Legal education as an integral part of the educational process
In modern Russia, legal education is considered as a process of interaction of legal means with the individual legal consciousness and psychology of members of society, conditioned by socio-political and economic factors and aimed at further improving their legal culture. A more specific definition will be that shows the process of interaction between various factors involved in the formation of legal consciousness and legal culture, both of individual citizens and society as a whole. Legal education is a complex, multifaceted process that solves important problems of developing a high legal consciousness and a high legal culture. Legal education is carried out in a variety of ways and takes place in various forms. Several years ago in Russia there was a system of legal education that operated in every region, region, city and throughout the country. There were universities of legal knowledge, lecture halls, there was active propaganda of law in the media, there were organizations involved in the legal education of the population, and especially people's assessors, vigilantes, members of comrades' courts, etc. Essentially, universal legal education was carried out. Currently, the restoration of such a system of legal education is an urgent need, since crime is growing in the country and legal nihilism is intensifying.
So, legal education is the activity of the relevant subjects, aimed at the formation of a high legal consciousness and legal culture of the individual, carried out by various means and methods, expressed in different forms. Legal education is carried out directly by the law in force, since legal acts operate in society, regulate behavior and objectively influence the thoughts, feelings, will and consciousness of people. The educational impact of law on members of society lies in its very essence. When establishing legal norms, the legislator and state bodies implementing legal norms must always take into account their educational purpose. In this regard, it is necessary to distinguish between the motivational influence of law on the will, thoughts and feelings of people (when it serves as a kind of incentive, stimulator of their behavior) and the regulatory influence (when it determines the rights and responsibilities of citizens, establishes rules of conduct, prohibitions and sanctions, etc. .). Otherwise (as in B.V. Sheindlin) there is an excessive expansion of the concept of legal regulation of social relations, essentially including the educational impact of law on the thoughts and feelings of people [1, p.289] .
In the literature, the educational impact of law is sometimes mixed with the legal regulation of the activities of various government bodies aimed at satisfying the cultural and spiritual needs of people. This is not entirely true. In the process of regulating these relations, law acts as a means of ensuring the activities of relevant bodies and institutions (theatres, libraries), but not as a means of education.
The educational impact of law is aimed at developing and strengthening legal consciousness, at developing in all citizens the habit of acting in accordance with the rules of behavior established in society. The prerequisites for the educational impact of law are that it:
- expresses the will and interests of the majority of society;
— based on the principles of humanism and justice;
— consolidates the democracy of the state system;
— establishes equality of rights for all members of society (excludes discrimination against people on religious and national grounds;
- ensures true equality of men and women in all areas of political and public life);
— eliminates the separation of rights from the responsibilities of citizens;
- combines personal and public interests of citizens;
— secures freedom of speech, pluralism of opinions, freedom of activity of social movements and political parties, etc.
Legal education, as noted, is a rather complex and diverse process. Along with other forms of education, it is aimed mainly at strengthening legal ideology, legal psychology, legal culture, compliance with established rules of behavior, respect for a person, his rights and freedoms.
The process of personality formation is associated with the establishment of legal regulations, permissions, prohibitions, and with the comparison of one’s actions with the requirements of legal norms. On this basis, a person’s evaluative attitude towards legal requirements is developed, legal motives are formed [3, p.171] .
Objective reality is always cognized by a person in a certain system of values. The social content of objects and phenomena is assessed by a person according to their ability to satisfy or not satisfy his needs. It is in accordance with his own rating scale that a person directs and regulates his practical activities. In any practical activity, assessment acts as a specific act of cognition that regulates human activity and the relationship of a person with the environment [2, p. 72]. Assessment is impossible without knowledge of the objective content of the subject or event being assessed (the law in general, the law, a separate law enforcement act - a sentence, a court decision, an order from a manager, etc.).
In strengthening legal consciousness, an important role is played by the influence of law on individual consciousness, which is formed not spontaneously, but under the influence of the entire system of public education. In all cases, in order to choose the right educational means, it is necessary to identify the factors that shape certain qualities of a person: social status, educational system, family, team, etc. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the complexity of the individual’s individual appearance. To educate a personality means to take into account all of the listed factors in order to neutralize some, strengthen others, and develop others.
The educational impact of law is that it promotes people's perception of advanced political, legal, ethical and other views, and promotes their deeper understanding of the most important principles and basic foundations of societies.
Finally, by instilling in citizens specific skills and forms of behavior, the law forms in the individual consciousness of each those qualities that the legislator seeks to develop in all members of society, and at the same time helps to overcome the costs of ideology and psychology, negative manifestations in thoughts and actions.
So, the formation and strengthening of the legal consciousness of members of society is achieved by increasing legal culture, attracting participation in law-making, timely adoption of new and repeal of outdated legal acts. Legal acts must be implemented. Legal norms have the greatest educational impact in the process of their practical implementation.
The upbringing of a cultural-legal personality characterizes the level of its individual consciousness, reflects psychology, attitudes and assessments, and also predetermines the individual’s actions in the field of law and order. Legal culture in its positive sense is the antipode of legal nihilism; it is the basis of law and order, legality and the progressive development of society.
A person as an individual is capable of acting independently in accordance with his consciousness and will. Therefore, there is an objective opportunity to influence his behavior in a certain way, to influence the formation of the motives for his actions [4].
The issue of legal education is relevant at the present time because the legal consciousness of modern Russian society, its legal culture is poorly developed and is influenced by outdated ideas about law, authorities, and the rule of law.
Legal education is a complex, multifaceted process that solves important problems of developing a high legal consciousness and a high legal culture. Legal education is carried out in a variety of ways and takes place in various forms. In the 20th century in Russia there was a system of legal education that operated in every region, region, city and throughout the country. There were universities of legal knowledge, lecture halls, active propaganda of law in the media, there were organizations involved in the legal education of the population, and especially people's assessors, combatants, members of comrades' courts, etc. Currently, the restoration of such a system of legal education is an urgent need , as crime grows in the country, legal nihilism intensifies.
The educational impact of law is that it promotes people's perception of advanced political, legal, ethical and other views, and promotes their deeper understanding of the most important principles and basic foundations of societies.
By instilling specific skills and forms of behavior in young citizens of the Russian Federation, the law forms in the individual consciousness of each those qualities that the legislator seeks to develop in all members of society, and at the same time helps to overcome the costs of ideology and psychology, negative manifestations in thoughts and actions.
The influence of law on the formation and strengthening of legal consciousness is carried out in various ways, simple and complex, direct and indirect. In order to correctly understand the process of the influence of legal norms on people’s consciousness, it is necessary to take all this into account in a comprehensive manner.
The essence of man is the totality of all social relations, K. Marx pointed out [2, p.171]. Being a product of society, a person, one way or another, comes into contact with the rules of law. It is impossible to imagine, under the conditions of the state organization of society, a person who is absolutely indifferent to the law: not participating in any legal relations, not subject to any legal influence. [2, p.171]. Plekhanov G.V. noted that legal and political relations have a decisive influence on the entire psyche of a social person [6, p.159].
In order for the legal education of an individual to be not only theoretical, but also practical, it is necessary to answer the question: who is educated by the law and how, that is, to what educational influence are participants in social relations exposed.
It is necessary to know not only how to educate (with the help of what legal means), but also who to educate (a person who conscientiously fulfills the requirements of legal norms, or a person who violates established rules of behavior).
Educational influence must be differentiated by goals and by participants (subjects) of the influence. Such a distinction is not difficult to make, given the existence of two fundamentally different types of legal influence - regulatory and protective. In the process of regulatory influence, education is aimed at increasing the legal consciousness of citizens, strengthening their conviction in the fairness of legal acts, and bringing the performance of legal duties to the level of familiarity.
A person with a high level of legal consciousness not only conscientiously implements legal norms, but also actively fights against all cases of violation of law and order, shows intolerance towards offenses, actively participates in the discussion of adopted laws, propaganda of law, etc. It is controversial to say that among the people who comply with legal requirements voluntarily, education concerns only those who comply with the laws under pain of punishment.
It seems that the educational impact of law in modern conditions extends to one degree or another to the entire population. Increasing the role of law in the life of society presupposes a more highly developed legal consciousness, including among those who conscientiously fulfill the requirements of legal norms, because conscientiousness is not yet exemplary, exemplary.
No less important is the awareness of the inviolability of individual rights and freedoms that is formed in people in the process of the educational influence of law. Law is the most important instrument for guaranteeing individual rights and freedoms. At the same time, it fosters deep respect for people.
Legislation, proclaiming the rights and freedoms of the individual, fosters a humane attitude towards people and strictly punishes crimes against life, health, freedom and dignity of the individual.
The establishment of severe sanctions for crimes against the individual, wrote Remenson A.L., has not only a preventive value, but also, what is especially important, an educational and fundamental value, since it emphasizes the absolute inadmissibility of attacks on a citizen’s personality by other persons [5, p. .96].
Everything discussed above should be laid down from a young age, since a person must know that for every unlawful act committed he will face legal responsibility, in accordance with the legal acts of the state. And not knowing the laws, as they say, does not exempt you from responsibility. Every person who is part of society is obliged every day to comply with the rules established by the state in all spheres of life. If this process becomes a habit for every member of society, then our country will truly be a legal state, not on paper, but in reality.
Therefore, a characteristic direction of the educational impact of law on a person is highlighted and it consists in nurturing the habit of complying with the requirements of legal and other social norms. A habit is formed as a result of the systematic repetition of certain conscious actions. The possibility of transforming actions “according to the law” into actions “out of habit” lies in the fact that the rules of law express the interests of members of society, embody fair and humane requirements, indicate appropriate options for behavior, and prohibit socially dangerous actions.
Thus, the habit of complying with the rules of law should be considered as a natural result of a highly conscious attitude of citizens towards fulfilling their public duty. This habit is one of the forms of manifestation of a high legal consciousness. Therefore, the task of strengthening and developing legal consciousness is to constantly increase it, so that the implementation of the rules of law by all people becomes a habit, and respect for the law, for the law, becomes the personal conviction of each person.
Literature:
1. Grigorieva, O. V. Legal education as a process of formation of a high legal consciousness and legal culture. // Problems and prospects for the development of modern Russian society. Concepts: spiritual and moral development - social and innovative development - legal culture and legal protection - innovative creativity. All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference, June 2010: [Materials].-Volgograd.-M.: Globus LLC, 2010.- P.288–296.
2. Ketkhudov, R. G. On assessment as an epistemological category. [Text] // Bulletin of Moscow State University. Series 8. 1965. No. 4. - P. 72.
3. Marxist-Leninist general theory of state and law: Socialist law. - M., 1973. - P. 171.
4. Oksamytny, V.V. Legal education is an important factor in the formation of a socially active personality. - Kyiv, 1979.
5. Remenson, A. L. Individualization of punishment and criminal law. [Text] // Scientific Notes Toms. state University, 1954. No. 23. P.96.
6. Plekhanov, G.V. Selected philosophical works. T.3.– M., 1959. P.159.
Topics of legal education events
Education of the legal culture of the younger generation is a whole set of measures and methods that shape their civic positions. To teach children to know their rights, respect the rights of other people, and resolve conflicts and disputes in a civilized manner - these are the main tasks of legal education in secondary schools.
According to the Concept of Education Modernization, teachers and school organizers pay special attention to the concepts of “spirituality”, “legal identity” and the protection of students’ rights. Legal education activities should be held regularly . When planning them, the method of personal example, coercion, encouragement, and analysis of legal forms is used.
