Legal Awareness of Special Subjects as a Determinant of Their Legal Discretion

Abstract

The article examines the interconnection between legal awareness and legal discretion of the special subject. The author notes the particular role of that type of the special subject as a subject of law enforcement is noted. It is these subjects who exercise the powers of power of public authorities, directly applying the norms of law. The author points out some contradiction between the objectively existing diversity of social relations and the reference nature of law. In this aspect, the author pays considerable attention to the norms of a dispositive nature indicating the framework limits of the action of the law enforcement officer. This kind of a norm is initially endowed with such a quality as legal uncertainty that determines the practical significance of legal discretion. The article reveals the essence of law enforcement discretion, its role in the implementation of legal norms and individual legal regulation. The article covers the algorithms for making law enforcement decisions that are taken as a result of discretion as a special kind of thought activity of a special subject. The obvious dependence of the discretion of the law enforcement official on sense of justice of the last is emphasized. The main role is played by professional legal consciousness, consisting of various components of legal psychology and legal ideology. Practical examples prove the need for law enforcement discretion, the absence of which entails a gap in legal regulation. At the same time, the author draws the attention to the possibility of abuse of the right of both the consequence of the defective legal norms and the legal awareness of the subject of law enforcement. Attention is paid to the need for constant work both on improving legal prescriptions that allow for the possibility of law enforcement discretion and a positive impact on the legal consciousness of the subject of law enforcement.