From the “Letter of the Law” to the Rule of Law: The Role of General and International Principles of Law in Russian Courts

The article examines the importance of principles of law in individual legal regulation, the degree of their “participation” in judicial practice. This directly determines to what extent law is and remains law in its original sense of being an equal measure for all. In the implementation of this function of law, the main role belongs to the courts. The fundamental principles of law are expressed in the general principles of law and in international law, which also enshrines universal human values, generally recognized principles and norms, human rights, and, above all, natural rights. Being an integral part of the legal system of Russia, the principles of international law equally ensure the possibility of making judicial decisions within the framework of the legislation, interpreted and applied through the prism of principles. The article attempts to assess whether the courts are ready and inclined to take their decisions not only on the “letter of the law”, but also on the principles of law, its initial basics. The analysis of the problem under study is based on a significant array of decisions of the highest judicial authorities for a relatively new period. The study concludes that courts are quite willing and frequent in referring to principles of law, but are quite cautious, if not wary, in moving away from the “letter of the law” (positive law) in favor of principles. It is shown that the latter are sometimes used to justify unlawful decisions for the sake of political expediency, and that references to principles may not ensure the legality of decisions due to their contradictory interpretation by different judicial instances in one case.