On Scientific and Methodological Approaches towards Law Commenting (from History of the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation)

Purpose. Determination of approaches towards preparation of a scientific law commentary on the example of preparation of a commentary on the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1960 by the All-Union Institute of Legal Sciences. Characteristics of scientific ideas on such commenting expressed during the speech and discussion at the meeting of the academic council of the All-Union Institute of Legal Sciences on December 26, 1960. Methodology: dialectics, hermeneutics, synergetics, philosophical conceptology. Conclusions. Some scientific ideas on preparation of a scientific commentary on criminal law are still relevant today: determination of the commentary purpose; shifting away from expressing a subjective point of view; creation of the conceptual law enforcement language, etc. Scientific and practical relevance. Scientific approaches towards preparation of a commentary on law and, in particular, a commentary on the Criminal Code are rarely a subject of a scientific discussion, yet, they need to be understood. A good illustration is the discussion of the matters of preparation of a commentary on the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1960 that took place at the meeting of the academic council of the All-Union Institute of Legal Sciences, now the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation, that celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023.