on solving current practical problems of public administration. This approach is convenient for practices but prevents the formation of general concepts of jurisprudence and establishing legal certainty. Based on the historical reconstruction and analysis of the codification process in Russia, the article proves the ambiguity of determining the codification of law as a form (method) of systematizing the legislation formulated by Soviet lawyers during the second codification of Soviet law, and the need to distinguish the systematization of legislation and codification of law in modern conditions. The article reveals the historical conditions in which the concept of “systematization of legislation” and its theoretical foundations were formed, and shows the contradictions and advantages of the theory of systematization of legislation that developed during the Soviet period. The author believes that the perception of codification only as a way to streamline the current regulatory array in the process of its logical and systemic ordering makes the result of codification a “bonds” of legal development and threatens the inclusion of “unlawful” norms in the codes. It is concluded that the limitation of the potential of codification narrows its possibilities as a technology of legal development. Reducing codification to the level of a form of systematization of legislation is also undesirable because this area is closely related to politics. The unity of the codification legal space should be based on common principles, concepts and mechanisms consistent with the strategic development programs of the state. As a result of the study, it was noted that the active theoretical study of law during the periods of codification was subordinated to the solution of certain practical tasks. As a result, theoretical propositions and constructions about law turned out to be tied to political considerations and specific management needs in a certain historical period.