The concept and essential features of normative legal acts: problems of theory and law enforcement

Relevance . A great deal of legislative work carried out by scientific and research institutions for more than a dozen years, the efforts of the scientific community, federal government agencies, the highest courts, unfortunately, have not yet led to the creation of a clear and uniform definition of normative legal acts. The constituent entities of the Russian Federation, which have enshrined this concept in regional legislation, have also failed to unify it. The extensive judicial practice of challenging normative legal acts and the ongoing scientific discussion about their essence and content predetermined the need for this study. The purpose of the study is to develop a definition of a normative legal act, which would cover all their various types and levels. Objectives : to analyze the variants of definitions of normative legal acts proposed by the scientific community, federal and regional public authorities, post-Soviet countries to identify and summarize their essential features. Methodology . When writing the work were used historical-legal, formal-logical, systemic-structural, linguistic methods, method of expert evaluations, as well as methods of synthesis and analysis. Results . In the course of the study the essential features of a normative legal act were identified and its definition was formulated, which covers all types of this source (form) of law. Conclusion . To ensure effective legal regulation of public relations and to ensure scientific discussion based on clear and unambiguous terms, it is advisable to legislatively fix the definition of normative legal acts, which will significantly facilitate their systematization, the process of their creation and application, as well as differentiation from acts having some of their signs.