THE IDEA OF LAW AND ITS ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DOCTRINE OF INTERPRETATION OF LAW: HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF THE GERMAN LEGAL DOCTRINE IN THE 19TH — THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY

The article is devoted to the analysis of theoretical provisions of the main schools of German jurisprudence in the 19th — the first half of the 20th century in the context of legal consciousness and interpretation of law. The article determines the main theoretical premises of such important academic areas as: the Historical School of Law, Jurisprudence of Concepts, Jurisprudence of Interests, the School of Free Law, Legal Positivism and Neo-Cantianism. The author considers scientific works of the main representatives of these schools. The development of concepts of law and interpretation of law in the German legal doctrine demonstrates the connection of the doctrine of interpretation with the idea of law and real legal life. The historical period under consideration witnessed the work of many outstanding lawyers whose teachings had an impact not only on the legal science of many countries of Europe and Russia, but also on the legal doctrine of individual States belonging to the Anglo-Saxon legal family. Despite the different nature of their teachings, there is a link between the idea of law and their approach to the interpretation of legal provisions. This interaction is also inverse, many scholars have solved the problem of the essence of law by resorting to interpretive procedures. Tendencies similar to the tendencies typical for the German legal doctrine have found support both in the judicial practice of German courts and in the practice of the higher courts of the European Union. The article concludes that further development of the doctrine of interpretation of law requires not only the development of the methodology of interpretation of law, but also further developmentss in the philosophy of law.