The Scope and Place of the Concept of the “System of National Law” among Related Theoretical and Legal Cognitive Categories

The article reviews the literature in the field of general theoretical jurisprudence, which is dedicated to clarifying the essence, content, and scope of the leading theoretical and legal cognitive categories.It is shown that among legal theorists, there are differences in understanding such categories as legal system, system of law, national legal system, and system of national law.The approaches proposed in the theory are generalized, and the following conclusion is formed: in modern legal literature, the concepts of “system of law” and “legal system” are considered close and interconnected, yet distinct phenomena in meaning. In the literature, such close legal phenomena and categories are correctly called adjacent legal cognitive constructs.In the scientific approaches considered, there is a close, but not identical understanding of the concept of national legal system. Some scholars associate it with a specific country, others with a state. Most theorists point to a particular society as a unifying factor. The authors of the encyclopedia combine several approaches and emphasize a state-organized society as a sign of a national legal system.Attention is drawn to the fact that in the general theory of law, such a concept as a system of national law is not often used.The article asks the question: does such a term have the right to exist? The answer is affirmative.Given the correlation of the relevant legal categories, the article concludes that the system of national law can be determined by the sign of its belonging to the national legal system, as one of the elements of the latter.On this basis, relying on the achievements of predecessors, a scientific definition of the corresponding concept is proposed: the system of national law is an element of the national legal system, which is a socially conditioned and structured set of interrelated legal norms and principles, grouped according to appropriate criteria into multi-level associations, reflecting the internal structure of national law.