L.A. Petruchak. Problems of Concept and Structure of Legal Culture

Abstract: Article is devoted one of debatable problems in the legal literature – problems of definition of concept and structure of legal culture. The concept “legal culture” is often enough used today in various state documents, in the scientific and educational literature. However degree of its readiness at theoretical level leaves much to be desired, in spite of the fact that value and necessity of use of the given concept admits the majority of theorists of the right. Already in the term “the legal culture” contains instructions on presence of two parties – the rights and cultures. The given circumstance causes various interpretations of their parity and that researchers initially put various sense in initial concepts, first of all such, as “right” and “culture.” Many domestic and foreign scientists believe that all approaches available in a science to culture as a whole, and legal culture in particular, are reduced to anthropological, sociological and philosophical. In article the author analyzes concept “legal culture,” preferring valuable approach. The given approach has allowed to unite uncountable properties of culture round concept of value. Values name all that causes to itself the positive relation, it is considered as the blessing, good, advantage, due. The valuable approach allows to carry to culture not all human activity and its results, but only that is the blessing, certain value for individuals. The legal culture at such approach is understood as set of all positive components of the legal validity in its real functioning, embodied achievements of legal thought, the legal technics and legal practice. Therefore, it is necessary to carry to the phenomena of legal culture only such elements of a legal life which do not contradict is progressive-legal development of a society. As a result of research the author comes to a conclusion that the legal culture is a set of all legal values forming an is productive-positive layer in a legal life of separate people, social groups and a society as a whole where values are understood only as the positive, progressive phenomena and processes. Despite difficulties of definition of element structure of legal culture, in the spent research clearly enough the author looks through the logic structure of the legal culture consisting of three basic interconnected elements: the rights, legal consciousness, lawful behaviour. The legal culture assumes a combination of three major components: knowledge of the right, respect for the right and socially- legal activity. The analysis of approaches to legal culture visually shows complexity and many-sided nature of a studied phenomenon, does deep working out obvious necessity valuable aspects of legal culture. In the conclusion the author allocates the basic signs of a studied phenomenon and formulates following definition: the legal culture is historically developed, caused by an economic, political, social and spiritual level of development of a society a version of spiritually-material culture which is a measure of development and use of legal values, represents a qualitative condition of legal system and level of legal development of the person and a society.