Instituto de Estudios Políticos y Derecho Público "Dr. Humberto J. La Roche"
de la Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas de la Universidad del Zulia
Maracaibo, Venezuela
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Vol.40 N° 74
2022
ISSN 0798-1406 ~ Depósito legal pp 198502ZU132
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Vol. 40, Nº 74 (2022), 764-778
IEPDP-Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas - LUZ
Recibido el 15/07/22 Aceptado el 16/08/22
Interpretation of human legal value in
the natural concept of understanding law
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.4074.42
Vitalii Serohin *
Vasyl Topchii **
Andrii Novytskyi ***
Mark Voronov ****
Yuliia Hradova *****
Abstract
The aim of the article was to identify the essence of the legal
value of man within the natural concept of law. The article used
methods and perspectives, such as: philosophical dialectics,
analysis, synthesis, systemic, functional, historical, axiological
and special-legal. It is substantiated that the knowledge of the
value of a person within the natural-legal type of understanding
is important for determining the criteria of normativity in the
protection of human and civil rights and freedoms. The essence of the
objectivist variety of the theory of natural law is that the image of law is
associated with legal consciousness and is reected in the active and creative
human activity, based on the principles of freedom inherent in man from
birth. It is concluded that, within the framework of the modern theory of
natural law, the points of iusnaturalistic and legal are combined with the
historical and sociological study of legal ideals, which leads to expanding
the list of natural rights and including, in addition, not only inalienable
human rights, but also, human rights of social, economic and political
nature, which contribute, to the strengthening of human activity to realize
and protect their needs and interests.
Keywords: human person; legal value; legal understanding; natural law;
human rights.
* Doctor in Law, Professor, Professor of the Department of Constitutional and Municipal Law,
V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine. ORCID ID: http://
orcid.org/0000-0002-1973-9310
** Doctor in Law, Full Professor, Director of the Educational and Scientic Institute of Law of the State
Tax University, Irpen, Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1726-9028
*** Doctor in Law, Full Professor, Professor of Private Law of the State Tax University, Irpen, Ukraine.
ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6860-9654
**** Ph.D. in Law, Associate professor, Head of the Constitutional and Municipal Law Department, School
of Law, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.
org/0000-0002-6361-0370
***** Ph.D. in Law, Associate professor, Associate Professor of Constitutional and Municipal Law
Department, School of Law, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine. ORCID ID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2794-6272
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Interpretación del valor jurídico humano en el
concepto natural de entender el derecho
Resumen
El objetivo del artículo fue identicar la esencia del valor jurídico del
hombre dentro del concepto natural de derecho. El artículo utilizó métodos
y perspectivas, tales como: dialéctica losóca, análisis, síntesis, sistémica,
funcional, histórica, axiológica y especial-jurídica. Se fundamenta que el
conocimiento del valor de una persona dentro del tipo natural-jurídico de
comprensión es importante para determinar los criterios de normatividad
en la protección de los derechos y libertades, humanas y civiles. La
esencia de la variedad objetivista de la teoría del derecho natural es que la
imagen del derecho está asociada a la conciencia jurídica y se reeja en la
actividad humana activa y creadora, basada en los principios de libertad
inherentes al hombre desde su nacimiento. Se concluye que, en el marco
de la teoría moderna de la ley natural, los puntos de iusnaturalista y legal
se combinan con el estudio histórico y sociológico de los ideales legales, lo
que lleva a ampliar la lista de derechos naturales e incluir, además, no solo
los derechos humanos inalienables, sino también, los derechos humanos
de carácter social, económico y de naturaleza política, que contribuyen,
al fortalecimiento de la actividad humana para realizar y proteger sus
necesidades e intereses.
Palabras clave: persona humana; valor jurídico; entendimiento
jurídico; derecho natural; derechos humanos.
Introduction
Considering new views on the denition of the essence of human legal
existence, it is necessary to turn to the denition of the concept of “human
rights”, which is inherent in modern legal science. As noted by MI Kozyubra,
a given concept in the literature (foreign and domestic) is dened dierently:
as opportunities necessary for human existence and development in certain
historical conditions; as human requirements addressed to the state and
society; as certain benets, needs and interests of man, etc.
Summarizing the existing approaches to understanding human rights,
we can oer the following denition: human rights are recognized by the
world community goods and living conditions that a person can seek from
the state and society in which he lives, and which are real in terms of human
progress (Koziubra, 2015).
Special attention should be paid to the scientic developments of
scientists who emphasized the need to use progressive ideas of natural law
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Vitalii Serohin , Vasyl Topchii, Andrii Novytskyi, Mark Voronov y Yuliia Hradova
Interpretation of human legal value in the natural concept of understanding law
in the formation of the constitutional and legal framework and take into
account the principles of law in modernizing the legal system of society
(Koziubra, 2013, Pohrebniak, 2008).
Scientists emphasize that the system of natural human rights includes
the right to human dignity, because, being a creature of natural origin, man
deserves to live in decent natural and social conditions. Man is worthy of
self-control, as well as worthy of being treated as a subject of moral choice;
“philosophy of human dignity” includes such a worldview that requires self-
preservation and development of any person, people and humanity as a
whole, the law with signs of anthropocentrism includes the dignity of every
human person who would enjoy the respect and protection of the state
(Myronova, 2008-2009; Muchnik, 2009; Pukhovska, 2015).
These issues become especially relevant in the context of increasing
the role of civil society and strengthening its inuence on law-making
and state-building processes. According to N.M. Onishchenko and N.M.
Parkhomenko, the approach to man should be considered not only as to an
individual with relevant consumer interests, but as to a unique individual,
the potential of which can be realized only in the relevant cultural and legal
environment (Onishchenko and Parkhomenko, 2011).
1. Methodology of the study
This scientic article used the method of philosophical dialectics, as
well as a number of general and special scientic methods. The method
of philosophical dialectics aimed to prove the regularity of the gradual
change of understanding of the essence of human legal value in the natural
law concept, to clarify the causal links between modern interpretation of
human legal value and the humanization of law.
The method of analysis allowed to distinguish in the natural-legal type
of legal understanding the peculiarities of the interpretation of human legal
value, to give them a description, to clarify their features and basic features.
Their synthesis allowed to give the concept of “human legal value” a
holistic image, to nd out that the modern understanding of human legal
value is holistic and includes such features as self-determination, value
orientation, eectiveness and responsibility.
The application of the system method made it possible to consider the
legal value of man as a phenomenon of the system order. The latter is also a
system that has a holistic and dynamic nature, based on human rights and
freedoms, their needs and legitimate interests.
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Based on the use of the functional method, the place, signicance, role
of man and his purpose were determined depending on the peculiarities of
the content of the natural-legal concept of legal understanding.
The application of the axiological method allowed us to conclude that
the legal value of man is manifested primarily in his awareness of the
importance of natural and legal values, and secondly, the need to reect
them in law.
The hermeneutic method allowed to interpret the works of scientists
who contain studies of the legal value of man in the context of the natural-
legal concept of legal understanding, objectively and critically evaluate
dierent approaches to this concept.
The historical method was aimed at understanding the historical process
of formation and development of understanding of the legal value of man in
the context of the natural-legal type of legal understanding.
The use of a special legal method made it possible to investigate the
interpretation of the content of human legal value depending on the natural
legal concept of legal understanding using legal terminology.
2. Analysis of recent research
A limited number of scientic papers have been devoted to the study of
the legal value of man in the natural-legal type of legal understanding. This
is a clear conrmation that the research topic is new and relevant enough to
conduct research in this area. Problems of dening the concept of «human
rights», based on the natural-legal concept of legal understanding, were
studied (Pohrebniak, 2008; Koziubra, 2013; Koziubra, 2015). Issues of
humanization of law and understanding of the legal value of man in the
natural-legal type of legal understanding were raised in the works of such
scholars as Shevchenko et al., 2020; Shevchenko et al., 2020; Shevchenko et
al., 2020.
A number of works by scientists are devoted to the legal status of man
and citizen in the natural-legal concept of legal understanding (Bachynin,
2003; Humboldt, 1985; Lvova, 2008; Muchnik, 2009; Onishchenko and
Parkhomenko, 2011). In addition, the literature review is devoted to an
important series of works that examine the problems of interpretation
of human and civil rights in the natural law concept of law (Myronova,
2008-2009; Pukhovska, 2015; Bobrovnyk et al., 2022. The problems
of correlation between the legal value of a person in the normative and
natural law concepts of law-understanding are devoted to the works of such
scientists as Sorokin, 1992; Radbruch, 2004; Ol, 2005; Kostenko, 2009;
Shevchenko et al., 2019; Shevchenko et al., 2021.
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Interpretation of human legal value in the natural concept of understanding law
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Features of understanding the legal value of man in the
theories of natural law
We believe that the basic positions on the knowledge of the legal value of
a person within the existing types of legal understanding takes the theory of
natural law, which originates from the depths of ancient philosophical and
legal thought. It is appropriate in this context to recall the essence of the
worldview revolution, which was carried out by Socrates.
Realizing that the individual must oppose to natural chaos his moral
law, Socrates for the rst time among philosophers turned to the problems
of values, the conscious choice of the ideal norm for determining the
options of human behaviour. This is where the disclosure of the essence
of the behaviour of the individual begins, which can demonstrate the
implementation of the requirements of goodness and justice, honesty and
morality, or, unfortunately, be a manifestation of destructive phenomena
in society.
Knowledge of the legal value of a person within the natural and legal
type of legal understanding is important for dening and consolidating the
true criteria of normativity in law, implementing an eective process of its
implementation in the system of public relations, building the legal state,
protection of human and civil rights and freedoms (Bobrovnyk et al., 2022).
We emphasize that there is no generally accepted approach to
understanding the notion of «value» in contemporary scientic literature.
Problems to dene the notion of value have been developed within various
concepts (phenomenological, neo-Kantian, sociological, psychological,
pragmatic, structuralist, normative, etc.) (Shevchenko et al., 2021).
The basic concept for revealing the essence of this issue is the concept
of “value”, i.e., everything that allows people to satisfy their desires and
needs, makes them make eorts to achieve, maintain and increase them.
It is worth agreeing with the thesis that socio-historical conditions do not
aect the content of the absolute values of natural law, the latter are not a
product of the will of the state, and are not established by its regulations
(Bachynin, 2003).
The highest social value is a person. This means the right to life,
freedom, security, dignity of the individual. In this context, the opinion of
some scientists will be fair that the human-cantered dimension of law, if
viewed from the standpoint of reection and consolidation in the system
of appropriate forms of law, is to ensure and guarantee the real process of
natural human rights (Shevchenko et al., 2020).
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The humanism of law is to ensure and guarantee the real process of
realization of natural human rights. It should be noted that with the help of
normative consolidation of natural human rights there is a lling of positive
law with general social content, its humanization is carried out. “Today, the
constitutional consolidation of human rights and freedoms as the highest
value and their compliance with international law is one of the important
features of a democratic state” (Shevchenko et al., 2020: 450).
The idea of natural law is important for revealing the essence of the legal
value of man within the natural-legal type of legal understanding; given
the fact that it has passed a long historical path of its development and is
considered from several points of view, namely: theological, objectivist and
modern interpretation of natural law, it is advisable to dwell on the role of
man in the context of these approaches.
Summarizing the views of various scientists O.L. Lvova noted that
the idea of natural law has long developed in the form of absolute natural
law, based on the belief in the existence of immutable and universal laws
of world life and human relations. It was believed that every living being
has natural properties that are inevitably manifested in its behaviour, and
natural law – an unchanging and universal ethical, or legal, norm of human
behaviour (Lvova, 2008).
The essence of the theological theory of natural law was that the initial
condition for understanding the law is the awareness of God’s will to
establish the order to which people must obey in the process of their lives.
As noted by PA Old, “natural law” is the outward manifestation of eternal,
divine law, and human law is contradictory (Ol, 2005). But, the question of
who and how will represent “God’s order” remains open.
That is, in such conditions a basis is created for determining
the instructions of God in the will of God, which is benecial for the
representatives of the authorities, lling it with content that may be far
from the interests of man himself. Thus, the historical past of human
development is a clear indication that in the genesis of feudalism was
proposed awareness of law as a privilege granted by the monarch.
Within the framework of the theological theory of natural law, the
concept of ideational law was developed (P.A. Sorokin), which provoked a
contradictory reaction from scholars. Its author noted that in its system of
values, all social interests must be subject to religious norms. Judges are
clergy, and many legal procedures take the form of sacred rituals. In states
of ideological orientation, only those rulers whose origins reach the gods
have legitimacy. Therefore, in such states, the monarchy is a theocracy.
These were the states of archaic Greece and Rome, India and Tibet, the Inca
Empire and the medieval European states (Sorokin, 1992).
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Vitalii Serohin , Vasyl Topchii, Andrii Novytskyi, Mark Voronov y Yuliia Hradova
Interpretation of human legal value in the natural concept of understanding law
The specicity of the objectivist version of the theory of natural law,
which originates from Hegel’s philosophy of “absolute idea”, is that the
central place in the system of Hegel’s philosophical views was the spirit, so
it is with legal consciousness, he associated the image of law is reected in
the actions of members of society in dierent socio-historical conditions.
He represented law as freedom, which is a manifestation of natural law.
It should be noted that in dening the idea of law through freedom,
Hegel emphasized that the idea of law goes through three stages in its
development: abstract law as the right of abstract free personality; morality
as an appropriate eld, which includes the assessment of human behavior
and is subjective; morality as an objective idea of law, which aects the
family, civil society and the state. Thus, natural and positive law, according
to Hegel, are almost identical concepts, except that the image of the law
contained in the individual consciousness, changes the positive law in
accordance with changing social conditions.
In our opinion, the change of the image of positive law acquires its real
manifestation and consolidation in the rules of law only in the presence of
freedom, which is inherent in man from birth. Thus, the objectivist version
focuses on signicant human activity. Such a person clearly responds to
everything that happens in society, assessing the environment through the
prism of their own consciousness, the degree of which is determined by the
level of freedom of the individual. W. Humboldt (1985: 452) noted that: “…
nothing contributes to reaching maturity, as freedom itself”. This assertion
will be denied, of course, by those who have often used the lack of maturity
as suggestions in order to continue oppression.
But it seems to us that such an inference follows from the very nature of
man. «Insucient maturity, necessary for freedom, can only be the result
of a lack of intellectual and moral strength ... it requires work, and work -
freedom that causes initiative» (Humboldt, 1985: 452).
Continuing the idea of the role of natural law in the context of human
creativity, we note that it is within this concept that the image of man is
deprived of obedience to the law as a model of behavior that is ideal in
the context of normative value. It should be noted that such a person will
unquestionably focus his eorts on the protection of rights and freedoms of
non-state origin. That is why, considering human rights as an integral part
of natural law, given that they provide the value to the subject, it is quite
natural to consider them as an internal natural impulse that determines
human behaviour.
Fundamental human rights exist before law in its formal sense, and
therefore, in our opinion, it is appropriate to say that human rights in their
natural manifestation are the basis for the formation of legal activity of the
subject as a natural need. It follows that legal activity cannot be considered
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solely as a consequence of a high level of socio-legal development of the
individual, but should be assessed as a feature of the subject, which exists
before the involvement of the subject in the plane of legal relations.
Legal activity in static form constantly exists as a behavioral element
that becomes active when the subject is aware of its role in social processes.
It never disappears and should be considered from the standpoint of a
dynamic approach as the realization of the natural needs and interests of
man, a man who is free, creative and aimed at implementing the values of
a natural character.
3.2. The specics of the interpretation of human values in the
modern theory of natural law
It should be noted that the modern understanding of the theory of
natural law has specic features that determine the place and role of man in
the process of lawmaking and law enforcement. This is due to the fact that
compared to the era of anti-feudal revolutions, there have been signicant
changes in views on man as a subject of natural rights.
New approaches to dening the legal existence of man are associated
with the adoption after World War II of a signicant number of human
rights regulations. It was during this period that many declarations and
conventions on human rights were developed and adopted under the
auspices of the United Nations. An important place among these documents
is occupied by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It should be noted that human rights, being recognized by the world
community, are universal. They are indivisible and interdependent. An
important role in relation to human rights belongs to the international
community, which should treat them globally, given the importance of
national and regional specics and various historical, cultural and religious
features of state development. Therefore, we believe that the normative
consolidation of human rights has opened a wide space for creative and
active activity of the individual and dened the limits of state intervention
in society.
The law-abiding subject is replaced by a person who has signicant
potential for legal activity, focusing on the volitional behavior of the subject,
who, being in the axiological eld of law, is able to choose between legal
values and their own ideas about the legal. expediency or inexpediency,
right or wrong behavior. Under such conditions, there is a neglect of the
foundations of the eternal legality of regulations.
Changing the political situation from democratic to anti-democratic, the
specics of social relations, practical needs inevitably lead to the fact that
regulations lose their legitimacy and put the subject in a situation of need
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Interpretation of human legal value in the natural concept of understanding law
to resolve the dispute between the dogma of law and real needs, between
natural values and values, which are proclaimed by law.
It is worth noting that the realization of the value of human dignity does
not happen automatically, but requires a high level of value content of the
individual, a meaningful attitude to human existence. The peculiarity of the
realization of the human right to dignity is that without it, it is impossible
to realize all other human rights and freedoms.
That is why, in certain historical conditions, man and civil society
are faced with issues related to the need to understand the existence and
choice between two types of values, namely: values that express practical,
temporal and subjective guidelines for human behaviour; values that do not
have time limits, or follow from their content.
Thus, the hierarchy of values is determined by the change of value
determinants, and this inevitably leads to the fact that in the rst positions
is one or the other value determinant, forming a value-based basis of human
behaviour in the legal eld. This is a clear indication that the development
of human society is uneven.
It is worth recalling in this regard at least the fact that for a long historical
period of time the power of the state was determined by its territorial scale
(Roman Empire, Russian Empire, former USSR) and anti-democratic
law served the needs of such a state. However, it is wrong to perceive the
greatness and power of the state, based only on the scale of its territory and
regulatory system of law. And humanity realized this, turning again after
the tragic events of the mid-twentieth century to the problem of natural
law.
It should be noted that in the context of globalization, human capabilities
to inuence their future existence are signicantly expanded. We believe
that the use of the ideas of natural law creates a solid basis for the active
involvement of man in integration processes. The solution of today’s
problems is inconceivable without a valuable understanding of the ways of
coexistence and development of mankind, the need for mutual convergence
of legal systems while preserving their identity and uniqueness.
Based on the conceptual ideas of the theory of natural law, humanity
will inevitably approach the realization of the need to form a universal
civilization mentality, which includes the desire for peace and a reasonable
solution to existing problems. Otherwise, without this approach, it will be
impossible to reach a consensus on many global issues.
Taking into account the essence of modern theory of natural law, we
note that the list of natural rights includes not only inalienable human
rights, but also a number of socio-economic rights, the right of nations to
self-determination, the right of people to revolt against anti-democratic
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government. Thus, based on the peculiarities of modern theory of natural
law, it should be noted that it is not considered as a set of once and for all
established regulations.
The focus is on the development of legal awareness, moral and spiritual
values of a particular society and people. That is, natural law views in
modern jurisprudence are combined with the historical and sociological
study of legal ideals. It should be noted that based on the essence of the
theory of natural law with variable content, the role of man is to direct their
activities to the process of realization of values of a natural nature, arising
from the needs of a particular historical period of society. To achieve this
goal, a person must prove himself as a “person in law”.
It is believed that this concept was rst introduced by G. Radbruch. In
his opinion, a person in law has two images, namely: a legal person and a
judicial person. A legal person is a human individual who, given his biological
nature, has such legal qualities as natural, inalienable, fundamental rights.
As for the judicial person - a human individual who in the process of
socialization is able to perceive, implement and transform law as a special
social, i.e., as a state-volitional, legal, “positive” phenomenon, which is an
element of culture formed in a particular society (Radbruch, 2004).
Thus, the legal value of man is reected at the level of natural law type
of legal understanding. Within the framework of positive law, it must nd
its logical continuation and development. Positive law gives normative
certainty, stability to the value characteristics of man, which at the initial
stage are contained in natural law. This fully corresponds to the essence of
the naturalistic concept of law as one of the types of the concept of natural
law, the content of which is the understanding that natural law is the laws of
social nature. The role of man is to give them the form of legislation. In this
case, positive law should be considered as a legislative form of natural law.
3.3. Features of the mechanism of protection of human and civil
rights at the beginning of the XXI century
However, the value of man within the naturalistic concept of law is not
limited to the identication and normative consolidation of the laws of
social nature. Thus:
The dramatic events of late 2013 – early 2014 in Ukraine, associated with
the “Revolution of Dignity”, mass violations of human rights and freedoms by
the then authorities, encroachment on life and health, other rights of Ukrainian
citizens, as well as the temporary occupation of Russian troops of the Autonomous
Republic of Crimea, the undisguised aggression of the Russian Federation against
Ukraine in its eastern territories, the Anti-Terrorist Operation and the Joint Forces
Operation proved that the formal consolidation of human rights and freedoms,
their declarative proclamation do not have sucient grounds for observance and
realization of human rights and freedoms” (Shevchenko et al., 2019: 536).
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Vitalii Serohin , Vasyl Topchii, Andrii Novytskyi, Mark Voronov y Yuliia Hradova
Interpretation of human legal value in the natural concept of understanding law
Thus, the laws of social nature alone cannot be implemented, but require
the need to involve in this process the will and consciousness of man, which,
in turn, are part of a more complex system – the mechanism of protection
of human and civil rights and freedoms.
However, it should be noted that the process of functioning of such a
mechanism does not happen automatically, but requires the participation
of a number of actors, namely: political parties, public organizations,
political leaders, civil society in general.
A special role in the functioning of this mechanism should belong
to civil society as a set of free and equal citizens and their voluntary
associations, which, guided by the requirements of natural law, should
direct their activities to take an active part in law-making, implementation
of legal norms and control over observance of human and civil rights and
freedoms. The level of awareness of the value of law, the eective process
of law-making and the implementation of legal norms are all indicators of
the interest of various actors in the life of law, in its implementation in the
system of public relations (Shevchenko et al., 2020).
Note that the question of the functioning of the mechanism of protection
of human and civil rights and freedoms acquires special signicance in
the conditions of human development in the XXI century. And here it is
necessary to agree with the opinion of O.M. Kostenko, that in modern
conditions there is a massive nature of abuses disguised as human rights,
but in fact is an abuse of human rights enshrined in law – a new challenge
to modern civilization, which can only be met by further development and
improvement of human rights (Kostenko, 2009).
In order to counter arbitrariness and illusions that manifest themselves
in the form of human rights abuses, it is necessary to supplement the
concept of “natural human rights” with the concept of “natural human
responsibilities”. It follows that the value of man must be expressed not only
in the realization of human rights, but also in the performance of his duties
arising from the natural laws of social life. This should be the criterion by
which a line can be drawn between human rights and human rights abuses.
Using a natural-legal approach to legal understanding, there is a
constant process of comparing one’s own behaviour with ideal patterns that
are universal in nature. In the process of communicating with other people,
a normative value system is formed, which is constantly correlated with
ideas about human-centered law.
The idea of the desired right is inextricably linked with the issues of
normative consolidation and implementation of natural human rights as
ideal patterns of behaviour, and they should be considered in two senses: in
the objective, when they are recognized by others, and subjective – human
awareness of their role and importance in public life. The peculiarity of
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natural rights is that they are ethical in nature, emphasize the self-worth of
the individual and provide a high level of spiritual development of society,
but do not coincide with the moral and ethical norms, which are due to
historical and other factors.
The legal value of man derives from the very content of the natural-legal
type of legal understanding and is inextricably linked with issues of morality,
on the basis of which there is an awareness of the need to link human rights
with its responsibilities. This is especially true for the obligation to recognize
the rights of others. Given the fact that man is a creature that is unthinkable
outside of society and lives not only for himself but also for others, so he is
able to establish appropriate order in the relationship.
Like natural law, moral values originate from absolute and eternal
concepts such as justice, dignity, wisdom, goodness and, as an integral
formation of moral consciousness, include the norms of morality, ideas,
principles and ideals found in relationship with human needs and
act as guidelines for its behaviour. Moral values are the basis for the
implementation of activities that have the characteristics of a self-regulatory
nature and involves the ability of a person to consciously resolve relevant
issues, to freely choose solutions based on socio-moral values. Obviously,
moral values and natural law are closely intertwined.
Since law as a phenomenon of public life has a holistic nature, and one
or another approach to its understanding is only a perspective on it, carried
out from the appropriate point of view, we can say the following: law will
make sense only if the legal value of man, which is revealed through the
natural-legal type of legal understanding, will be recognized as a positive
law as an indisputable fact. This requires that the rules of positive law
include the spirit of natural law.
It should be noted that such inalienable rights as the right to life,
liberty, equality, the right to fair treatment of a person must nd their
further development and specication not only at the level of normative
consolidation, but also at the level of real process of implementation them
in life. The classical doctrine of natural law and the modern understanding
of natural law with its changing dynamic content act as the main reference
point for the development of various forms of law. Therefore, it is quite
natural to focus on the multifaceted manifestations of natural law, to
explore how natural law is reected in the system of legal acts, how exactly
is implemented the constitutional provision on the recognition of man as
the highest social value.
776
Vitalii Serohin , Vasyl Topchii, Andrii Novytskyi, Mark Voronov y Yuliia Hradova
Interpretation of human legal value in the natural concept of understanding law
Conclusions
Within the natural-legal type of legal understanding, the legal value of
man has its own features, namely:
• in the theological theory of natural law, the role of man is
characterized by the fact that he acts as a passive executor of
another’s will, which leads to the possibility of any manipulation,
directing human behaviour in one direction or another, neglecting
his own interests;
• the essence of the objectivist kind of theory of natural law,
manifested in the fact that the image of law is associated with legal
consciousness and is reected in the active, creative human activity,
based on the principles of freedom inherent in man from birth,
depriving him of obedience to the law as an ideal normative-value
model of behaviour, which may not correspond to the values of a
natural character;
• within the modern theory of natural law, natural and legal views
are combined with historical and sociological study of legal ideals,
which leads to the expansion of the list of natural rights and the
inclusion of not only inalienable human rights, but also a number of
social, economic, political and of another nature, which contributes
to the strengthening of human activity in order to implement and
protect its needs and interests.
The natural-legal type of legal understanding determines the denition
of human value not only through the expression of the realization of human
rights, but also the fulllment of the responsibilities assigned to it, which
derive from the natural laws of social life.
The ethical nature of human rights and responsibilities emphasizes
the self-worth of the individual and provides a high level of spiritual
development of society. Under such conditions, a person acts as a subject
who is capable of active creative activity, feeling the inuence of the
mentality of the society.
Given the fact that the quality of social and legal life is determined not
only by the declaration of rights and freedoms, but also by the real process
of their implementation in the system of social relations, the legal value
of man thus acquires a broader meaning, including the ability to inuence
others in order to achieve appropriate results. The specic features that a
person should have in the legal life of society are:
• to be the bearer of universal values;
• to act as a subject that has the opportunity to choose appropriate
behaviours, analyzing the existing legal reality;
• to be an active participant in legal relations.
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Esta revista fue editada en formato digital y publicada
en octubre de 2022, por el Fondo Editorial Serbiluz,
Universidad del Zulia. Maracaibo-Venezuela
Vol.40 Nº 74
