Introduction to Legal Sciences and Jurisprudence

• Legal sciences are a combination of all knowledge of state and law

Jurisprudence

• Jurisprudence branches include State (or constitutional) law, Administrative law, Civil law, Penal law, Penal procedural law, etc.

• Sectoral judicial disciplines explore specific areas of legislation and are based on theory of law

• Specific areas of legislation include civil, criminal, labor and employment, procedural, etc.

• A system of legal sciences may be divided into 3 main groups

• theoretical historical

• sectoral

• special

• Theoretical historical sciences include:

• the theory of state and law

• the histories of state and law

• the history of political and legal studies

• Sectoral legal sciences comprise sciences of:

• constitutional, administrative, financial, civil, labor, criminal law and others

• Special legal sciences are:

• forensic science

• forensic medicine

• forensic psychology

• forensic accounting

• The Higher Attestation Commission of the country suggests the following classification of legal sciences:

• Theory and history of state and law, history of political and legal studies

• State law and management, state construction, administrative law, financial law

• Civil law, domestic relations law, civil proceedings, private international law

• Business law, arbitration proceeding

• Labor and employment law, social security law

• Agricultural law, land law, water law, forest law, mining law, and environmental law

• Criminal law and criminology, correctional labor law, and employment law

• Criminal law

• Criminal proceeding and forensic science

• International law

• Judicial organization, prosecutor's supervision, trial attorney's system

Aspects differing the Theory of state and law from other legal sciences:

• Studies state and law phenomena as a whole, as a complex
• A general theoretical science providing conceptual foundation to all other legal sciences
• Has high level of abstraction, it studies the main, global, general patterns of state and law phenomena appearing and development
• The majority of legal sciences study state and law phenomena in the context of a certain state, like the Russian Federation or a foreign country
• Examines concurrently historical and modern approach to state and law phenomena while some legal sciences study historical aspects, and others the present time