CORRELATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF LAW:EXPEDIENCY IN LEGALITY

The article addresses the pressing issue of the relationship between legality and expediency as principles of law. The objective of the study is to determine the correlation between these principles within legal science. Based on a comparative analysis of scholarly perspectives on expediency and legality as principles of law, and employing the method of abduction, the author attempts to define the place of the principle of expediency within the multi-level system of legal principles, including supreme, general legal, inter-branch, and sectoral principles. Special attention is given to the increasingly significant ideas of I. Kant concerning the principle of expediency. As a result of the study, the author proposes a definition of the principle of expediency as a substantive element underlying the complex systemic concept of legality. Given the polysemous nature of legality, the author critically evaluates the notion that legality can be viewed in its entirety as a form of expediency and supports the view that the principle of expediency (or reasonableness) constitutes one of the structural general legal principles of legality, forming an integral part thereof. The principle of expediency may also function as a principle within individual branches of law. The study substantiates the conclusion that the operation of the principles of legality and expediency manifests distinctively at various levels of legal theory — general legal, inter-branch, and branch-specific.