Universality of law as a basis for state-citizen consensus in the context of legal regulation and legal anticipation
Authors:   Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Agamirov Karen V. 
Published: June 2023

The article explores the basis of the relationship between the state and the individual in the relationship between legal regulation and legal anticipation. The legitimacy of legal regulation depends on the extent to which it corresponds to citizens' perceptions of law and, at the same time, the extent to which it protects national security. The universality of law, outlined in the article, makes it possible to eliminate the contradictions between the statism of positivism and the metaphysics of libertarian-legal theory. The universality of law makes it possible to integrate in the legal system the essence of the positivist doctrine and the properity of the libertarian-legal concept with a constructive outlet for the final rational that captures the infinite dialectical movement of legal matter. The positivist due reflects the formalised significance of the normative establishment and anticipates its realisation. Libertarian-legal proper predicts the optimal, reproducing the true essence of the norm. The rational transforms equality in ought (formal equality) into equality in being (actual equality), confirming the universality of law as an index of the circulation of legal matter from predetermined normativity (proper) to optimality (proper) and the final subject-practical expedient (rational). The methodology of the universality of law determines the existence in the legal system of obligatory and sufficient characteristics for the effective action of state and public institutions towards the protection of the constitutional order and respect for human rights, namely: a) The protection of national security and public safety; b) the retention of public power within the Hegelian "boundaries of order" - limiting its intrusion into the private sphere; c) the existence of inalienable rights and freedoms and guarantees for their realisation; d) the continuous modernisation of all parts of the legal system according to evolving political, socio-economic and spiritual-moral conditions. In this way, the interplay of national security and the directed development of the institutions of a free society is guaranteed, reflecting the coordinated mutual responsibility of public authorities and citizens. The concept of universality of law develops a polemic about the synthesis of positivist and libertarian-legal types of legal understanding with the predominant importance of the social vector of law as an intrinsic property of universality that contributes to the firm foundation of the rule of law and social state - human rights and freedoms and conditions of free development and dignified life. Normative legal acts pass through people's consciousness in one way or another and are legitimised depending on the correspondence, on the one hand, to the state's tasks of protecting national security and, on the other hand, to citizens' hopes for a decent life based on the universality of law as a guarantee of their communication and mutual self-restraint