Judicial Doctrine in the Russian Legal Order

The paper examines the place and role of judicial doctrine in the Russian legal order that is evolving toward a new type of legal communication and normativity. The author addresses the dogmatic, systemic, procedural, cultural‑historical, and legal‑ideological dimensions of judicial doctrine as an element of the Russian legal order. The study presents the historical foundations of judicial thought in Russia and traces the roots of the dichotomy between judicial and legislative modes of social regulation. The paper concludes that the judiciary has played a key role in the development of Russian statehood and legal consciousness, and it identifies judicial doctrine as a crucial source of Russia’s legal identity. The study characterizes the evolution of Russian judicial doctrine in the twentieth century and its specific features in the twenty‑first century. It highlights the indicators of he contemporary procedural era, including the new relationship between judicial and non‑judicial mechanisms for the protection of rights; the shift from fragmented procedural tools to a unified complex of law’s social action and the emergence of hybrid models of judicial activity. The author advanced the thesis that judicial doctrine constitutes the central component of Russian judicial practice, and the argument is made that debates over the court’s direct lawmaking function have lost relevance. The paper suggests a change in approaches to the concept of the form of law, which now encompasses a variety of regulators of both technical and complex politico‑legal nature. It elucidates the role of judicial doctrine as an innovative element of the legal order and examines its legal‑ideological aspects, including its relationship to supranational jurisdictional concepts. Finally, it identifies current trends in the development of judicial doctrine in Russia.

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