Law and Act in Natural Law Doctrines in Russia in the 19th to the Early 20th Century

The article examines the views of Russian legal scholars and representatives of the natural law doctrine of the 19th — early 20th centuries on the problem of the relationship between law and statute, often contrasted in legal studies of the late 20th — early 21st centuries. The main idea of all representatives of the Russian natural law doctrine is the idea of the legal and objective, and not arbitrary, content of the statute as a state act establishing law; the limitation of state power by the legal nature of the statute and the invalidity of non-legal acts of the state. The thesis about the difference between law and statute, widespread, including in modern jurisprudence, is explained by terminological and methodological inconsistency.